2006 Arnione Bolgheri Superiore
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Tasting notes
The 2006 Arnione is fragrant with cedar, kirsch, worn leather, pine, and crushed roses. The palate is ripe and still full of life, with medium to full body, and the wine is rich with cassis and smoky incense through the mid-palate, with supple texture and lift. It is well-balanced and very charming at this stage. Drink 2023-2030.
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Average Score
Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot. Impenetrable, lacklustre dark ruby. Beginning of age with a hint of nuts on the nose and bacon and a little leafy, but lifts with aeration. Lots of concentration but contained, not overripe or super extracted. Dark, but quite tannic fruit. A little chalky. Still some future here. (WS)
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot. Arnione is an ovoid of alabaster found at the heart of high-quality gypsum, and the name alludes to the art of alabaster carving for which their area of Tuscany is renowned. Fermented and macerated in steel tanks, malo in barrels, aged in new French oak for 18 months, then in bottle for 12 months. Blackish ruby. A faint whiff of cedar but quite closed on the nose at the moment. Intense red fruit: fresh and sharp yet with layers of baked fruit underneath. Some tea-leaf notes, sage leaf and fennel seeds. The fruit is sweet but the finish is dry and interesting. Charred edges. Supple but purposeful tannins. Modern and classy. (TC)
The 2006 Arnione (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot) is a dense, full-bodied wine bursting with dark fruit, grilled herbs, graphite and minerals. The wine reveals plenty of depth and richness. That said, the wine's harsh tannins and funky aromatics add up to a strange and disappointing vintage for this bottling.