Brunello di Montalcino Capanna 2003
Posted on August 1st, 2008
Saved in Red wine, Sour Grapes recommends, €30 plus
It goes well with wild game, roast beef, but its full and variegated texture makes it an excellent meditation wine.
Above, part of the tasting note on wineshop.it, the website I bought it from.
I was in a meditative mood, so I sipped alone and later with some nice hard cheese from somewhere in Spain – a little vauge, I know.
How did it taste?
This is where it gets tricky – using familiar terms like sour cherry, blackcurrant liquor (cassis), aniseed, eucalyptus and exotic spices doesn’t really do justice to this Brunello.
It’s simply and utterly fantastic.
About Montalcino
Montalcino is a small village in Tuscany, about 40km south of Siena. Brunello di Montalcino has a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) status, awarded in 1980, but the history of the wine and the place goes much further back.
Compared to nearby Chianti, the area is relatively tiny so there’s less of the stuff being produced, making it pretty pricey. In Ireland, Brunello costs between €35-50 for a “good” bottle and a lot more for a “great” one. With Barolo, it’s up there as one of Italy’s top wines.
About Brunello
It’s made from 100% Sangiovese, but it’s not like any Chianti I’ve ever tasted. The differences can be accounted for by a number of factors:
- The type of Sangiovese – it’s a different clone to the one in Chianti,
- The area – the climate and soil are different
- How it’s made and aged.
Maceration (juice in contact with the skins) is extended giving much more flavour and colour extraction. After fermentation, the wine is aged in large barrels (much larger than the French barriques).
Although some producers have moved to the smaller barrels (or a mixture of the two), this means the wood has more influence on the taste of the wine (vanilla, toast etc.).
According to Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini, another producer featured in the Wine Spectator video below, she still prefers the bigger barrels. Why?
Where the wood is not the protagonist, not the main character
Brunello, if well made, ages extremely well, the Capanna promises 30 years. Unfortunately, I don’t have the storage or patience for that kind of carry-on.
About this Brunello di Montalcino “Capanna”
The Capanna vineyard is owned by the Cencioni family and is situated in Montosoli, about 2km north of Montalcino.
I’m not sure how true this is but this particular area around Montosoli has always been considered one of the best Brunello “cru”, i.e. land with the best potential for wine.
Where to buy
Bought online from wineshop.it for €33 (pricey, yes – but part of my “drink less, drink better” routine).
How do you find wineshop.ie? Does the delivery etc work OK? I’ve ‘nearly’ placed an order a few times, then decided against…
Is there duty to pay on arrival?
Hi William,
I thought they were great.
Delivery tracking via courier company.
As regards duty, none paid. I’ll look up whether it was included or if I simply got away with it.
Killer article Lar !
Brunellos are always a tad on the expensive side, especially if you are out for dinner !!
Rosso offer most of the characteristics [in my opinion :)] and normally an acceptable price.
Thanks Rob, agreed, but having checked out the prices of the Capanna in the US, it looks as if I got a pretty good deal, even accounting for delivery.
Very much special occasion wine, though
I have a special place in my heart for Brunello. I stayed in Siena for a week last September and drank buckets of the stuff. I visited Montalcino and a few of the Brunello vineyards. The wine is revered there and spoken of like a God. I’m no wine buff and so have none of the vocabulary, but I can’t describe Brunello with even commoner terms. All I can say is I’d literally murder for a glass of it right now. Literally.
Hi Eoghan,
I think it’s an exceptional wine too. It’s a big contrast to Chianti, just up the road.
Lar
[...] so I’d go a littler further south, past Siena to a town called Montalcino and pick up a nice Brunello. Made from the Sangiovese grape, just like Chianti, but with far more depth and [...]
I bought a case of this from a distributor who had picked it up from another distributor who went under, so it was about half price. I’ve tried it once and found it rustic to the point of having a few splinters in it. Frankly, the tannins overwhelmed the fruit. I think it needs another year at least to balance out. A very reliable producer of traditional BdM, so I am hoping my “steal” was still a “deal.”