1999 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Madonna del Piano Riserva
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Tasting notes
The Valdicava 1999 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano, released in 2005, shows black sediment and a challenging cork, yet it opens with sweet fruit tones of candied cherry and grilled watermelon. The wine is dark and concentrated and feels younger than its age due to its plump core of fruit. While it lacks the precision and focus one hopes for in a mature wine, it remains balanced and surprisingly bright, with enough freshness to make it a credible showing.
Critic scores
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
The 1999 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano is everything a great wine should be. This is an expansive, spectacularly ripe wine endowed with layers of perfumed dark fruit, sweet tobacco, new leather and spices. A brooding, structured beauty, the wine needs some serious bottle age to show at its best, but it is already pretty stunning. According to Abbruzzese 1999 represents another step up in quality as the estate's vineyards had begun to acquire some age at this point. Certainly this seems true in the Riserva, but I don't perceive as marked a difference from previous vintages in the regular Brunello (see below).