2017 Capanna, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Tuscany, Italy.
The 2017 Capanna Brunello is a wonderful surprise in a weaker vintage for the region and shows off a beautiful and complex full bodied palate of mulberry, currant, plum, cherry and strawberry fruits, along with cigar wrapper, mocha, minty herbs, cedar and anise. This dark garnet Sangiovese is nicely balanced and has very pretty florals on the nose and finishes very persistent and the tannins are well integrated at this point making it easy to love now. The Capanna winery, owned by the Cencioni family since 1957, was founded by Giuseppe Cencioni, together with his sons Benito and Franco, is located in the Montosoli area, north of Montalcino, one of the most prized area in this famous Tuscan region. Today Capanna is run by the third and fourth generation team of Patrizio and Amedeo Cencioni who farm and make the wines here with respect to the past with their traditional Brunello bottlings. Capanna’s Brunello is, of course, de-stemmed 100% Sangiovese that is carefully selected in their oldest vineyards that sees fermentation with maceration of the skins for close to three weeks at a controlled temperature and spontaneous malolactic fermentation, both in truncated cone-shaped Slavonian oak vats. After which, as winery notes, the wine is racked to large Slavonian oak barrels from 10HL to 32HL for about 36 months, then aged further in the bottle for at least 6 months before release.
The historic hilltop town of Montalcino is about 70 miles south of Florence, closer to Siena, and notably has a warmer and drier climate than that of its neighbor, Chianti, with a complex mix of soils from volcanic to limestone and with rocks and shale as well. The Sangiovese grape is king here, as it is in Chianti, but Montalcino has its own clone called Sangiovese Grosso Brunello clone and has many unique individual terroirs. The Brunello di Montalcino DOCG (normale) wines by law must be aged a minimum of four years, including a minimum of two years in barrels or wood casks before release. The Capanna vineyards, some of which date back to the 1960s, are all located in the Montosoli area, as mentioned, in the Northern zone, which is considered one of the best in the Brunello, producing wines of depth, power and age-ability. The winery adds that this particular micro-climate is characterized by an optimal thermal excursion between day and night, getting cool air coming from the Mediterranean Sea even in the hottest months, combined with the favorable characteristics of the soils composed of galestro, all delivering wines with great structure, good acidity, elegant and fruity, as seen here. This 2017 might not be the vintage to lay down for long, but there is loads to admire here and I’d say it is already entering a good window, no patience required for a rewarding experience, but it should go another 5 to 7 years with ease. I’ve personally had great luck with Capanna Brunellos and highly recommend them for savvy Brunello di Montalcino, as they still offer a lot of value for the money.
($60 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive