2006 Brunello: The Emperor’s New Clothes or Historic Vintage?

by Antonio Galloni

I can’t think of another region in the world that needs a great vintage more badly than Montalcino. Still reeling from the 2003 blending scandal, plummeting prices and a tarnished reputation, Montalcino desperately needs to get back on track, and the 2006 might just be the vintage that makes that happen. Interest in the 2006 Brunellos is by far the highest I have seen for any Italian wine since I joined The Wine Advocate, coincidentally that same year. Many of the 2006s were highly promising from the moment I began following them in barrel. Now that the wines are in bottle, it is clear most producers captured the full potential of this great harvest. While a sizeable number of the top wines are truly stunning, the vintage’s quality is best judged by looking at the second and third-tier producers, many of whom made wines that are above their historical standard. As always, there are a handful of underachievers. There are two possible explanations for disappointments in 2006; the vintage isn’t as great as it had been expected (or hyped) to be or, this is the ultimate proof that not all of Montalcino is suited to making wines of first-class pedigree. Increasingly it is obvious that it is the latter rather than the former that explains why some wines aren’t as exciting as they should be. At its best, though, 2006 is a benchmark vintage for Brunello di Montalcino. Readers will not want to miss these fabulous wines.

In general the best 2006s are big, powerful Brunelli with beautifully delineated aromatics, great concentration of fruit and plenty of structure. There are significant differences between the northern and southern parts of the zone, once again demonstrating that Montalcino really must be considered as a group of smaller appellations. The wines of the north are generally more linear, focused and aromatic, while the wines of the south tend to favor a riper, warmer expression of fruit.

As is typically the case, most of the very finest wines were made by Montalcino’s small, artisan growers, including Stella di Campalto, Pian dell’Orino, Costanti, Uccelliera, Fuligni, Salvioni, Poggio di Sotto, Soldera, Cerbaiona, Valdicava, Siro Pacenti and Casanova di Neri. These are Montalcino’s equivalents of Mugnier, Roumier, de Vogüé, Dugat, Dugat-Py, Rousseau, Dujac, Clair and Fourrier, to name a handful of Burgundy’s superstar producers.