La Serena, Brunello di Montalcino

Still needs time to open. Not as full as it once was but still enjoyable.

2012 vintage

This is surprisingly youthful. A hint of some tertiary notes in the form of forest floor and some tar but the fruit is still there. Excellent balance of tannin and acid. Good now but can be held for a while longer too.

2012 vintage

Complex, rich, earthy and spicy. Nice combination with cooked beef and a delicate lasagna. It could still age a few years, maybe 3-5.

2012 vintage

Pronounced nose intensity with notes of leather, earth, black fruits, smoke.

2012 vintage

Rustic, warm, and a little bitter. Also structured and elegant, with a lovely strawberry note shining through the black fruit. Paired well with a pasta with the first tomatoes and eggplant of the season.

2012 vintage

Vibrant red color. Decanted about 1 hour off of a very fine sediment. Floral on the nose. On the palate, cherry and cola with iron and hints of tobacco leaf. There are still some tannins on the 60-second finish, but overall pretty well integrated. Drinking very well now, but has some years left. Paired with grilled NY strip steak, polenta, and zucchini—all in recognition of the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in Italy this weekend.

2012 vintage

Almost deep ruby with little signs of maturity. Leather, balsamic, oak, tar, cherry, earthy, bilberry, violet, burnt sugar, forest mushroom, rosehip, butter, perfume. Cola and raisin on palate. High acidity, high tannins, medium+ body. Elegant and powerful. Fantastic.

2012 vintage

During our tasting in the wineclub 6 bottles from Superiore.de went down the drain (including a second one of this), unfortunately this didn't come as a surprise :\

2012 vintage

Another flawed one from superiore.de. massive bitterness

2012 vintage

3 bottles in a row of this wine that were plagued by oxidation. Thank you very much for this, Superiore.de. We tried a La Serena riserva 2010, also purchased at the same moment from superiore.de, and this was also gravely oxidized

2012 vintage

Very smooth.

2012 vintage

I found its tartness/sourness offputting. D liked it better. <shrug>

2012 vintage

This is good Brunello, it had a lovely nose, chock full of cigar leaf, alot of concentration, decent mouthfeel and a reasonably long finish. Some pine needles, menthol, and pleasant herbal notes. A bit modest on the fruit. I think it's still a bit young, it's quite tannic, and although one could tell this was a quality wine, I wouldn't necessarily describe it as a wine that was easy to drink. My friends described it as a difficult wine and …

2012 vintage

This was quite powerful, with backbone and stature, though not too tightly wound and showing quite well. Held up very well on even the 3rd day. The power is of the charts with this, and makes it such a serious Brunello compared to so many others. I'll be on the look out for this producer again.

2012 vintage

Purchase from big box store #2 ($40) about 6 years ago. On the nose and palate, light-medium notes of mixed red and darker fruits, a bit hard to delineate, cedar, mixed spice, incense, tobacco, earthy herbality. Medium garnet, light to medium bodied, medium legs. Totally integrated tannins and acidity, no heat. Good complexity, medium+ persistence and intensity. As mentioned in quite a few other TNs over the past year or so, the ‘12 vintage BdMs (with the notable exception of …

2012 vintage

Medium to light bodied. Gripping tannins. Dusty fruit. Saddle, Copenhagen dip, fading fruit. Best with robust food.

2012 vintage

Corvined a glass. Terrific BdM. Pretty smooth and went well with london broil. Cherry tart flavors that were well blended.

2012 vintage

Passed through venturi and still needed 30 minutes in the glass to open up and show some fruit. Very nice oak and earthy notes balanced by the variety of berries. Full bodied.

2012 vintage

Bigger Bruno. 14.5% abv. Burnt Carmel, wet saddle leather, grippy tannins that I hope will integrate over time. Hope the fruit is there to make it work.

2012 vintage

Nose of luxardo cherry, cake icing, spice Flavor is sweet cherry, tobacco , leather With drying tannins and some lift from acidity and minerality

2012 vintage

Decanted for almost 4 hours. Aromas of roses, tar, raspberry, cherry and hint of chocolate. Flavors of tar, raspberry, cherry, iron and earth. Ends with a big finish of 35+ second finish with tar and earth notes. This still had some tannin on it and needs more time to resolve.

2012 vintage

Has become one of my favorite Brunello producers year in and out (and I have tasted molti Brunelli). In a good place now. A very good representative of the 2012 vintage.

2012 vintage

good, not great. Nice mouthfeel but not much fruit to it. Smooth, well-balanced

2012 vintage

Full bodied, round, long, a bit austere.

2012 vintage

So tannic as to be astringent.

2012 vintage

Good mid-week bottle. Nothing disparaging.

2012 vintage

Down from last time. Still, great wine to accompany a pizza. The food moderated the seemingly high tannins.

2012 vintage

Spicy, prickly nose before the dark cherry and raspberry fruit . Cherry, tar, menthol lead this. Fine grained tannins, a little hot. Some spicy notes. Rich and with depth. Not bad, not bad at all.

2011 vintage

Good bottle. Excellent QPR. PnPd. Needs more time to open, or more years in the cellar to blend flavors. Good fruit and acid. All the right ingredients; just needs more time.

2012 vintage

Delicious earthy and cherry fruit flavors, touch of sandalwood and leather. Finishes dry with more cherry fruit and earthy note. Drink now and into 2021.

2012 vintage

Decanted for an hour. Herbs and spices more prominent than the fruit. An interesting BdM with dinner that I greatly enjoyed.

2011 vintage

Decanted for 1 hour. Aromas of rose petal, tar, cherry, iron and eucalyptus. Flavors of cherry, tar, raspberry, touch of chocolate and some iron. Ends with tar and cherry infused finish of 25+ seconds. This still has some tannins o resolve so a really long decant or short term cellaring is warranted. Agree with Wine Spectator's assessment of this wine. This is a beautiful Brunello to drink while the 2010 and 2012 mature.

2011 vintage

Really a nice Brunello now. I guess someone drank at a wrong time. It comes together now. Good dark fruits, smooth tannins, soft, approachable, good finish too.

2011 vintage

The La Serena got such acclaim for their 2010 that I decided to buy a few of the 2011s hoping for a little carryover from the prior year. Plus it is affordable enough to experiment. With the 2011 disappearing from the shelves for the 2012, we decided to try a bottle just in case we wanted more. Short answer--we don't. Wine Spectator said "eucalyptus, juniper" and I can agree that was there but not in a pleasing way. Somewhat medicinal. …

2011 vintage

As good a Rosso di Montalcino as I've had. Love the pure Sangiovese red fruit, with tomato, herb and earth, transports me to Tuscany, there is no mistaking this wine. Great value, will seek more. Have the 2010 Brunello, which I am very much looking forward to, in 5-10 yrs.

2012 vintage

Very aromatic, dark, oak driven wine. The nose is very complex; some blueberry, lavender, coffee, all wrapped in a rich, dark essence of sweet toasted oak. The wood adds darker, charred streak to the ripe fruit, giving the wine drying and slightly bitter tannins in the finish. On the second day, the wine shows more ripe strawberry taste, earthiness, and vanilla. Aromatically complex, opulent wine that might be missing the minerality and nuance.

2011 vintage

Has an interesting taste but wasn't what I was hoping for.

2011 vintage

A bit more earthy, dirt, lack of delicious acidity I was looking for, but it isn't bad. Of course it can not compare to phenomena 2010, but not bad.

2011 vintage

Good fruit but very one dimensional

2011 vintage

(BBR Italy 2016) :: Dense, concentrated nose, but quite bunched, malformed and hard to discerne. A slight medicinal note. Not sure...

2011 vintage

Floral but also vegetal. Strange, drying, unbalanced, vegetal. 85-87

2011 vintage

A coravin'd glass tasted at the winery, this opens with some funky earthen aromas, and shows the telltale heat and dryness of the vintage with lightly roasted character before moving to grass, ferrous and clay notes. The wine is medium-bodied with medium(-) acidity and a medium finish. Nothing too complex, but the vintage was really quite brutal, so that's to be expected. Still, this should rest for 1-2 years minimum, and drink well for another 5-6 years after that. 14,5% …

2011 vintage

This wine didn't do it for me. I realize that I may be spoiled from the opportunity of tasting all of the really great 2010's. I even know some of y'all laughed at me, but I was onto something. 2010 is indeed a spectacular vintage. I am just thankful this didn't ruin my taste buds.

2011 vintage

Are you sure?

La Serena, Brunello di Montalcino

Vintages

No vintages

Community Reviews