Ripe al Convento di Castelgiocondo Riserva, Brunello di Montalcino

Had this bottle for over 20yrs and am happy to say it was still alive. Had some muted flavor intially on opening with a strong carmel note with dried figs and mushroom but within 30min some surprisingly fairly bright red fruit arose which helped to balance out those tertiary flavors. Very enjoyable now still has some life left but don't see much improvement in the future the 97 vintage has truly aged gracefully.

1997 vintage

Drank over the course of 3 hours. Medium body, beautiful plum jam black berry jam on the nose with forest floor, wood. Fine tannins , still young and powerful but tertiary is spoke for here.

2012 vintage

Needed a good decant but very good. A darker purple with a rim of garnet. Almost blood orange. So much spice on the nose with dark cherry, rose pedal and a hint of lavender. Dense tannins with refreshing acidity. Notes of earth and sediment on the palate to go along with classic sour cherries. A long finish.

2012 vintage

WOW the difference a bottle makes! wonderful in all ways, bravo t my final bottle.

1996 vintage

This wine is definitely over the hill. perfect cork - perhaps the most perfect cork I've seen on a 25+ year old bottle. Because of this, I don't think there were any storage issues. Wine looks like a 20 yr old tawny port, and tastes like it too. Warm spices, light caramel, figs. Wile well over the hill - this is still tasty, and is perfect for a random weeknight

1996 vintage

Interesting wine. Needs 90 minutes air to begin showing. No harsh notes, lovely palate presence, nearly integrated tannin, and nice depth of fresh, rich bramble berries and dark fruits with fairly balanced acidity. Energetic and refreshing on the palate, well built and fun to drink now. Holding for upside in 3 - 4 years then drink for 15.

1997 vintage

Musk, mushroom, coffee, cherry, cinnamon, oak, tobacco, molasses, earl grey tea. Still drinking well despite the bottle being in bad shape

1997 vintage

Decanted. First bottle. Beautiful slight bricking in the glass; leather and stewed cherries and raspberries on the nose; still fairly strong tannins-enough to dry your mouth when drank next to Napa cabs; very good wine and universally enjoyed in our group. Still has time though.

1997 vintage

Wow, this is a very, very nice wine. The wine bottle's cork was absolutely perfect; with the wine penetration limited to the bottom 1/8 of the cork and the cork still firm and stable. I filtered the wine through two paper coffee filters, while slowly pouring it into a decanter. At the end of the process, the double filters were impregnated with sediment. One side of the bottle's neck was also dark with sediment. After waiting 45 minutes, I poured …

1996 vintage

Ruby red, dark core, no brick. Bright complex and fruit driven fragrance. Deeply flavoured, blueberry, mixed cherries, plums, licorice and tar spice, cedar, bright, intense, strong but fine furry tannins. While it has opened up and shows many interesting dimensions, none of this derives from obvious oxidative characters, it still appears quite youthful in this sense. Structure seems set to support it another decade at least.

1997 vintage

Superbe Brunello, tout en rondeur et finesse. Les tannins sont soyeux et l'acidité, encore présente, offre de la fraicheur. Mures, cèdre, tabac blond, thé noir. Vraiment bel équilibre entre les aromes.

1996 vintage

I probably waited a tad too long with this one or did not store it at the proper temperature because it had a some "over-the-hill" tastes to it upon opening. However, fortunately we decanted it and let it breathe for a good three hours and it came around nicely. Some delicious aged fruit flavors and strong, leathery tannins crowded out the off flavors. So, in the end it was a delicious Brunello. I kind of wish I'd opened it a …

1997 vintage

This bottle was acquired new and stored in my cellar since. I said to wait 5 years in my last note in 1997. I lied. Opened it tonight. Beautiful wine. Stunning richness of fruit.

1997 vintage

Decanted 3 hours, served blind. Very round ripe (but not overly) fruit. No Roasted 97 notes at all. A bit hard to tell it was a Brunello blind as it is more sweet fruit, and less Leather or Orange zest... Soooo easy to drink, Very nice finish with some oak

1997 vintage

Pnp. A bit of funk at first, gone after 15 min. Soft fruit, earth, leather, mushrooms, raisin finish. So smooth, delicious. After opening, drink within 1 hour, as it died after that. But a very enjoyable hour it was.

1997 vintage

Tasted side by side with the 1999 vintage - the group consensus seemed to give the nod to the '99. That being said I still think this wine was drinking very nicely, but the fruit was not quite as vibrant in a direct comparison. Dark red and black fruit, bing cherries, a touch of tar, a bit of that Italian earthiness. Very nice! Don't think these will get much better - so time to think about popping in the next …

1997 vintage

Great Brunello. Full bodied. Almost like a Super Tuscan. Probably had another 20 years.

1997 vintage

This is still going. Finish is long.

1997 vintage

Nose: A- Palate: B++

1997 vintage

The bottle arrived from CA a few days earlier. I couldn't wait to try it and brought it to a BYO cooking class in Madison NJ. Unfortunately the wine glasses were of the wide bowl variety which did not do justice to the wine. Color was youthful maroon with just a touch of lightening at the edges. Couldn't get much on the nose obviously but the palate was delicious - sweet macerated cherries with a velvety mouthfeel and enough acidity …

1997 vintage

This is drinking right on the money. Still with some life. Big rich full mouth.

1997 vintage

A disclaimer is in order in that I prefer non-Riserva Brunellos as I am a purist and sometimes the additional age diminishes the lovely fruit of Sangiovese. That said, this bottle was a powerful wine still very young and fresh and not showing its age at all. This bottle was acquired new and cellared at 56 degrees since, and if your bottles are in similar pristine condition I would hold off 5 more years as this wine will then reach …

1997 vintage

Weekly tasting group RWP #235: Tuscany (@ BS) : Beautiful and complex bouquet with dark berries like black currants and blackberries, cocoa, cigar, autumn impressions and rustic barnyard flavors. On the palate juicy red and dark berries, chocolate, leather, dried fruits, beautiful acidity and soft and melted tannin which is slightly drying. Overall a beautiful, silky textured and elegant wine. A mouth full of mature and great wine. Imho it is at its peak now.

1997 vintage

This was a beautiful wine. Medium to dark red color with little sign of bricking or age. I was pleasantly surprised that this (well-cellared) bottle was in its ideal drinking window with 5-10 years still ahead of it. It is an elegant wine with raspberry, cherry, leather and licorice with enough acidity to counter the sweetness. It has an appropriate earthy character and nice spice on the finish. This is why you hold onto Brunellos (two other 1997 Brunellos -- …

1997 vintage

Smooth cherry-strawberry with supporting acidity.

1997 vintage

Going through inventory, I realized that I forgot to x this one out. However, in comparison to my April 2016 note, this bottle seemed to be more youthful. Not youthful in a "2 year old" wine kind of way, but definitely more youthful than the April note. I think there's going to be quite a bit of variation on the quality of these bottles for those who decide to age this wine past the 20 year mark, although I think …

1997 vintage

Earthy with light raisen and cedar; decent balance and light finish.

1997 vintage

decanted and filtered for sediment, after about 45min-1hr in decanter poured back in bottle and carried to restaurant, consumed over a few hours. Dark red fruit aromas accented with a little bit of leather, vibrant fruit flavors, a bit of tar, with a clean lifted transition to dark fruited finish kept refreshing by the acidity.

1997 vintage

This wine is a little bit over the hill. Started out rather rough, but improved dramatically after one hour of bottle decanting. At first I thought I had waited too long. Boiled prune and heavy notes of raisin and ash were all on the front. But, after an hour, the wine subsided and the beautifully aged black cherry and aged saddle leather came out. This gave way to a lot of tobacco and black cherry, dirt, soot, earth, powerfully grippy, …

1997 vintage

A beautiful wine with beautiful memories for us. Beyond peak, but, very drinkable. Paired perfectly with filet mignon and salad. Most interesting thing to me: Absolutely no sediment at 19 years. Dark ruby garnet color. No flaws. Major rim variation. Faint nose of what it was years ago. Low fruit. Low tannin/acid. Low alcohol. Medium finish. Drink it if you have it. A classic.

1997 vintage

A tad disjointed when first poured, with wood tannins and alcohol poking all over the place. Nose showed lots of black tea after sometime, with palate still displaying that "wooden" attribute, albeit with very good freshness along with "dusty" tannins. Don't have enough experience with BdMs to know how this will turn out down the road...

1997 vintage

What Paulst said. Rugged. Sharp aftertstaste. Really good but below my expectations for this wine. Two bottles left. A wine I would enjoy but won't pull out for friends or family.

1997 vintage

This wine was superb, from the deep ripe, slightly browning colour via the deep spicy bouquet with a perfect touch of vanilla to the full bodied and very balanced midtaste withe ripe tones and the classy bitterness with a long aftertaste. This wine has a 'Wow' factor; so refined, so powerful and so sangiovese; after 18 years stlll full of live and electricity. Alas my last bottle.

1997 vintage

Austere and funky nose; moments of sweet cherry-raisen; round and good texture; decent length.

1997 vintage

Sweet blackberry-cherry-licorice; good balance, texture and length; supple.

1997 vintage

Cherries and dried prunes. Tannic structure is still preset after all these years, but soft. Good length, keeps evolving.

1996 vintage

Good as always

1996 vintage

Awesome, un señor vino!

1996 vintage

Disappointing and probably past its best. Palate still deep red. Quiet-ish nose with soft black fruit and earthiness, hint of tea leaves. Palate muted.

1996 vintage

Very much a point. Will drink my other bottle of this very soon.

1996 vintage

Unsure if bad bottle initially. Cork showed leaked three quarters way up.

1996 vintage

Dark garnet colour. Aromas of cherry, earth, truffle, and anise. Slightly restrained on the nose, however. Full-bodied. velvety wine, with cherries, spice, and earth. Nice finish, ~35-40s with spice notes. 89 points, but would merit a point or two more if the nose wasn't muted.

1996 vintage

Crystal clear ruby red in colour. Aromas of cherries, mocha, minerals, earth. Medium-full bodied with cherries, earth, and mint. Well-integrated tannins and a moderate-long finish.

1996 vintage

Medium-garnet colour with a touch of orange on the rim. Sweet nose of chocolate, black cherry, blackberry, and plums. Medium-bodied with dark fruit and spice. Opened up after an hour of decanting. Integrated tannins and a dry, slightly mouth-puckering finish that was a little short. A little disappointing, even for an off vintage.

1996 vintage

Medium garnet colour. Acetone, leather, dough and dried cherry nose. Big and hot with spiced flavours and assertive acid and tannins; lengthy, rounding fruit finish. A powerhouse of a wine 3.5/5

1996 vintage

Le Cantine: Fruit filled nose; A bit more tannic than Poggio, but similar.

1996 vintage

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Ripe al Convento di Castelgiocondo Riserva, Brunello di Montalcino

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