Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino 2017 (750ml)

 

Rated 93 Points by Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

 

This is the so-called "green label" Brunello with proprietor Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini's signature on the front of the bottle.  Her classic 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is sharp and tonic with wild raspberry, cassis, lilac, earth and garden herb.  There is a sweet note of sour cherry on the mid-weight finish.  This is an ample 160,000-bottle production made in a traditional approach with two years in casks made with both Slavonian and French oak.

 

Rated 93 Points by James Suckling

 

Plenty of sweet cherries and plums with some chocolate on both the nose and palate.  It’s medium-to full-bodied with medium to full tannins that are plush and succulent.  Fresh citrus to the fruit at the end.  Remains cool and layered.

 

Rated 91 Points by Wine Enthusiast

 

Pretty aromas of blue flowers and wild berries mix with new leather and botanical herbs.  On the linear, already approachable palate, fine-grained, polished tannins accompany juicy Morello cherry, star anise, crushed mint and mocha.  Drink through 2027.

 

Rated 90 Points by Wine Spectator

 

Bright fruit flavors mark this harmonious red, offering cherry, strawberry, eucalyptus and sanguine notes.  Lightly dusty tannins come to the fore as this winds down on the finish.  Best from 2024.

 

Rated 90 Points by Decanter

 

With diverse parcels throughout Montalcino, Caparzo is able to draw on each to assemble a harmonious expression of the vintage.  The 2017 Brunello even includes some grapes from the estate’s San Piero vineyards in the northeast, which are typically destined for the estate's Rosso.  It unfolds with appealing and quietly expressive notes of smoky grilled herbs, baked rock and glazed cherry.  There is a plush, syrupy orchard fruit sweetness on the palate with gentle, yielding tannins.  This is very ready.

 

Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino 2017

 

Caparzo produced its first vintage of Brunello di Montalcino in 1970, when the situation in Montalcino was very different than it is now.  At the time there were only 13 wineries in Montalcino, and this makes Caparzo one of the historic Brunello producers.  The distinguishing characteristic of Caparzo's Brunello di Montalcino is clearly the origin of its Sangiovese.  Indeed, the estate is one of the few in Montalcino that has vineyards in the various geographic areas of the Appellation.  What might seem to be just a detail is instead quite positive, because the different locations of Caparzo's vineyards allow the estate to draw the most from the different microclimates and terroirs present in Montalcino.  The grapes harvested from the vineyards in the various areas of the appellation are carefully selected to lay the foundations for a complex wine that brings together all of the characteristics that make Brunello one of the world's most sought after wines.

 

Winemaker Notes

 

Ruby red wine color, tending toward garnet with age, this wine offers complex, penetrating aromas of wild berry fruit.  On the palate, it is dry, firm, harmonious and delicate. 

 

Color:  Ruby, tending towards garnet with age. 

 

Bouquet:  Penetrating, ample, and very complex, with echoes of wild berry fruit.

 

Palate:  Dry, warm, firm, harmonious, delicate and austere, and persistent.

 

Food Pairings

 

Great with roasts, grilled and spit-roasted meats, game, braised meats and aged cheeses.

 

Serving Temperature:  18 °C, best if opened 1 - 2 hours before served

 

Area of Origin of the Grape

 

“Caparzo”, 220 meters above sea level in the northern part of the appellation; 8 hectares.  Terrains:  sandy-clayey Pliocene sediments.

 

“La Caduta”, 300 meters above sea level in the southwestern part of the appellation; 7 hectares. Terrains:  loosely packed stony arenaceous schist.

 

“Il Cassero”, 270 meters above sea level in the southern part of the appellation; 6 hectares. Terrain:  Pliocene sediments with sandy-stony or scisty-clayey matrix.

 

“San Piero – Caselle,” 250 meters above sea level in the eastern part of the appellation; 2 hectares.

Terrain:  sandy-clayey.

 

Harvest:  Manual.

 

Primary Fermentation:  During the first two days of the fermentation, special attention is paid to the seeds, which are eliminated if they are not ripe enough.  This operation is made possible by the cutting-edge technology of our fermentation tanks.  The primary fermentation takes 7 days, at controlled temperatures between 28 and 30 °C, and is followed by delestages and pump overs.  Because of the superb quality of the skins, the wine is kept in contact with them for a further 10/15 days.

 

Malolactic Fermentation:  Spontaneous, at a controlled temperature of 20-24 °C, immediately after racking.

 

Aging in Wood:  At least 2 Years.

 

Bottle Aging:  At least 4 months.

 

Alcohol Content:  14.5%

 

Aging Capacity:  More than 30 Years.

 

First Year Produced:  1970

 

 

Caparzo

 

“Sometimes some places, like some persons, attract your attention before you know why.  This was true for Caparzo.  Since I was a child I have dreamed of living in a place like this, immersed in the green, far from the chaos of big cities, where time seems to have stopped.  Several years have passed and the surrounding beauty still amazes me.  Montalcino is a set of smooth lines defended by the magnificence of the Amiata Mountain.  Series of hills flee everywhere without visible interruptions, shaped in different ways by streams and gulleys that reforge together in the grey clay.  The colours and perfumes of seasons in Val d’Orcia are unique: from barren clays to golden tuffs, from the dark vegetation of woods to the bright vegetation of vineyards, from the blue of watercourses to the silvery foliage of olive trees.  You can find all this in a glass of wine.  Montalcino is the land of Brunello, made only with Sangiovese grapes.  In no other place this vine is able to transmit at best the distinctive features of its terroir.  With Caparzo I had the chance to test myself with a great Tuscan wine and become acquainted with the pride of an ancient agriculture.  It is a constant commitment that fills me with pride.  Following the vines every day, seeing them grow, sprout and finally harvesting the fruit.  You are aware of having worked hard, without neglecting any detail, but at the end the land will be the one to decide.  And every year, every vintage time, you hope that the wine is the best one you have ever made.  Today I feel part of this world.  My land, my seasons and my efforts are found in my wine.  This is a feeling that repays all the work and all the efforts made for creating that bottle." 

 

The origins of the placename Caparzo are still unknown.  According to some people, the name should derive, as shown by ancient maps, from Ca’ Pazzo; according to others, the term should derive from the Latin Caput Arsum and should indicate a “place touched by the sun”.  The beginning of the history of Caparzo dates back to the end of the sixties, when a group of friends, fond of Tuscany and of wine, purchased an old ruin with vineyards at Montalcino.  We are at the dawning of Brunello di Montalcino, the Association has just been set up and the producers-bottlers are only 13.  The farm estate was renovated, modernised and new vineyards were planted.  In a short time, Caparzo was able to impose itself on the market of Brunello.  Thirty years passed from the first rows of vines and from the first cellar experiences.  In 1998, the farm estate came to a turning point when Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini purchased Caparzo.  She immediately carried out her objectives: combine tradition with innovation to create a high-quality wine, expression of an excellent territory, with the help of her son, Igino, and daughter, Alessandra.

 

 

Rated 91 Points by Wine Enthusiast

 

Pretty aromas of blue flowers and wild berries mix with new leather and botanical herbs.  On the linear, already approachable palate, fine-grained, polished tannins accompany juicy Morello cherry, star anise, crushed mint and mocha.  Drink through 2027.

 

 

 

Rated 90 Points by Wine Spectator

 

Bright fruit flavors mark this harmonious red, offering cherry, strawberry, eucalyptus and sanguine notes.  Lightly dusty tannins come to the fore as this winds down on the finish.  Best from 2024.