BRUNELLO RISERVA 2018 IN THE TOP 10 BY VINUM
NEW SUCCESS FOR BRUNELLO RISERVA 2018 BY DONATELLA CINELLI COLOMBINI , AMONG THE TOP 10 CHOSEN BY VINUM MAGAZINE AND THE GREAT CHRISTIAN EDER
Vinum top 10- Brunello Riserva 2018 by Donatella Cinelli Colombini
Vinum is the most important wine magazine in German. This magazine often dedicates monographic issues to a region with profiles of characters and tastings. In this case the protagonist of the magazine is Tuscany. Violante Gardini Cinelli Colombini newly elected President of the Movimento Turismo del Vino – Wine Tourism Movement is among the profiles described at the beginning while our Brunello Riserva 2018 is among the 10 TOP wines of this type.
VINUM AND CHRISTIAN EDER
As always, the scores are not very high, German culture is always sparing in its judgments and does not reach 1000/100 with the same enthusiasm as American critics. For Germans, perfection is a philosophical concept that almost requires something close to a miracle.
For this reason, the TOP 10 of Brunello Riserva 2018 are between 96 and 94 out of 100, that is, closely positioned. Overall, the best Brunello Riservas proposed by Vinum are 25 and three of them come from the area where Casato Prime Donne is located. A circumstance that demonstrates the growth in the qualitative potential of this corner of Montalcino which, twenty years ago, was too cool and now manages to express itself at a high level even in rainy years like 2018.
VINUM’S DESCRIPTIVE SHEET OF VINUM FOR THE BRUNELLO RISERVA 2018
The descriptive sheet of Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s Brunello Riserva is a palette of emotions, aromas and flavours. It is written by Christian Eder, director of Vinum. He is one of the greatest connoisseurs of Italian wine and of Brunello having explored the territory almost inch by inch.
His description begins by indicating the period in which the wine will express itself at the top of its potential: between 2026 and 2035. From this, the excellent vocation for aging of this vintage is already clear. <<I like it very much even now and I consider it one of the best wines I have ever produced>> comments Donatella.
Eder’s description continues and is very beautiful and precise << It begins with a lot of spirit on notes of stone fruit, sandalwood and violets; the fresh and juicy start, the perfectly integrated acidity, the tannins are of excellent quality, impeccable. Nice evolution on the palate with dark fruit flavours>>.
BRUNELLO RISERVA 2018 BY DONATELLA CINELLI COLOMBINI RATINGS
Donatella Cinelli Colombini’s Brunello Riserva 2018 was awarded 94/100 by Vinum and previously obtained the same score from Vinous and Wine Enthusiast, 92/100 from Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator.
HOW AND WHERE DONATELLA CINELLI COLOMBINI’S RISERVA 2018 IS BORN
To understand the origin of these characters it is useful to repeat some contents present in the wine sheet. 2018 follows a year of extreme heat and therefore everyone welcomed the insistent spring rains with joy. In the summer the storms continued, making the winemakers work a lot and worrying the cellar workers because the bunches, and especially the grapes, were too big. Furthermore, a disturbance of Nordic origin at the end of August had stiffened the grapes. In September the positive turning point: sunny days brought the grapes back to their optimal size, progressively softening the skins. To favour the action of the sun, the vines were stripped. The Sangiovese grapes for the 2018 Brunello Riserva were harvested on October 1st.
It is worth explaining how the harvest is planned at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino. The vineyards surround the winery. They are on 4 different types of soil and with different exposure. During maturation the grapes are analysed to follow the evolution of sugars, acids and polyphenols, therefore the noble materials contained in the skin. Shortly before the harvest, the oenologists taste the grapes and divide the vineyards into small areas with the same level of ripeness. The calendar and “geography” of the harvest is decided on the basis of this tasting and the weather forecast. First of all, the winemakers decide the day on which to pick the best grapes, destined to become Brunello Riserva, and build the entire harvesting program around that date.
2018 twentieth century style harvest with the grapes for the Brunello Riserva harvested last to capture every ray of sunshine and pick very small bunches and berries. The Brunello of this vintage is characterized by a particular richness of aromas thanks to the cold nights of the entire maturation period and by the evident vocation for long aging.