Exploring Brunello vintages

Ten years in the bottle, a long decant, and yet the harsh tannins overshadowed everything.

- V SANJAYKUMAR

We had a hard time finishing the bottle. It wasn't undrinkable, it was unfriendly

In my early experience with wine, vintage wasn’t a factor when I bought a bottle. I wasn’t aware of the importance of the “drinking window”, a special time when the wine showed its true colours It was a lack of awareness, a kind of innocence. Then came a 2014 Brunello di Montalcino that changed everything.

2014 is said to be a bad year for Brunello. How bad? Well, the famous Brunello producer Biondi-Santi did not make any wine that year. It rained a lot in 2014 and the grapes in most vineyards weren’t worthy. Some vineyards managed a few cases but they did not produce their Reserve wines that year.

I had with me a bottle of the 2014 CastelGiocondo Brunello. Every time I opened my chiller its embossed golden emblem glittered. One rainy day I thought ten years in the bottle was good enough and pulled the cork. My better half likes Brunello. She likes Sangiovese; period. Fragrant lean juice made from red berries improves her view on life. I decanted the wine for a good two hours, swirled it, and poured her a thimble. She sniffed and she frowned as she sipped. There were two minutes of silence. I raised an eyebrow.

“Tannins are standing at the door and barking,” she said.

“And?”

“Acidity is biting my shins.” She took another sip. “Where is the fruit?”

I poured myself a shot. She was right. Ten years in the bottle, a long decant, and yet the harsh tannins overshadowed everything. We had a hard time finishing the bottle. It wasn’t undrinkable, it was unfriendly. There was a lot of oak on the nose and palate and its trademark tobacco was present but in the battle between oak and fruit, fruit had lost.