This is the first of Walter Speller's extensive reports from the recent Anteprima tastings of the latest releases in Italy. Extensive reviews and opinions on Brunello di Montalcino's controversial 2006 vintage follow in Brunello reaches the point of no return, and then on Amarone later this week.
See also Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Chianti Classico – some radical proposals published this week.
The 2009 Chianti Classico growing season, described here in great detail by Monte Bernardi’s oenologist, Michael Schmelzer, was a very unusual one and my recent tastings confirmed this. The 2009 growing cycle was determined by a...