As is well known, for Montalcino and all wine enthusiasts February means “Benvenuto Brunello”, the event which will be held from 15 to 18 February in the cloisters of the Sant’ Agostino Complex. On 24 January, a tasting was held in the Brunello Consortium headquarters, where a panel of experts gave their evaluations for classification of the vintage. From early indications gathered, evaluations appear more than encouraging, even though, when we’re talking about Brunello, results are seen in the long term. Just a few more days and we will discover the stars assigned to Brunello di Montalcino 2018, which, as is traditional, will be celebrated on a tile to be placed on the façade of the historic Town Hall.
“An important day, – said Patrizio Cencioni, President of the Vino Brunello di Montalcino Consortium – we have evaluated the most recent vintage and I am very satisfied. I want to thank all the participants and the experts who work for Montalcino. We had around 40 experts and 44 samples representing the entire area”.
As far as the President is concerned, first impressions are positive. “I’m satisfied with what were the characteristics of the wines, great quality that comes from care both in the vineyard and in the fermentation stage. We are confident of a good result”. Opinions expressed also by Riccardo Viscardi, deputy editor of the DoctorWine guide. “The basic concept is that by now the average quality of these Montalcino wines is very high, and so even vintages that have suffered unfavourable weather conditions are very well interpreted. For example, the 2014 vintage that I finished tasting recently produced some surprises despite it having been a difficult year. I must say that also for 2018, with its strange contrasts, there are some very interesting things in these samples, and some a little less so, but they are wines which we will see in five years. So there is time”. “It’s not one of the vintages considered exceptional, – said oenologist Paolo Vagaggini – a good, average level vintage. Now we’ll see the final evaluation we have given after adding up all the tasters’ scores. Without doubt what will be evident is good work done in the cellar and the vineyard in a year when the weather was not particularly clement”.
With regard to Benvenuto Brunello: tickets are already available for purchase online. At this link you can get your tickets for Saturday 16, Sunday 17 and Monday 18 February (Friday 15 February is press day). Trade visitors should register for accreditation by completing the form you can find here.