Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
In the past month or so the winemakers of Montalcino in Italy have been releasing for sale one of Italy’s top wines, Brunello di Montalcino. It is a wine known for its deep chocolate and vanilla flavours, epitomised by the latest 2019 vintage.
Despite a soft market for fine wines in recent months, these Brunellos are getting a warm reception. Most critics have heaped praise on the 2019, making merchants’ job easier.
Though fine wine prices have tumbled over the past year, the best of Italy has stood its ground. Liv-ex price indices reveal sharp drops in Rhone and Burgundy wines, both off by around a fifth. But Italy’s benchmark has performed better than most regions. The index for Italy has declined a mere 5 per cent in the same period.
This index is made up of top Barolo and Barbaresco wines from the Piedmont and highly popular (and pricey) super Tuscans, such as Sassicaia. The top Piedmont wines held up well in the second half of last year, led by Giacomo Conterno Barolo 2001 and Gaja Barbaresco 2010.
Brunellos are not included in the index — but the last highly regarded vintage 2016 did well after its release. Il Marroneto Madonna delle Grazie 2016 Brunello has climbed nearly 40 per cent since its release three years ago, according to Liv-ex data. Gianni Brunelli’s Brunello of 2016 more than doubled in value.
In the UK and the US, the big export market for Brunellos, merchants have reported a strong debut for the 2019 vintage. “The response of our customers has been fairly positive,” says David Gleave at Liberty Wines in the UK. He quickly sold out of 2019 Conti Costanti, a top pick among critics, and could have sold a multiple of Liberty’s allocation.
At Woodland Hills Wine in Los Angeles, clients have happily slurped up the this year’s offering. “We’re seeing a lot of interest in the 2019 vintage so far, especially compared to the last two years of Brunello,” points out Matt Bayless. Not only Conti Costanti, but the wines of Argiano and Ciacci Piccolomini Pianrosso easily find homes at prices of up to $90 per bottle.
Not everyone has found Brunello 2019 an easy sell, though. “The Brunello 2019 market has been patchy . . . demand is nowhere near matching the heady excitement of the 2016 vintage,” according to London-based Falcon Vintner founder Eric Sabourin.
Nevertheless, Sabourin has faith in the high quality of these 2019 Brunellos, mostly priced between £50-£100 in the UK. These look relative bargains compared to super Tuscans, such as Tignanello. Its 2019 costs over £100 per bottle, before taxes and duties.
Wine should have a sense of place and go well with the local cuisine. This cannot always be taken for granted. A number of super Tuscans, heavily influenced by Bordeaux, can drink like a cuvée — a blend of different French grape varieties — produced in Italy. Italy has some 400 indigenous commercial grape varieties. One element of Brunellos’ appeal is that the grape is a variant of the widespread and food-friendly Sangiovese.
Within Tuscany, the hilly region of Montalcino specialises in wines using Brunello. It’s both a rich, leathery flavoured wine, yet light enough to release the cherry notes of regular Sangiovese. Have it with venison or poultry, or your favourite veggie meal.
Brunello can be pricey and with good reason. By local law, the growers must hold back their wine for at least four years, and five for riservas. As a result, these are usually premium wines. Whether they make good investments is another story.
Some Brunellos are always in demand, such as those from top makers Biondi-Santi, Poggio di Sotto and Soldera. However, certain riservas and single-vineyard wines can get special attention from collectors. They probably offer the best investment potential among Brunellos given their rarity, says Walter Speller at JancisRobinson.com. Consider Madonna delle Grazie of Il Marroneto and the Brunello Montosoli of Canalicchio di Sopra.
Unlike some peers, Speller thinks most of the typical Brunellos of 2019 will be drinking early. This led him to score them below the 2016 vintage, as he believes 2019 will have less ageing potential.
It will be easy to enjoy the 2019 Brunello. Earning a good return on an investment in it is less certain — but so far the auguries are promising.
*This article has been change to adjust the bottle price of 2019 Tignanello.
Read the full article here
