2010 Rocca di Castagnoli Cabernet Sauvignon Buriano IGT

A 94-Point Upstart in Tuscany

As was the case all over Europe, the 2010 growing season was magnificent in Tuscany, with Brunello di Montalcino earning the highest-ever vintage rating from The Wine Advocate, and the most respected Italian wine critic in the world, Antonio Galloni at Vinous.

But for international collectors, Tuscany’s greatest successes in 2010 weren’t Montalcino’s glorious Sangioveses, but the staggeringly concentrated, broad-shouldered Cabernet Sauvignons. While the Antinoris did what they always do in great vintages, turning in staggering performances at Tignanello, Solaia, and Ornellaia, an upstart gave Tuscany’s First Family a run for the roses.

You heard it here first: Rocca di Castagnoli’s recently released IGT “Buriano” isn’t simply Tuscany’s most captivating bargain of 2010, this lavishly concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon is the undisputed bargain of the year — a “gentle monster” that straddles the line between Oakville bombast and Pauillac minerality. Here’s why.

A rainy spring postponed flowering at Rocca di Castagnoli, reducing yields and delaying the vegetative cycle. It wouldn’t be until early June that the sun began to shine. The summer that followed was one for the record books, filled with dry, cool, turquoise-sky days, but absent any of the heat spikes that often scald clusters. The perfect script continued in late August when light rain began to fall, refreshing vines, followed by a textbook September with warm days and cool nights. A leisurely call to harvest was made in the last days of September, stretching into early October. Conditions were pristine — as is the small-berry Cabernet Sauvignon off Vigneto Buriano.

Aged for 15 months in new and year-old French barrels, the 2010 Rocca di Castagnoli is opaque purple in hue. Luscious aromas of crushed black fruits, black cherry, violets, tobacco, and graphite. Rich, dense, and chiseled on the attack, silken and almost chewy in texture, filled with an ultra-concentrated mix of black-fruit preserves and a splash of crème de cassis, finishing with superb tension and cut. Drink now-2028.

$50 on release. $33/bottle this morning — the lowest price in America. 600 bottles are up for grabs. For serious Napa Cabernet, Bordeaux, and Tuscan collectors, this is a MUST-CASE-BUY. Shipping included on 4.

• ABV 14.00%
• Enjoy right away
• % Cabernet Sauvignon