2010 Tenuta di Capezzana Carmignano Trefiano Riserva 750 ml

2010 Capezzana Carmignano Trefiano — Voluptuous Riserva from the Apennine Ridge

If you missed VinItaly 2016 in April, that’s too bad. When it comes to throwing a large-scale wine party, nobody does it as well as the Italians. As always, we set aside an entire day for Tuscany. We spent an hour with the Antinoris, tasting new releases of Solaia and Tignanello. Our late-morning appointment with Paolo de Marchi of Isole e Olena included a taste of one of the finest Cepparellos ever made. But it may well have been our afternoon appointment with Capezzana that was most memorable of all.

Why does this superb estate situated in one of Tuscany’s smallest appellations always draw a crowd at VinItaly? Just 20 kilometers west of Florence, Carmignano’s microclimate is unique to Tuscany. The Apennine ridge that runs along the border of Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna acts as a thermal buffer, protecting Capezzana’s manicured hillsides from the elements. While the region’s days are cooler than those of Chianti Classico and Montalcino, nights are warmer, making Carmignano ideal for the growing of rich, broad-shouldered Cabernet Sauvignon. But if the top estates of Brunello had a field day in 2010, the Contini Bonacossi family’s Capezzana shined like never before.

Here’s why.

The winter of 2010 was cold and wet, with snow falling in Carmignano until mid-March. Accordingly, flowering was pushed back nearly two weeks from the norm. In July, the weather shifted into high gear, as Capezzana’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese were treated to plenty of blue skies and high temperatures. The secret to the laser-like precision of the 2010s came in the following months. The rain returned in August, again slowing down the maturation cycle, but then September and October were magnificent, with daytime highs flirting with 90 degrees as nighttime lows tumbled into the mid-50s. That dramatic diurnal temperature shift nursed both late-maturing varieties to extreme ripeness while still retaining the bracing acidity that makes 2010 the most age-worthy Tuscan vintage in over two decades.

The 2010 Capezzana Trefiano Riserva is breathtaking, a big-boned powerhouse that understandably outdistanced dozens of 2010 Brunello Riservas priced at over $100/bottle! Brilliant dark-ruby, infused with lavish aromas of crushed black raspberry, black cherry, pine needles, sweet spice, smoke and underbrush. Deeply concentrated, velour-like in texture, brooding and voluptuous, the core is packed with black raspberry preserves, a splash of kirsch, all framed by sneaky Tuscan tannins that argue for 10-15 years of cellar slumber.

One of the truly GREAT Riservas of the landmark 2010 vintage in Tuscany. Elsewhere: $58. $40/bottle today ONLY on WineAccess. 150 cases imported, 50 of which have been earmarked for WineAccess.