notes from a wineaholic/brunello di montalcino

Brunello, "the little brown one", from montalcino, is a tuscan dialect name for sangiovese grown in montalcino, south of both Chianti and Siena. In this dryer, hotter, and more Mediterrean climate of southern Tuscany, the limestone and sand soil produce a "muscular" grape capable of making a rich, dark, concentrated red. "Tongue-curling tannins" and "firm acidity" allow these wines to age and this past weekend at John's dad's 80th birthday dinner i was lucky enough to have one from 1999, the Casanova di Neri/Cerretalto and one from 1997, the Poggio Antico, thanks to the generosity of my my brother-in-law Wayne. according to the website, winemerchant.com, which i have linked over there on the side, "As an elite wine, Brunello deserves special attention while aging and when poured. Like all great aged wines, it is often a bit hard and unsociable in its youth. However, Brunello becomes refined and harmonious with time, taking on a velvety texture."
"robust", "muscular", "tongue-curling", "hard", the hell with drinking it, i read these descriptions from that site and i wanted to fuck this wine. personally, the 1997 was better, wwwaaaaayyyy better actually, it is amazing what those two little years can do. it is also amazing that they can tell that only about 18,000 bottles of this wine were produced and they were made from the grapes on the southern slope of such and such a vineyard and were picked on such and such a date. i'm impressed by these things, too bad i can't afford to drink these wines on a regular basis. i thought it was funny that John kept going into Wayne's wine fridge and pulling out one bottle after the other. what did we know?, we're neophyte oenophiles.
well if you get the chance i would definitely go for the Poggio Antico '97. maybe on account at a business dinner or something.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. C!!! %^*


SIRLOINS FRESH OFF THE BBQ


THE HUNGRY CROWD AT THE CHEESE PLATTER


THE '99 Casanova di Neri


THE '97 Poggio Antico...totally fuckable!