2009 Valdicava Brunello Di Montalcino Madonna Del Piano Riserva

(95 Points)

The 2009 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano is an expressive and articulate wine that speaks highly of Sangiovese and the Montalcino territory. The wine offers a pristine narrative of both grape and place with crystalline aromas of cherry, blackberry, spice, leather, smoke and Mediterranean herb. The bouquet peels back one delicious layer at a time. The mouthfeel is similarly successful with deep concentration and complexity. It imparts soft layers of dried fruit and velvety tannins. Endnotes of espresso bean and toasted almond add length and momentum. There's even spot of chewy sweetness that is typical of the warm 2009 vintage.

Vincenzo Abbruzzese's Valdicava presents a fantastic tag team of wines representing the 2009 and 2010 vintages respectively. Both wines are delicious although I will note the earthy-gamy note in the base Brunello that prevented me from scoring it higher. My hesitation is that it might become more pronounced with aging.  eRobertParker.com #217, Feb 2015

Wine Watch Score: This is a single vineyard wine made from the oldest vines on the property, there are only a few hundred cases of this wine produced and only in outstanding vintages. The 2009's are a bit forward and for Valdicava that is a good thing because these wines are usually very backward and need a lot of time in the cellar so a forward vintage means that you can enjoy them much sooner. A dazzling array of cherry and blackberry fruit, liqueur like in richness with an array of exotic spices, leather, dried meats, smoke and a mix of Mediterranean herbs on the nose. A good amount of fruit showing here on the tongue and a lot of tannins here as well, ripe and round with a full hand of that spice and herbs from the nose through the finish along with tongue tingly minerality leading into a long layered finish. This wine still needs time but has all the right stuff in proper proportion. Finish 50+ KILLER