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| ~ The Castle Poggio Alle Mura ~ |
I stood in the vineyard. I smelled the air, the vines; I reached down to let the dirt run through my hand and then allowed the residual dust to permeate the air around me. A soft rain began to fall and seemed to introduce yet another array of aromas. This is the Poggio Alle Mura vineyard. Gentle slopes extending from the walls of the Castello where clonal optimization has provided the perfect environment for Sangiovese Grosso. Planted in 1992, the vineyard is just shy of its 25th birthday. Yet when the subject of today’s article was produced, the vines were only 15 years old. The best from this vineyard is yet to come.
I wax poetic about the vineyard in an effort to create a sort of visualization of the environment so that the reader can perhaps get a better experience of the way this wine presents itself in the glass.
The 2006 Castello Banfi Poggio Alle Mura Brunello is a masterpiece. Crafted from 100% Sangiovese that is vinified in Castello Banfi’s hybrid fermentors, the wine is then enhanced 90% in French Barrique and 10% in Slavonian Botte before it is blended, bottle aged for 12 months, and ultimately released.
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| ~ The patented oak and steel hybrid fermentors used for Castello Banfi’s premium wines ~ |
We decanted the wine for about 45 minutes and it sang right from the start. The aromas are developing nicely and feature a laser of crushed wild berry, pipe tobacco, flowers, and that overall Tuscan terroir I attempted to describe earlier; dusty red dirt, minerals, cypress, wet stones, it’s complex and intriguing. On the palate the wine is sensational. It’s aristocratic and modern without losing it’s soul, which is Brunello! This full bodied wine has layers of berry and cherry notes backed by coffee, earth, tobacco and fresh herbs. Anise, cured meat and spice notes are peppered throughout. Fresh acidity, lovely balance and well integrated tannins that are still slightly chewy round out the picture. While I loved this with fennel crusted, stuffed pork loin, I believe this wine will continue to improve. Try one now if you’ve got a couple, otherwise wait another 2-3 years. Exceptional effort. 97 points. Pricing varies from $60-$80 so shop wisely.
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| ~ A stunning Brunello that is becoming one of the regions benchmarks ~ |
Salute!
John, I'm with you and JS on these wonderful wines; it was almost four years ago now that I tasted my first Alle Mura (2006), and I believe at that time I had given a score of 95 points while many others couldn't get past 92 points (one of the reasons I believe that a wine lover needs to judge with a grain-of-salt some of these reviews, mine included, but your updated score for a maturing wine demonstrates nicely what happens when a great wine is cellared.
Great write-up!
Thanks Dennis and this is one of the reasons folks like us have added value. It's so hard evaluating these wines when they are young and newly released. Providing data points as the wine matures is a valuable asset. Traditional print media will do retrospectives, but typically only at 10 years intervals. I like to re-visit wines a few times and share my experience. Thanks for your support!