Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino 2016
- wa96+
- v95
Unavailable
We're sorry, but this product is not currently available.
Category | Red Wine |
Varietal | |
Origin | Italy, Tuscany, Brunello di Montalcino |
Brand | Le Potazzine |
We visited this wonderful family estate during the 2009 harvest and had the honor to taste wines with Guiseppe Gorelli from both bottle and barrel. He is a very thoughtful, quality-driven winemaker who balances tradition with modern know-how and captures the true essence of Montalcino. The wines are made in very small quantities in a traditional style. Brunello di Montalcino is wonderful to pair with roasted meats, pasta or risotto with truffles or Italian cheeses, salumi and olives.
Owned by Guiseppe and Gigliola Gorelli, this tiny estate was named after a local bird, the Potazzine, also the nickname for the couple's two daughters, due to their constant 'chirping' to each other from the time they were babies. The Gorelli's first vintage under the Potazzine label was 1997, but Guiseppe comes from a long line of Brunello di Montalcino producers. Today he owns vineyards in both the north and the south, since he believes each area imparts different positive qualities such as richness, balance, aromas, acidity, terroir components and structure. He is dedicated to healthy vineyards, old vines and low yields. Also dedicated to natural winemaking, Guiseppe only uses wild yeasts in the winery, and the wines go through a long, natural fermentation of about 30 days. Many years ago, Guiseppe made the big decision to stop using any small oak barriques for aging, as he felt the wood component was too strong for the supple, balanced style he was seeking. Today, he uses 100% Slovenian oak in 10 hectolitre and 30 hectolitre sizes.
Wine Advocate
- wa96+
Le Potazzine always delivers a smooth and silky style with extreme elegance and the lifted cool-climate fruit that you get from this high-altitude growing site. The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is taut and firm with cherry fruit, dried raspberry, tilled earth, spice and blue flower. The wine sees an extended fermentation of 40 days and ages in botte grande for 42 months. This is a well-balanced wine that is slightly thinner, with one notch lower intensity in this vintage compared to past editions. You get a light, sharp and streamlined style. I prefer the 2015 vintage slightly to this wine, but I'm suggesting a longer drinking window here. This is an 18,000-bottle release that hits the market in January 2021.
Vinous
- v95
The remarkably pretty 2016 Brunello di Montalcino shows a pure bouquet full of wild strawberries, woodland berries and herbs with a hint of crushed stone. It’s soft and enveloping, displaying fleshy red fruits, savory spice and salty minerals, while vibrant acids maintain wonderful freshness. It’s only at the very end that its youthful structure comes forward, grippy and classically drying, yet under an air of red licorice and inner rose. There’s a beautiful harmony to this vintage of Le Potazzine, which should provide a long and wide drinking window.
Cap
-
wa91Wine Advocate
-
ws91Wine Spectator
-
st91International Wine Cellar
-
we91Wine Enthusiast
-
js91James Suckling
-
bs91Bottle Shop
-
w&s91Wine & Spirits
-
bh91Burghound
-
wj91Wine Journal
-
wsk91Whiskey Advocate
-
agv91Vinous
-
d91Decanter
-
tp91The Tasting Panel
-
jd91Jeb Dunnuck
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-