Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 2015

Robert ParkerGiacomo Neri and his family have crafted a wine that impresses from the first sip forward (especially when the wine is given ample time to open). The Casanova di Neri 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova must be treated with patience, and that patience is returned with many great rewards. Blackberry, plum and summer cherry are slowly folded into lasting flavors of spice, leather and beautiful balsam or medical herb. These are always a distinctive signature of this estate. The aromas flow with seamless transitions, and that fluid and ever-changing nature of the bouquet is what helps to build intensity and staying power. Fruit is harvested from a south- and southeast-facing slope at 250 to 300 meters above sea level. The soils are mixed loosely with crushed rock, allowing access to air and moisture. Indeed, pretty mineral accents appear as the wine takes on more air in the glass. What stands out most in this Brunello is the quality of the bouquet that is rigid and firm, yet not excessively so. You feel the structural texture of the wine as it sits firmly over the palate, yet there is mobility and softness to its many moving parts. I tasted this wine at various intervals over a 24-hour period. Tenuta Nuova was bottled in June 2018, and some 70,032 bottles were released.

James SucklingThis has a beautiful, complex bouquet of dried herbs, white truffles, asphalt, cherry stones, peppercorns, spice and tea leaves. It’s full-bodied with firm, tight and very focused tannins. Bright. Layered. So much going on. I like the salty character. The finish starts slow and is almost endless. Fantastic to taste already, but will just get better.

Jeb DunnuckOn another level, the flagship 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova shows the warm, sexy style of this vintage beautifully, boasting a translucent ruby/purple color as well as incredible aromatics of ripe cherries, dried rose petals, new leather, spice, and dried herbs. Beautifully complex aromatically, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness as well as a weightless, elegant texture that carries sweet tannins.

Tilbage i 1971 blev Casanova di Neri grundlagt af Giovanni Neri, der med sine store visioner og passion, forstod det enorme potentiale for vinene i Montalcino området. Første Brunello var 1978, og selvom denne vin naturligvis er meget moden i sit udtryk er den stadig i live.

Familien Neri har formået at forene kompromisløshed med god forretning på blot to generationer, siden Giovanni grundlagde domainet i 1971. I 1991 tog hans søn Giacomo over og udvidede gradvist arealet til nu hele 66 ha vinmarker. Vinene fra Casanova di Neri har fastholdt et imponerende omdømme samtidig med, at de er med til at definere en af Italiens og verdens største rødvine, Brunello di Montalcino.

Stilen på disse vine er mindre alvorlig og stramtandet end tilfældet for mange andre producenter i området. De er indsmigrende, aromatiske og yderst tigængelige, hvilket passer godt til tidens ånd. Neri-familien har samtidig ikke været for fin til at kaste sig ud i forskellige typer vinificering og lagring, hvilket blandt andet understreges af den kraftfulde og mørke Tenuta Nuova, en på alle måder moderne ”her-kommer-jeg-Brunello”.

Det er ikke tilfældigt, at Carlo Ferrini, der kaldes ”master of modern Sangiovese”, er tilknyttet som konsulent, og han har sammen med Giacomo skubbet til grænserne for, hvad Brunello di Montalcino kan være.

Med 63 ha vinmarker er Casanova di Neri et af de største familiebrug i Montalcino.