2001 Brunello di Montalcino

Lisini is another beautiful rural estate located close to the hamlet of Sant'Angelo in Colle. The estate produces an excellent range of wines, including its flagship bottling, the Brunello Ugolaia. During my recent visit I had the opportunity to spend some time tasting the recent releases and walking through the vineyards with Filippo Paoletti who handles the day-to-day winemaking duties under the direction of oenologist Franco Barnaby. The Rosso is made from our youngest vines and those parcels that in any given vintage don't give us the results we are looking for in our Brunello. It is aged for 8 months in mid-size 11 hectoliter barrels. Our Brunello is made from our oldest vines, with yields averaging 50-55 quintals per hectare. It is aged 36 months in a variety of casks ranging from 35-50 hectoliters,” says Paoletti. The estate's top bottling, Ugolaia, is made from a small plot measuring just 1.5 hectares and located behind the estate's main buildings. It is a beautiful vineyard, with a higher density of 5,400 plants per hectare and an average age of 25 years for the vines. “The Ugolaia vineyard is planted with two clones that give very small bunches. The fruit here offers exceptional concentration, although the wines tend to be less aromatic.” “The 2001 vintage was challenging for us as the April frost wiped out 40% of our production. Although frosts are not unusual for us, they seldom are that dramatic. Luckily the rest of the season was fairly uneventful. It was a late-ripening vintage, and we are quite happy with the wines,” adds Paoletti. Of the wines I tasted I thought the regular Brunello in vintage 2001 was the most complete as it had everything; expressive aromatics, plenty of fruit, fine balance and much upside potential. The Ugolaia offers more concentration of fruit and notable length, but it is also a less complete, more one-dimensional wine in its expression and overall balance.