2007 Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva

VinItaly 2012: 96pt Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino Riserva … Last Call

At the Verona wine fair of 2012, we did what we’ve been told never to do. After tasting what many now believe to be the greatest Brunello di Montalcino Riserva of 2007, we locked into every bottle the importer, Vineyard Brands, offered to us. Then we spent months wondering what we’d be doing for a living if the critics panned a Brunello with which we’d so fallen in love.

In the unusually warm, dry 2007 Montalcino growing season, Caparzo’s deep-rooted Sangiovese feasted on water reserves in the sub-strata, shrugging off hydric stress. Yields were small. Concentration was superb. Fifty months after harvest, while still in barrel (!), the 2007 Riserva measured 14 percent alcohol without sacrificing a gram of bracing acidity. That spring, at VinItaly, we found many of the 2007s to be a touch overripe, even ponderous. But the Caparzo Riserva — like the top cuvées from Costanti and Fuligni — was truly unique wine, full of richness, polish, elegance, and class.

In the spring of 2013, Wine Spectator washed away our anxiety with a single vintage report. Spectator critic Bruce Sanderson first provided a blow-by-blow of one of the most anomalous growing seasons in Tuscan history, one that began with unusually early budbreak and concluded with a blue-sky Indian summer. Then Sanderson added the finishing touch we’d anticipated a year before. The Spectator dropped a bevy of rave reviews on the Montalcino elite, none more ecstatic than the one bestowed upon OUR 2007 Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino Riserva.

Deepest ruby to the edge, infused with plush aromas of black cherry, crushed red fruits, smoke, and tobacco, the attack is massive — a voluptuous mix of red fruit and cherry preserves, sweet spice, and violets. Unusually silken in texture, due to the superb phenolic maturity provided by the 2007 growing season, the finish remains firm and vibrant, buttressed by dusty tannins.

96 points — Wine Spectator’s #2 Brunello of the Year. $95 on release. $65 today. The last 120 bottles of our VinItaly allocation are now up for grabs.

• ABV 14.00%
• Enjoy right away
• % Sangiovese