By Antonio Galloni

2001 Brunello Vintage

This year marks the release of the much-anticipated 2001 Brunellos from Montalcino. There is much to be excited about as the vintage offers an array of outstanding wines. The best 2001 Brunellos are characterized by rich aromatics and generous, ripe fruit, with excellent structure and fine, elegant tannins. Although many wines are clearly built to age I also tasted quite a few that are drinking beautifully right now. Readers should not ignore the 2004 Rossos, the best of which are also outstanding. There are many styles of Rosso, from wines meant for simple quaffing to more serious wines that can give some Brunellos a run for their money. Vintage 2004 is shaping up to be the next first-rate Brunello vintage and consumers can already get a sense of what those wines will be like by exploring the area’s top Rossos.

The 2001 vintage featured a wet winter and spring which allowed the plants to build water reserves. In mid-April a frost affected much of the zone, drastically reducing production for many estates. Throughout the summer the days were hot and the nights cool, providing the conditions Sangiovese needs mature slowly, without an accelerated accumulation of sugars. “2001 is a historic vintage for Brunello, second in its importance only to 1985,” says veteran oenologist Attilio Pagli who has been making wines in Montalcino since 1983. “Our summer was hot, although not as extreme as 2003.  Temperatures tended to cool off during the evenings and every few weeks we got a couple of days of rain which helped restore balance to the vines. If you were to ask me what the ideal conditions are for a great vintage, it would be exactly those we had in 2001.”