Fontodi, Flaccianello delle Pieve, Colli della Toscana Centrale

Well balanced

2004 vintage

Drunk in magnum format. Absolutely the proper time to drink, holding will not do anything more for this wine. Juicy with deep flavors of tobacco and leather, truly one of the great Tuscan wines.

2005 vintage

An off bottle, I assume. Spicy, maderized flavors, but not at all flabby; in fact, the acids are quite bright. Bought on release and well-stored. I have another bottle. Very tempted to open it soon to make the comparison between bottles clearer.

2004 vintage

Cheapy wines at Berend. First bottle of an auction lot, always a bit tricky. Nose was quite funky and on the palate a bit aged. But when we combined it with deer, it completely opened up. Needed the meaty iron taste to even out. Smaller glas was appropriate.

1997 vintage

This bottle was over the hill

2005 vintage

Over nine years since my previous bottle and time has been kind to this one, as expected. Drank side by side, single blind, with 2004 Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie. Deep garnet, translucent. Mid red fruit, wild forest strawberries. Palate was balanced, elegant . tannins nearly resolved but no lack of structure. Long finish. Ready but no need to rush. I could not pick a preference. Different wines, but equally satisfying. (94)

2004 vintage

At first open, I was thinking it may be solidly past prime and we’d need to open something else, but I think I actually whooped at fifteen minutes in when it really started to show off. This is gorgeous. Dried rose petal, tomato leaf, cranberry, black tea, and a touch of forest floor. Astounding. I was nervous after popping, but this showed better than expected. Certainly wouldn’t keep much longer but beautiful now. Drank with that weird Trader Joe’s black …

1985 vintage

Deep brick red. Still some nice red fruits balsamic notes and a hint of bred or some vegetable notes. Full bodied well integrated acidity and tannins very long finish.

1997 vintage

Wow, just wow. Purple fading to garnet with slight rim variation, medium+ tearing and staining. The nose is unbelievably primary with blue and purple fruits leading the way; blackcurrant, blueberry compote, mission fig, brambly blackberry. Dried basil, oregano, and bay leaf, also dried rose and violet. Saddle leather, dried mushroom, and turned soil. The palate is dominated by its structure: silky tannin, medium+ acid, and a full body that coats the mouth. Fruit and tertiary notes carry through, with a …

2004 vintage

Lingering layered berry and earth; complex and smooth with long sweet finish.

1997 vintage

Lovely as a byob to ci diamonds in nyc. Opened and didn’t decant for about 45 min. (If at him and sediment can settle for a couple of days, decant.) lovely dark color - does not look like a 28 year old wine. Fresh tasting with nice fruit and acidity and liveliness that are surprising with its age. Nice finish! Not that familiar with flaccianello ( only one other try in Tuscany) but love Sangiovese and am now more than …

1997 vintage

Rich black cherry fruit laden, soft tannins, well balanced - just about at it's zenith now.

1997 vintage

Pale red with some bricking. High toned nose of red fruits and herbs. Mature but no sense of decline. Long on palate with good acidity and ripe tannins. Drink now or hold for a few more years. Had at same meal with ornellaia 97 which showed more ripe character and its lower proportion of Sangiovese. Ornellaia is a bigger, more complete and complex wine with better overall balance and interest but the flaccianello was delicious and was a better match …

1997 vintage

Balanced earth, mellow and semi sweet soft cherry and raspberry; long finish.

1997 vintage

Big Tuscan wine dinner with Italian wine pairings. This is the half lineup - the contraband - because I need to confirm the other bottles (there are a couple specifics, related to Umbria, that require verification). An incredible night for many reasons! I brought the Gaja (white) and Ciacci Piccolomini. I also need to track down the Vin Santo. 2021 Ca' Marcanda (Gaja) Vistamare [94] 2000 Gaja Langhe Conteisa [97] 2004 Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve [95] 2019 Ciacci Piccolomini Brunello …

2004 vintage

Excellent with earthy flavors. Great balance with cigar box and leather.

1997 vintage

Cloudy crimson with floral aromas of candied cherries, strawberries, leather, sweet chocolate. Mature, monolithic, but balanced and displaying ample sweet fruit. Just what it should be at this point.

1997 vintage

Popped and poured, drank over 2 days. Dark ruby color at the core, garnet at the rim. Nose of dark cherries, some spice and slight tea and floral notes. This bottle packed a punch with lots of acid and tannins, but overall, still in good balance. For me, Tuscan tannins usually associated with rusticity, but the tannins in this bottle, while not elegant, were as smooth and integrated as any vintage of Flaccianello that I've had in the recent past. …

2004 vintage

PNP at dinner. Definitely should have decanted it at least 2+ hours. I remember drinkinng the same bottle around fall of last year in LA outdoor lunch. Also did PNP then. What a mistake. I remember being a bit warm that day and the lunch was relatively quick. Wine seemed muted and not as good as I had expected. So this time around, I thought the same may happen. Initially, it did the same thing and I thought this just …

2004 vintage

Nose was soft on pop and pour and with air it became very lush, very smooth and elegant and absolutely ready to drink. My previous note 14 years ago evoked memories of it being dense and full of weight whereas this is now lithe and suave, a very different experience. In a way it would’ve been great to have tasted a bottle a few years back to really understand its evolution.

2004 vintage

GH Memorial Dinner (La Trompette) : Very generously shared from double magnum. By this stage I was well served so hard to provide detailed feedback - some discussion over whether this was wine of the lunch, for me the 05 Montrose took that spot but I could see the point. This is fully balanced now, tannins are politely holding everything in place, there's good fruit and acidity and it just keeps going.

2004 vintage

Graham's Memorial Dinner (La Trompette) : Double-magnum. Flaccianello of this era can be flabby with excessive extraction, or nowadays approaching overmaturity, but absolutely not this one (I'm sure the format helped). Pleasingly fresh, taut and crisp, though with a touch of truffle. Intense fruit perfectly mellowed, with a magnificent finish - just delicious. Really great that the whole room was able to share this; thanks Chris.

2004 vintage

Je l'ai trouvé un poil moins attractif qu'en février.Mais cela reste un très grand vin néanmoins avec des effluves remarquables tant au nez qu'en bouche.Mêmes caractéristiques voir mon commentaire.Ma dernière bouteille.

2005 vintage

Popped and poured, surprisingly fresh, complex and extremely long. Held nicely for such an aged wine. It checks all the boxes for an aged super Turcan. Enjoy by 2030.

1997 vintage

SangioFest, Volume III "It's my favourite spot" (Chicago, IL) : Have never had particularly good luck or experiences with Flaccianello, but this was a bottle that may very well have broken that streak of bad luck. For the mediocre vintage, I was impressed with the purity of fruit here. There's no overripeness nor desiccation here, with the black fruit profile showing quite clean and precise. Not particularly oaky either -- perhaps that oak really does integrate with time.

1997 vintage

Acquired new. Absolutely wonderful and why we love Italian wines. I do not share the enthusiasm for a long life ahead and believe it is fully mature with fruit not as vigorous as a prior bottle last year and suggest no more than 5 years at the most.

1999 vintage

Impressive bouquet, deep elegant and well balanced. Full bodied with excellent finish

2005 vintage

Whole vintage fruit with pronounced acidity. 92

1997 vintage

Un grand vin toscan,le fruit des vieilles vignes du domaine.100% sangiovese.Robe encore très sombre malgré les 18 ans.Arômes floraux (rose fanée),de fruits rouges et noirs (cerise,prune,baies noires),épices,un côté terreux aussi (sous-bois,feuilles mortes) bref grande complexité au rendez-vous.Que dire du palais sinon qu'il est somptueux:c'est sexy,sensuel,c'est dy taffetas,de la soie,du velours.D'une élégance superlative sans manquer de consistance.Je l'ai préféré au 2006 bu récemment mais je l'ai trouvé aussi plus avancé dans son évolution.Il est parfait maintenant et ne gagnera plus rien …

2005 vintage

Complex and changing nose but mostly with black cherries, black tea and spices. First a lot of acidity(too much for me), but it comes together after an hour and turns into a fresh, balanced and quite subtle medium bodied wine, with dense sweet cherries to balance the acidity and a pretty long finish. Much better than than some years ago and when you dig into it, theres a touch of class.

2004 vintage

Was worried this would be a let down given my first bottle was corked, but this one has aged perfectly. Fully integrated tannins, cigar box on the nose with remarkably lively dark fruit for a wine this age.

1997 vintage

I have been a fan of this wine since the 1990 vintage. This was, unfortunately, my last bottle of the 1990 and it has been a long time since I had the previous 1990. It needed about 10-15 minutes to clean up on the nose but then it was a crowd pleaser. Medium garnet colour, slightly opaque. Pure Sangiovese nose of forest floor and dark cherry. There is a lot of complexity to the nose and kept changing over the …

1990 vintage

Another late in the day bottle that I barely remember. General impression only.

2004 vintage

Double decanted about 12 hours before service due to the day's travel. Deep garnet color. Aromas of cedar, black fruit and florals. More red-fruited than dark on the palate, but nicely balanced and drinking well. Now through 2028. 91-92 pts.

2004 vintage

Crimson in color. 13.5% ABV. Beautiful nose of red fruits, leather, cigar box and wet leaves. Medium body with perfect acidity. Remarkable structure at 26 years of age. Incredibly elegant. Cherries, blood, tobacco and earth on the palate. The finish is long and silky. Stunning Flaccianello from a great vintage that has aged brilliantly. Best over the next several years.

1997 vintage

On the way down, but still a wonderful wine. Dark fruit, dark/red cherries, leather, some earthy notes. Decent structure on day 1.

1997 vintage

Medium Cherry red with tawny rim. Shy nose, palate is quite dry with soft tannins, soft red fruity flavours with damson, blackberry and rose hip showing through. Developed complexity and softened to be much improved the following day.

1997 vintage

Drinking very well. Pure Sangiovese with smooth tannins. In a good place.

2005 vintage

Opened about two hours prior to service and allowed to breathe. Two bottles were opened tonight from the same cellar and both corks showed some saturation but only through the first 1/3. No formal notes. The 1999 Flaccianello pours a youthful ruby color with a slightly garnet rim and some signs of sediment though nothing I would describe as unusual. This is an absolutely delightful Flaccianello that I would still describe as “developing”. A mix of red and dark fruits …

1999 vintage

Beautiful brick color, reminiscent of a Barbaresco. Very smooth, really nice acidity and well integrated tannins. Sour cherry and plum on the palate and then leather and some mushroom. Really nice.

1999 vintage

Elegant cherry fruit with expressive tertiary aromas like sewer, forest floor and lots of spices. Great intensity and length. Lovely wine! Seems to be fully evolved and provides a lovely drinking experience!

2004 vintage

A bit too ripe on the nose. Not the best bottle.

2004 vintage

First of 6 bought at auction hoping there was still some life left and man did this deliver! Brief comments to be followed (hopefully) by a proper review next bottle. Opened at restaurant and Somm surprisingly recommended decant, properly to remove the heavy sediment that we could see through the glass. When the wine was finally poured we could smell it as it sat in the glass on the table! Profound wafts of dense dried flowers and herbs. Sticking our …

1999 vintage

So here I am, 14 years later and what a transformation. Nose is strongly dark chocolate. On the palate, chocolate and herbal notes are balanced by slightly tart dark fruit. Has nice acidity that plays well with tomato based dishes and grippy tannins. Finish lingers with very dark chocolate, basil, anise. Still evolving over a few hours and so enjoyable. One bottle left, will see how that is in a few years!

2004 vintage

Beautiful Sangiovese that was both typical and yet special. Ultimately, though, this didn’t live up to the hype. After a quick decant, the aromatics here were special, with dark fruit, cherries, leather and tar all making appearances. On the palate, this was initially puckering with the fine tannins and oak both dominating. While not entirely unexpected, I was surprised by the extent of this given this is now a 25 year old bottle. This did, of course, soften and open …

1997 vintage

Excellent drinking window. Forest floor, smoke, cassis, dark berries and plums on the nose, confirmed on the palate. Very harmonious, with pleasant acidity and soft tannins. Medium to long finish.

2005 vintage

This was a pop and pour. Plenty of life left in this wine. Everyone loved it, really wowed us all. Balanced, easy to drink and went well with our italian food

2004 vintage

醒酒四个小时，淡宝石红偏石榴红色，闻香有一股肉鲜，红李子，香草巧克力，橡木桶充分融合的香料味，还有一些石墨气息，入口酸度高，酒液咸，收口微甜，单宁紧致，颗粒细腻，湿石头的矿物感，李子和梅果的香气，后段融合的香料感，余味是香草巧克力，橡木桶的影响很明显，巅峰适饮期的一支酒，状态正佳，没有丝毫老态。喝起来没有任何的问题，很好喝。但是此刻我脑子里想的是它瓶醒两个半小时的味道，闻起来有巧克力，玫瑰花，紫罗兰，百里香，罗勒，香草还有檀香的气息。入口酸度高，单宁细腻如粉，话梅混合着樱桃，还有玫瑰和香草味，满口木质香气，酸度明亮，结构感漂亮，这一刻桑娇维塞的娇艳和橡木桶影响达到一个绝佳平衡。意酒难伺候，如何让大家在酒局上品味到那最妙不可言的一刻确实是玄学。

1997 vintage

Beautiful Sangiovese and neither tired nor past prime from good bottles. Was excited to try this as mature Flaccianello is hard to find and I have always found the vintages from the 2000s (2007, 2004) too brash and unrefined. Hence curious to see how Flaccianello can really age. Not the very best bottle with a top shoulder fill and a soaked cork which sits very tightly though. In the glass a fairly dark garnet with no browning and a thin …

1990 vintage

From our cellar. Decanted 30 mins and drank over 4 hours. Gorgeous wine. Pretty nose. Dark and intense, yet elegant. Quite complex - the palate constantly changes as time progresses. Cherry, dark berries, cedar, mineral, spice, smokey cured meat, licorice. Overall great balance and structure. It's very smooth, but acidity seems to increase with time and as wine warms in the glass. Definitely in a peak drinking window, and should be for at least 3-5 years. I'm sure this wine …

2004 vintage

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Fontodi, Flaccianello delle Pieve, Colli della Toscana Centrale

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