2011 Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino 750 ml

Practicing Patience in Montalcino: Parker’s 96pt Brunello of the Year

If you’re a Brunello enthusiast, or even if you’re a serious Burgundy collector, you know that the 2011 vintage in Montalcino gave birth to a handful of fabulously seductive Sangioveses, some of which actually outpoint the stellar 2010s.

At our comprehensive tasting of 2011 Brunelli di Montalcino, we evaluated wines from nearly 50 estates. A majority of the wines tasted are delicious on release, and will continue add weight and complexity over the next 5-7 years. A handful of 2011 Brunelli are absolutely extraordinary, marrying lavish red-fruit plushness with fine dusty-tannin backbone. The 2011 Le Potazzine Gorelli was not only our top wine of the vintage, it’s also Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate’s #1 Brunello of the Year. Here’s why.

From December 2010-March 2011, temperatures were much higher than usual, but there was barely a drop of rain or flake of snow. Bud break and flowering came very early, and the beginning of summer signaled another departure from the norm. Typically warm and sunny in Montalcino, June was cool and cloudy. In a decision that would dictate the fate of estates in 2011, some growers panicked and began dropping leaves and opening up canopies in the hopes of spiking maturity. At Le Potazzine, the Gorellis’ patience led them to leave canopies intact, a decision that would pay enormous dividends two months later.

Around August 10th, a blast of dry heat blew in from northern Africa. In just a few days, fully exposed clusters were scorched and, as nighttime highs hovered in the 80s, many vineyards suffered from dehydration. The mature, deep-rooted vines of Le Potazzine were sheltered by canopies that had been left intact. While neighbors rushed to pick blistered clusters, the Gorellis felt no such urgency, and delayed the call to harvest. When that call was finally made, the family’s Sangiovese had reached near-perfect phenolic maturity, making for a 2011 vintage at Le Potazzine that outpointed 2010!

The Wine Advocate posted a glowing review of the 2011 Potazzine just a week ago. After spending three hours with a bottle last night, it’s not too difficult to understand why. Deep ruby-red. Extravagant, intensely concentrated aromas of black raspberry, violets, black cherry, anise, and sweet spice. Silken in texture, polished and pliant, infused with a mouthwatering mix of crushed-red-fruit preserves, black cherry, and a splash of kirsch, finishing with terrific freshness, tension, and vibrancy. The Wine Advocate suggests drinking this magnificent Brunello between 2017 and 2030. Based on our tasting notes from last evening, that may well be a conservative estimate of the 2011 Le Potazzine’s longevity.

96 points from The Wine Advocate, the highest rating of the 2011 vintage. $75 on release. $59 today. 480 bottles are up for grabs, each shipped directly from the cellars in Montalcino.