Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Madonna Del Piano Vertical Tasting back to 1997

"Reality is an illusion that occurs due to a lack of wine."  - Anonymous

We do not have any lack of wine here at Wine Watch, we host wine tastings on every week on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights!  I’m not opposed to drinking on any night as we are now open in the wine bar for wine club members Monday through Saturday night with a new menu every week!

The Wine Watch hosts more wine tastings than any wine store on Earth!  I still remember the first tasting we hosted at the old store, it was with our good friend Vincenzo Abruzese from Valdicava.   So, when we received a cellar that had several old vintages of Valdicava’s top wine, the single vineyard riserva Madonna Del Piano, I said it’s time to do some scientific work with one of Montalcino’s greatest wines!! 

This is one of the only producers to get a (100 Point) score in the Wine Spectator for their Brunello di Montalcino.  And when the 2001 Madonna del Piano was released I set aside a whole case to see how it would be in a few decades.  It is now 20 years since the release, and we are busting out this bottle of 2001 Madonna Del Piano Riserva Brunello di Montalcino from my personal stash for this tasting.  You know my motto – “Always drink the good stuff first”!

Join us as we experience 9 different Riserva Brunello Di Montalcino from this legendary producer along with a special meal to accompany the tasting wines.  The fee for this tasting which includes dinner and gratuity is $375 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Valdicava Madonna del Piano Brunello Di Montalcino Vertical Tasting

Friday, August 14th

7:30 PM

Reception

2024 Valdicava Rosso Di Montalcino

1997 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Madonna del Piano

2001 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Madonna del Piano

2003 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Madonna del Piano

2004 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Madonna del Piano

2007 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Madonna del Piano

2009 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Madonna del Piano

2012 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Madonna del Piano

2013 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Madonna del Piano

2016 Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Madonna del Piano

Menu

Selection of Cheese and Charcuterie

Italian Wedding Soup with Turkey Meat Balls

Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Fettuccini Bolognese and fresh shaved Parmesan

Dark Chocolate Dipped Hazelnut Biscotti with Limoncello Whipped Crème

The price for this event which includes dinner is $375 + tax.  For reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.  Please let us know when you make your reservations if you have any dietary restrictions and Chef Toni will be happy to accommodate you.

A bit about Valdicava

Valdicava is the name of the area that leads into the foothills of Montalcino.  To the left is the La Casa vineyard of Caparzo and to the right is Val Di Suga and the small hill in the middle of his property is the oldest vines planted on the property (1970) “Madonna del Piano”.   The Valdicava estate was one of the original members of the Brunello consortium, formed in 1967.  Like everyone else in the region the Abrusezzi family was trying to emulate the wines of Biondi Santi.  The early years were tough as the producers were feeling their way through production problems and many did not have the facility to produce outstanding wines.  The 1970’s saw a huge investment of newcomers in Montalcino.  The Cinzano vermouth firm, with Coco-Cola money behind it, headed a group that purchased Col d’Orcia, an estate that has produced wine for years.  Marchesi de Frescobaldi was involved with a group known as Enoviticola Senese, which had French, German, and Spanish investors as well.  Their estate, Castelgiocondo, brought out its first bottles in 1980, not all Brunello.  The most talked about outsider was the house of Banfi, the largest US importer of Italian wines, which had prepared some 1,000 acres of vines (only 125 of them in Montalcino) at a place called Poggio d’Oro, or “The golden Hill”.  With all this new activity the old timers like Valdicava were forced to continually improve their wines to keep up with the foreign talent.  Valdicava has been experimenting with rootstock and different clones of Sangiovese Grosso on their estate for the last thirty years and today they seem to have the winning combination.

Valdicava was one of the rising stars of the Brunello district in the 1990’s and today is considered one of the benchmark producers of this region.  The wines of this estate are the handy work of Vincenzo Abrusezzi.  Vincenzo is a perfectionist.  He will settle for nothing short of excellence and it shows in his work.  He has seen the big companies come in and make a huge impact in terms of recognition of his regions wines but loves the things about this region that make it unique.

This estate has been dedicated to quality from the very start with an ongoing experimentation of rootstock and clone selection refining every vintage of this wine.  The oldest vines on the property were planted in 1970 and the youngest in 2001.  Vincenzo Abrusezzi is one of the leaders in terms of progressive thinking and cutting edge viticulture in Montalcino today.  He has a no chemical/back to nature approach to viticulture at Valdicava and believes that the health of the vineyard is most important and that chemicals harm the long term the health of the soils.  They are a short-term/easy fix to a specific problem and can cause even bigger problems in the long run.

The vineyard is planted 3,000 vines per acre and the soil is a mixture of clay, sand, Galestro and this combination of different soil types, four different rootstocks and four different clones of Sangiovese make Valdicava one of the most unique wines made in Brunello.  Valdicava did years of research to find out which rootstock/clone combination did the best in each particular soil type and the new releases from this winery soundly prove that this is one of the top producers in Brunello Di Montalcino today. The winery produces on average 2,000 cases of Rosso di Montalcino, 2,000 cases of Brunello di Montalcino and 500 cases of the Riserva Brunello di Montalcino labeled “Madonna del Piano”.  Due to the limited production of these wines they can be very hard to find, especially when wine writers like Robert Parker Jr. giving praise to the effect of: "The 1995 Madonna Del piano is a candidate for wine of the vintage."  And even more impressive stating that:  “Vincenzo Abruzzesi is Montalcino’s number one over-achiever with winner after winner since 1988.  The secret – a willingness, indeed eagerness, to spend whatever it takes for quality in addition to utilizing several of Italy’s outstanding consultants, winemaker Attilio Pagli and agronomist Andrea Paoletti (the former Antinori vineyard manager).  Pagli is unfortunately little known to the larger public, but no oenologist in Italy has made so many excellent wines since the mid-1980’s.”