2012 Brunello di Montalcino
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Tasting notes
Tavernelle. Pale garnet. Very healthy colour. Very direct nose – the first one with the merest hint of oak. Sweet start. Good transparency but a tad too sweet for my taste. Quite brutal in its oak and acid combo. (JR)
Critic scores
Average Score
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Candace Máté's 2012 Brunello di Montalcino opens to a dark and savory color that is characteristic of the vintage. The wine's dark saturation is definitely pushed to Sangiovese's limits in terms of where it stands on the color intensity scale. The bouquet reveals aromas of dried fruit and prune backed by very prominent, almost monolithic notes of savory tobacco. Moist chewing tobacco is more specific. Máté's house style embraces generous oak. This wine is aged in French Allier tonneaux for two years and is then left to integrate in large 40-hectoliter casks. Past vintages have seemed too spicy and oaky to me, but this edition has more ripe and succulent fruit to balance out any extremes. Overall, this is a dark, penetrating and powerful wine.
Tasted blind. Youthful, deep ruby. A little bit closed with only a posh oak note rising from the glass. Backward, but elegant. On the palate the oak is a little attention-grabbing for the moment, but the gorgeous, zesty cherry fruit and fine tannins lead the finish. Maverick, modernist (or should that be: postmodernist?) style. (WS)