Wednesday Wines – Episode 294 – The astonishing Brunellos from at Il Marroneto
Il Marroneto wines are imported by Armit Wines and sold by several elite fine wine merchants in the UK. I was thrilled to attend a phenomenal tasting last week in London, and here are my thoughts and scores on these astonishing wines.
Link to – Armit Wines
Winemaker Alessandro Mori planted his first vines in 1975, and the first wine was made in the 1980 vintage. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the vineyard, which is named after the 13th-century chestnut drier on this hillside. Coincidentally, 1980 was the first year that Brunello gained its DOCG status, although, as Iacopo Mori noted, the Etruscans were making wine here some 3000 years ago. Alessandro’s son, Iacopo, is one of the most knowledgeable, entertaining and detailed wine folks I have met in years. His presentation of his beloved wines is pure theatre, yet extremely precise and educational. He is a rare talent, and his explanations bring the wines alive. I first met Iacopo two years ago, when I was instantly taken by the wines. Here is a link to Episode 191, which goes into detail about four of his wines, two of which I re-tasted below, and what a joy they are! From a winemaking perspective, Il Marroneto “ferments aggressively but does not favour extended maceration”. And from an acid perspective, they dislike “the rude one that stretches the mouth”, but “like the good one that makes the mouth water”. They never filter. Simplicity is all here, allowing the land to speak through the wines. And I was thrilled to taste this line-up, given it represented, once again, the finest Brunellos of the year.
2021 Brunello di Montalcino, Il Marroneto, Tuscany, Italy
This is an amazingly floral and earthy wine with pure, rose petal and cherry blossom hints on the nose, bounded by superb rigidity on its flanks. There is a sensationally voluminous palate here, and the experience is amazingly long. Somehow, it maintains control throughout, travelling directly and steadily across the palate, never wavering or changing pace. Relentless, beautiful and resonant, while also concentrated and luxurious, the tannins are dusty and teasing, and, finally, the palate is decorated with mouth-watering earthy notes, signalling a unique sense of place. This is an epic wine. 19+/20
2020 Brunello di Montalcino, Il Marroneto, Tuscany, Italy
More open, slightly darker and more foresty initially, this is a more muscular wine and also a blunter weapon to be unsheathed for meatier dishes and colder nights. Smoky, sylvan and fertile, this is a more traditional style with a shorter, but broader attack, and I like its hearty attack and sense of gusto. 18.5/20
2019 Brunello di Montalcino, Il Marroneto, Tuscany, Italy
Elegant, refined, silky and more approachable, this is a fabulously plush and welcoming wine, with brisk tannins and intense, exotic notes which appear unexpectedly in the more familiar red fruit and amaro spectrum. Simply beautiful. It was great to meet this wine again after two years, and it was even more exciting to see it hadn’t evolved much, maintaining its course, which points to a brilliant future. 19+/20
2021 Brunello di Montalcino, Madonna delle Grazie, Il Marroneto, Tuscany, Italy
Take the estate 2021 above, turn up the volume, add trumpeters to sound its arrival, and roll out a red carpet on your tongue. Goodness me, this wine took my breath away. It redefines the notion of a Grand Cru wine. Perhaps we can add Ultra Grand to the vinous lexicon? This is an awe-inspiring wine, and the second ‘perfect score’ (see below) I have given to this label, making it unique in the region! It is not necessarily fruitier or riper, but anthemic, fathoms-deep and utterly joyous, and it manages to conjure up so much emotion and elation without any feeling of muscularity or brawn. This is a stunning vineyard translated into the bottle by the most respectful and talented of interlocutors. Every inch a superstar, the balance here is divine, and the future will be even more exciting when it gets its knees under the table. 20+/20
2020 Brunello di Montalcino, Madonna delle Grazie, Il Marroneto, Tuscany, Italy
Like the estate’s 2020, this is a more brawny, pagan wine. It has spice, earth, tension, dryness, and bitterness, and it reminds me of a more traditional, more medieval style of Il Marroneto. Jump in a time machine and visit an era when the wines were more imposing and forceful, and you have this mighty 2020! Traditionalists and nostalgics will beg for more, but I venture more sensitive modern palates will find a challenging creature! Buckle up! 18.5+/20
2019 Brunello di Montalcino, Madonna delle Grazie, Il Marroneto, Tuscany, Italy
It was such a pleasure to reacquaint myself with the first perfect score wine I tasted from this estate. It was two years ago, so my nerves were on red alert! How would it match up today? What changes have been made to the furniture and the layout of the palate? I need not have worried, because this is a staggering tour de force, which is the sum of infinitesimal, beautiful parts. Seemingly fashioned from metres of red-blood-soaked-shot-silk with more sanguineous warp and weft of red fruit and blood than the ‘Red Wedding’ itself. But when the drama abates, you are left with staggering beauty and untold luxury, as cool, minty notes on the finish bring an extremely refreshing, unexpected finish for such a complex, mouth-coating wine. And there is so much more to come here. The tannins are proud and regal, and they will chaperone this wine for many years to come. I cannot wait for my next encounter with 2019 Madonna delle Grazie. 20+/20
2020 Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie Riserva, Il Marroneto, Tuscany, Italy (magnums only)
Only one barrel was made of this, the second Riserva release of this wine (2013 was the first). Only the best bunches with the smallest berries make the cut, and no stems are utilised. This is, in effect, a pre-selected-grape wine, not a wine selection. Interestingly, this wine seems to have taken masses of charm, breeding and nobility from the other two 2020s (perhaps in turn making them more muscular) and used these sensual elements to elevate it to a different, darker, more awe-inspiring and more powerful level. I take my hat off to the care taken in crafting this wine. It is not just worthy of its Riserva nomenclature, but also the sensational depth of its fruit, which adds another dimension to this estate’s offering. 19.5+/20
