Wednesday Wines – Episode 234 – My picks from ‘2014 Tuscany, 10 Years Later’
Federico Moccia and Nelson Pari were at it again. This dynamic duo curated a pile of ten-year-old Tuscans and opened them for wine trade types at the Italian Cultural Institute in Belgrave Square last week.
I love the events that these guys host because they always feature top-end estates and they think as much about what the tasters would like to get out of a tasting as much as the messages the wineries would like to convey.
2014 was marked as a particularly tricky vintage with an Indian Summer saving bunches which were afforded longer hang times. It is a classic example of a vintage that sorts the ‘haves’ from the ‘have nots’. If you had the cash and the viticultural expertise to manage the cool, wet summer, fruit flies (in Montalcino), hailstorms and outbreaks of downy mildew, then you could avoid disaster and make decent, accurate, if not excellent, wines. Of the 30 wines on tasting, only 8 passed muster with me. These are all wines with enough mid-palate fruit to have carried them through the last decade without fragmenting on the finish or collapsing in the mid-palate. There was a sense in many of the wines, that they were too feeble in the first place for longer term ageing and were subjected to the same oak regime as usual. The result is sinew and resin as opposed to plush fruit. However, the winners, admittedly from many of the elite estates, were all balanced, energetic and had enough fruit weight in the tank to evolve further. With my buyer’s hat on, I think I could locate nearly all of my favourites on the open market today (I have added a few links), so this was a hugely helpful wine tasting for restaurateurs and private clients alike who wish to buy ready-to-drink, ten-year-old Tuscans that, in most cases, don’t break the bank. My thanks go to Fede and Nelson, as well as Claudio Povero at the Italian Trade Agency, for having the tenacity and wherewithal to host such a fascinating event. If only other countries showed the same pride and excitement about their wines.
My favourite eight wines
Chianti
2014 Chianti Classico, Fonterutoli, Mazzei (£154.00, for 3 x magnums, www.bgwm.co.uk).
An old favourite and a label that never disappoints, there is a certain glossiness and boldness here, which are trademarks of Fonterutoli. While it is drinking now and not likely to improve much more with age, this is a beauty. The value here is exceptional. 18.5/20
2014 Chianti Classico, Riserva, Querciabella (£36.00, www.finewinesforall.com).
Querciabella often uses too much oak for my liking, but when they get the balance right, the wines sing. This Riserva has time to reveal its true potential, and while there is a coarseness and wildness here, it works perfectly within the greater context of this wine. Again, the value is extraordinary. 18+/20
2014 Chianti Classico Riecine, Riecine (I cannot find a stockist for this wine)
This is certainly a ripe wine with old-style bitterness underpinning the dark fruit notes, and while it is third-placed in the top trio of Chiantis, this is still a superbly well-made wine in a difficult vintage. 18/20
Montalcino
2014 Brunello di Montalcino, Poggio di Sotto (£865.00, IB per 6 bottles, www.cropandvine.co.uk; contact Decorum Vintners for a lovely collection of Poggio di Sotto wines on www.decvin.com).
Awesome. This is a spectacular wine showing that come hell or high water, Poggio di Sotto delivers the goods. It is still on the up curve of its life, so there is no reason to hurry! Stunningly detailed and mind-blowingly accurate, there is very little stock on the market, and it is expensive, but this was the ‘wine of the day’. 19+/20
2014 Brunello di Montalcino, Sesti, Castello di Argiano (£226.50, IB per 6 bottles, www.clarionwines.co.uk).
Cool, bright, refreshing and aromatic, this is a more delicate style of Brunello, and it is thoroughly enchanting. This is another wine that looks young and graceful, and if you search the internet (Tanners, Decorum, Goedhuis Waddesdon, Armit and others), you ought to be able to locate stock. I love the Sesti wines because they are magical and sensual in equal measure, and this 2014 is no exception. Once again, the value here is unmissable. 18.5+/20
2014 Brunello di Montalcino, Il Marroneto (£61.41, www.laywheeler.com).
Bristling with elemental energy and spice, this is an actively youthful wine that definitely requires more time to soften. The core fruit is sensational, and I cannot recommend it enough if you like robust, action-packed and energetic Brunello. Just be prepared to wait a further five years! 18.5+/20
2014 Brunello di Montalcino, Cupano (£240.00, magnum, www.hedonism.co.uk).
This is a classic Cupano, with serious density of fruit and lustiness. There is always an abundance of passion and theatre in these wines, and it is much more black-fruited than red-fruited, so be prepared for a tsunami of earth, spice and velvety indulgence. Drinking now; there is no hurry here, as the tannins are still active and teasing, so you should have a good five years to go, particularly in magnum format. 18.5/20
Bolgheri
2014 Ornellaia, Bolgheri Superiore (£150.21, www.armitwines.co.uk).
Massive, powerful and youthful, this 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 20% Petit Verdot, and 14% Cabernet Franc blend is an outlier in this line-up of Sangiovese-based wines, and yet it looks every inch as glorious as its legend, packing in great swathes of unbridled fruit matched by epic tension. The 2014 vintage is not at the absolute peak of Ornellaia’s powers, but given the price, which looks reasonable to me, this is an excellent vintage to nab now before the price inevitably escalates as it approaches its drinking window. 18.5+/20