Any good sommelier knows that you can’t foist all your personal preferences on your customers—you also need to make some concessions to broader market tastes. That said, I must tell you that today’s Brunello di Montalcino is the kind of firm, focused style of Sangiovese I want to drink. And, loathe as I am to foist, I want you to drink it, too—because I believe it gets Sangiovese right.
It used to be that the “biggest” Brunellos won the day in terms of scores, recognition, etc. But as anyone who drinks great Burgundy knows, a wine can be powerful without being heavy, and Tenuta Buon Tempo’s 2013 “P.56” is exactly that. I don’t want dark, muddy Sangiovese, I want bright, lively Sangiovese that shows off its full aromatic range, and frankly, a lot of Brunellos I taste fall in the former category. Anyone who’s tried and liked Brunellos from producers such as Poggio di Sotto (which is right down the street from Buon Tempo), Ciacci Piccolomini, or Livio Sassetti will appreciate this 2013 immensely. But whether you’re familiar with any of these producers is beside the point: This is spot-on Brunello di Montalcino, one of the best I’ve had in recent memory, and it will most definitely reward long aging. I guarantee a
buon tempo (“good time”) awaits you.
Formerly known as Tenuta Oliveto, the estate’s new owner, Per Landin, re-christened it Tenuta Buon Tempo and immediately began pursuing organic certification for the property’s vineyards and olive groves. Located in the southeast corner of the Montalcino growing zone, near the hamlet of Castelnuovo dell’Abate, the estate farms 14 hectares of vines, all Sangiovese, at altitudes around 350 meters. As with most of the properties on Montalcino’s “south slope,” expositions are predominantly southeast, with soils of marl, clay, and sandstone.
The “Oliveto P.56” indicator on this wine’s label refers to a single, 1.5-hectare vineyard on the property that dates to the 1940s and includes the estate’s highest-elevation vines. There’s nice tension to this ’13 that belies its slightly cooler growing conditions, and the breadth of aromatics in the wine suggests a long, even season in 2013. Sangiovese is even more finicky and site-sensitive than Pinot Noir, but when it “hits”—when a producer manages to capture not just the earth and smoke but also the pretty black cherry fruit, as Buon Tempo has done here—it can elicit similar sensations to those of more powerful red Burgundies like Gevrey-Chambertin.
The Tenuta Buon Tempo winemaking style can be described as “traditional,” in that grapes are macerated on their skins for an extended period (six weeks) during fermentation, followed by three years’ aging in large, used Slavonian oak casks (20-35 hectoliter capacity) and another year in bottle before release. In the glass, it’s a deep ruby-garnet extending to the rim, with a complex range of Sangiovese aromas including ripe black cherry, plum, black raspberry, wet violets, mint, rosemary, leather, warm spice, grill char, and turned earth. The joy of this wine is in its energy and refinement—it has an elegant, upright posture and lots of persistence on the finish, supported by great freshness and firm, but fine, tannins. With an hour in a decanter this will start your toes-a-tapping right now, but the real sweet spot for this wine will come in about five years’ time, when more is added to the already intriguing tangle of aromas. Though I normally suggest drinking Brunello di Montalcino from Bordeaux stems, I’m going to change gears and suggest Burgundy bowls for this one: Serve it at 60-65 degrees with braised short ribs over polenta and sip this one slowly—it deserves the extra time. Enjoy!
