Brunello di Montalcino holds court among the most coveted red wine regions on the planet. Like other famed, Old World regions, a schism between traditional and modern style has developed over the years. The modern style, crafted to garner critical acclaim, is picked late and bolstered with ample new oak, which can sometimes mask the honest expression of Sangiovese.
The traditional style captures the balance, magical varietal expression, and the pure, inimitable voice of the celebrated Tuscan terroir. This 2010 Podere Scopetone falls into the latter category and delivers a timeless, quintessential expression of Brunello aromatics with soft elegance and grace. Derived from the 2010 vintage, considered one of the greatest in the last few decades, this wine wasn’t crafted to garner high scores, but it is getting some serious attention for good reason. The moment I placed my nose in the glass, I purchased everything remaining on the west coast. The price-to-quality is unmatched by anything I have tasted from the appellation in recent memory and delivers a classic you simply must experience for yourself.
When Loredana Tanganelli and Antonio Brandi took the helm of Scopetone, they endeavored to craft traditional Brunello instead of big, heavily extracted expressions that often garner high scores. The critics came calling regardless. The wines’ genuine sense of place and translation of the varietal purity of Sangiovese could not be denied. You don’t have to look far to see the enthusiastic and well-deserved press surrounding this wine. Along with the veteran oenologist, Maurizio Castelli, and agronomist, Luca Felicioni, they have captured a pure, classic that has forced everyone to recognize how magical and ethereal Brunello can be when crafted as nature intended.
Scopetone’s Brunello is derived from sustainably farmed, nearly 40-year-old vines rooted in red soils with rocky galestro and alberese composition just northwest of the ancient city walls. The wines are crafted in the estate’s historic stone cellar where the fruit is macerated in climate-controlled stainless steel for 25 days followed by alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. The wine is matured in large, old neutral 33-hectoliter Slavonian oak for thirty months before it is racked into steel then bottled, resulting in a pristine freshness that reveals a distinct voice of the land and an unadulterated expression of Sangiovese.
This 2010 Brunello displays a dark garnet red core with orange and light garnet reflections on the rim, typical of traditional, maturing Sangiovese. The classic nose boasts a timeless expression of Brunello that offers aromas of freshly picked red cherry, dried raspberry and orange peel intertwined with fennel, wet rose petals, tomato leaf, leather, dried tobacco and is woven together by beautiful and soft exotic spices. The medium-bodied palate possesses incredible elegance and grace, with flavors reminiscent of the nose, that glides across the palate in perfect harmony and is bolstered by a well-integrated structure. Although this is still in the later days of its youth, this wine is a pure joy to drink now, but will age gracefully over the next few decades, entering its peak around 2025. I do advise drinking at least one bottle in its current state; this wine is in a beautiful place at them moment. Simply decant for one hour and serve between 60-65 degrees in Bordeaux stems and enjoy.
