Lisini, Brunello di Montalcino, Ugolaia

Fantastic wine. Needed 10-15 min after opening to clear the cobwebs. Then, nose of dark cherry, musty cedar, barnyard, slight mushroom, and hints of vanilla and cassis that showed up around the hour mark. After ~90 min of air, fresher red fruit and spice became more pronounced. Palate largely stayed true to the nose, showing more red fruit with air before pivoting to more tertiary flavors and finishes with flashes of cinnamon and tobacco. Med acidity with smooth but noticeable …

1997 vintage

1 hour decant. Nose of dried cherry, leather, and warm gingerbread. Dark cherry, cranberry, sassafras, and dusty earth with an edge of orange peel. Supple tannins with lots of baking spice, apple skins, and cherry wood on the finish. Well balanced.

2015 vintage

PnP. Perfect balance of big fruit and big tannin. This is Very young, has decades ahead of it, but is seriously enjoyable even now. Dark red fruit. Earthiness. Classic, in a lot of ways

2015 vintage

Lovely stuff here from Lisini, this is in a great place right now. Red and blue fruit, brown spices, tea, dark chocolate. Wonderful with charcuterie.

2015 vintage

Pnp at 7 Adams. Quite good, but more masculine than I prefer. 14.5%

2017 vintage

Tuscany Wimps Lunch (La Trompette, Chiswick) : This has a slightly reserved nose, showing cool dark fruit, smoke and meaty notes. It’s full bodied on the palate, a serious wine with dark fruit, firm but fine tannins, fresh acids, and a very good length finish. On this showing needs a bit more time but and excellent wine.

2006 vintage

Basalmic, cherries, leather, basil, tomatoes on the nose. Exquisite mouthfeel with medium balanced tannins and medium plus acidity.

2006 vintage

Excellent! Hour or so decant....very nice secondary and tertiary flavors. A bit of tobacco, currant, dark fruits and leather. Tannins fully integrated with decant.

2015 vintage

Frukten har tørket ut og man sitter mest igjen med struktur og tanniner. Ikke spesielt tiltalende.

2006 vintage

Clear, medium garnet. Clean nose, pronounced aromas of red fruits, tobacco, meat. A hint of cedar. On the palate, dry, med+ acidity, medium tannins, high alcohol, full body, intense flavours of tobacco, red fruits, cedar. Long finish. Very good quality, nearly outstanding wine

2015 vintage

Tuscany WIMPS #169 29th September 2023 (La Trompette, Chiswick) : This is a little slow out of the blocks but when it does get going the most complete wine of the lunch for me. There is a little lifted lingonberry jam on the nose and some butter crisped sage leaves. Palate absolutely gorgeous. Cool, savoury, tannins melt in the mouth and a slight fennel twist on the mid-palate.

2006 vintage

Tawny core with copper and burnt orange. An opulent, ethereal beauty showing high-toned complexity of black cherry, tea leaves, minty top notes, old saddle leather, balsam and clove. Beguiling and mesmerising and with such confident expression. The mouthfeel is sublime; fleshy and graceful, it dances across the palate yet is still solidly framed by sweet and supple tannins. This has energy and vitality at 22 years; right at the top of its glorious innings and feels like it can go …

2001 vintage

Not tried. Mistaken purchase. Returned for a different wine.

2017 vintage

94/100 Krydret duft med hint av nøtter, søte kirsebær. Saftig og bløt tilgjengelig frukt på smak med en frisk syre og en lang raffinert lang utgang. Lang og raffinert utgang.

2015 vintage

A gift, from years ago, from a friend and fellow CT member. On several previous occasions, this bottle had been selected but passed over for consumption. Not this time. Opened and decanted after about one hour. Consumed over the following four hours. Black/purple. Nose of plums. Concentrated, rich, balanced, with mature old world Italian aromas, secondary nuances. Fully mature. With some airing the tannins became harsher and with extended airing the fruit became noticeably sweeter, not to my taste. Still, …

2001 vintage

Deep dark red wine. Nice plum and blackberry fruit. Perhaps needs several more years to achieve its potential.

2015 vintage

An absolutely flawless and fantastic mature brunello. Not even tertiary yet, but deep dark fruit. Still acidic and very fresh. Solid but soft tannins. Juicy. I can’t think of any drawbacks

2006 vintage

A classic brunello. Still with some tannins to breathe off. Dark fruit , velvety

2006 vintage

The Gang Drinks Blind (Mesa Verde Country Club in the OC) : Served blind as part of a 2001 Italian flight. My notes are kind of sparse on this wine, as I probably was more focused on the Giacosa Falletto. For this Lisini, I jotted down the words 'ripish yet fresh' with some raisin', and 'least balanced of the three wines'. Not a great note here but figured I would log what I had written down.

2001 vintage

What a wine.beautiful nose.with more air, fist of power, electrifying acidty with a touch of brett to gain even more complexity

2006 vintage

Lovely colour, black cherry with mahogany. This has really matured. Lovely rich and smooth tannins. Still got its fruit, black cheery, some red berries. Very complex, with spices, espresso, leather and exotic woodsmoke. Good acidity. Very long. Lovely now, who knows where this might go.

1997 vintage

Excellent. Strong Red Cherry, grilled meat, eucalyptus? or similar. A touch of tomato, maybe tomato paste. One of the better bottles this year. No reason not to drink now. 93-94. Huge shmutz

2001 vintage

Considerato uno dei vigneti più importanti della zona meridionale di Montalcino, questo Ugolaia in grande annata tradisce in parte le aspettative. Soprattutto al naso: nobile, fine e compatto ma piuttosto reticente e poco variegato. Il giorno successivo non mostra sostanziali cambiamenti. Molto meglio invece la bocca, di grande solidità e perfetto bilanciamento tra le parti: il sorso è al contempo pieno e agile, robusto di alcol e soffuso di tannini finissimi. Ancora tanti anni davanti ma dubito possa migliorare sensibilmente.

2006 vintage

Tawny crimson in colour. A beautiful bouquet of aged Sangiovese, showing sour cherry, balsam, orange peel, leather and dried spices. Gorgeous complexity and unmistakably Brunello. The palate is still vibrant and fresh, with fleshy dark cherry and lavender notes; a lovely ripe fruit core even at this age, with firm and structured tannins and bright acidity. Feels like many years still ahead of this. In its prime - what a treat!

2001 vintage

Superlative, with amazing QPR. Gorgeous fruit-forward notes, like many Brunellos. Great structure, with notes of dark cherry, blueberry, and tobacco. Good length, such a pleasurable wine.

2001 vintage

Three years later and still showing great. Similar experience to last time. Just to say that it is mature and delicious but with at least 5 years left in it.

1997 vintage

Tried a couple of Coravin glasses over a few days and was not too impressed, and then opened the remaining half bottle a few weeks later and this was truly a great wine. Very elegant and perfectly integrated on the palate, just the right amount of acidity providing freshness without peaking out, fine to medium tannins, excellent length. Great wine but needs time or long decant

2006 vintage

Good aged character from Sangiovese, but on the palate packed with a lot of strength and complexity. This is properly aged and suitable for people who enjoy the more powerful side of Sangiovese. At peak now and I will drink up the remaining bottles in the next few years. Darker version vs their normal Brunello. Better to pair with food, esp with steak! 15.5/20

2001 vintage

Winebar [4 Whites, 8 Reds, & 3 *shared* bottles] from 11/23/18 (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA) : THANK you for sharing this MOST *special* wine, José! :) Tasted blindly N: Slightly closed; Vanilla atop berries with notes of pyrazines? Intensity lurking! P: LM, poss Med, body; NICE frt met by an astringent pucker which pretty much resolves as it fairly seamlessly transitions into a very LONG finish with almost a lip-smacking tangy/swtness to the remaining dusty tannins. For now …

2006 vintage

Decant 3 hours, at its best in the last glass, five hours in. Brick colour, smooth red berry, leather, chocolate, dirt. Saving a mouthfull for tomorrow. In its best years:)

1997 vintage

Decanted for 3 hours before it started to show some life. Smooth and silky, earthy, dark cherry and pencil lead with a 30 second finish. This wine has peaked. Very good!

1997 vintage

Deep, piercing wine that's still intense with its primary fruit and will need a long, long time to develop. The structure was in disarray at first but it came together after just a bit of time in the decanter, and fortunately an initial figginess also dissipated. This cranks up the concentration and saturation relative to Lisini's basic Brunello but the structure is also more ripping and it'll need a lot more time to approach the basic Brunello in finesse.

2006 vintage

Warning: this wine needs at least a couple of hours to come around. The good news is that it remains at a high level for a very long time, the next day was maybe the best glass! Medium ruby color with some amber at the rim. Initially strong balsamic notes and some hay. After a few hours ripe notes of plum and cherry with some herbs, red licorice and hints of coffee. Big and dense on the palate with smooth, …

2001 vintage

Dark red/garnet colour, looks developed. Nose a bit balsamic and aged to start. Rather big structure to start with fruit subtle and not prominent. Medium+ tannin. After 3 hours the balsamic nose cleared up and more fruits emerged on both nose and palate. More on the black fruits, quite focused. A rather big & muscular Brunello, full of muscle everywhere but not those intense/extracted type. Generally I love Brunello with more elegance but this is quite good too. Fully matured …

2001 vintage

Very enjoyable after around 4 hours. Sumptuous fruits and lovely floral bouquet. Good harmony and balance. Give it several more years for it to turn into an elegant and pure BdM.

1997 vintage

Not decanted. This has completed the long arc from its bombastic youth in 2009 to absolute peak drinking. Mature and textured with a sweet black plum and chocolate notes on the finish. Drink now-2020 with a preference for now.

2001 vintage

Impressive brunello. The nose is very elegant, very defined. At start, lots of ripe cherries hit the palate. The fruit is very intense. Strong tannins. Very, very long finish... 60 seconds and counting. With time and air, the nose evolves to smoke and tar adding depth to ripe dark fruit tones. Excellent wine, I wish I bought more.

2006 vintage

Having tried this 4 years ago and really liked it (Papies 93) and then on a bad bottle so we are not sure if this one (same batch) is characteristic of the wine or just another poor show. Felt too sweet and difficult. We refrain from rating.

2001 vintage

Amazing translucent cherry color with noticeable bricking. One might think light from the color, but this came packing flavor of earth, tobacco and some remnant vanilla sweetness. Got even more luscious on the second night so I would recommend a long airing or decanting (some Brunello producers don't recommend decanting on older bottles just opening well ahead of time). Not going anywhere, so open when you feel like having something tasty.

1997 vintage

Fresh young. Very smooth wood and fruit notes. Lots to go.

2006 vintage

Very interesting Brunello. Elegant nose of medium intensity but complex with cherry fruit, leather, sweet spice and balsamic notes but not easily discernible as Brunello. Mature but still developing. Palate was round, with smoothed-out tannins, harmonious and with great depth of flavor and lasting finish. At a very nice point to drink.

2001 vintage

Dark garnet. Ripe nose of dark cherries, aromatic herbs, plums, coffee and sweet spices. Med-full bodied, velvety-textured and round with moderate acidity and a long aftertaste. Not so typical, yet excellent and at a great stage to drink.

2001 vintage

Deep black in pitch, big in scale, and not even close to maturity.

1997 vintage

From the cloudy colour, to the maderised nose to an undrinkable palate... such a shame...

2001 vintage

OK. So a couple weeks ago we did this comparison of the 1997 Frescobaldi Brunello Reserve vs. the 1997 Lisini Brunello Reserve and the Lisini won hands down. This time the Frescobaldi won hands down. Go figure .... How can it change that much in a month.... I guess the saying "there is no good wine only good bottles" really has some merit.

1997 vintage

Decanted briefly, but should have given it a few hours. A spectacular nose of caramel, balsamico, peat moss, black raisin, dry blackberry, and black plum. Palate is clamped down by acidity, still in a tight youthful phase, with black fruit edged by caramel popcorn and rust water flavors. Give it some more time and a solid decant. Drink 2016-2024.

2001 vintage

Lisini is my personal favorite Brunello and the Ugolaia Reserve is really special. This bottle was incredible. Super smooth and integrated fruit but still a good tannin balance. Did not want to eat the food the wine was so good. Drank a bottle of the 1997 Frescobaldi Reserve and the Lisini was a clear winner, which is saying something since the Frescobaldi is no slouch.

1997 vintage

Smakstart på Sturköbaren : Corked.

2006 vintage

Rusty garnet, lively and beautiful. Lots of wood, spices, truffles and red fruit on the nose. Almost elegant on the palate, fruity, fresh, round with drying but round tannins. Long & fine, now rush to drink this, now - 2020+

2001 vintage

Great wine. Cigar box, dried cherries. Garnet color and starting to break down on the edges in the glass. What a great full mid-palate. Glad I have 5 more.

1997 vintage

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Lisini, Brunello di Montalcino, Ugolaia

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