2001 Flaccianello della Pieve

Of all the wines presented in this beautiful retrospective, the 2001 Flaccianello della Pieve is the wine I was most curious to taste. This vintage marks the starting point from which the modern incarnation of Flaccianello has since evolved, and I was curious to see how much of its current DNA can be traced back to this watershed vintage. What I encountered is a somewhat enigmatic wine that was not initially easy to read. Indeed, the wine reveals itself slowly in the glass, starting off a bit closed but ultimately opening after considerable coxing. Within the progression of this retrospective, this is the oldest vintage that was not immediately open and accessible. It feels as if the wine still has additional road to cover in terms of its aging potential. This is remembered as an iconic vintage in Tuscany, with plenty of spring showers to fill ground water reserves. Budding started early, sparking a long growing season that saw healthy diurnal shifts with cool nights and warm days through the summer until harvest. Sangiovese grapes were given the perfect conditions for optimal ripeness. This edition offers thick layering with dark fruit, smoke and spice. The wine shows some fruit-driven succulence that adds to the heft and dimension on display. With time, those aromas lift more delicately, uncovering hidden background tones of licorice, pressed violets and crushed stone. The 2001 vintage is the first edition of Flaccianello made with fruit sourced across various sites. Giovanni Manetti says Fontodi had "grown up" by this point—both as winery and collection of single vineyards. Creating a cru blend was the next logical step for what would soon become one of Tuscany's most important wines.

Crimson/ruby. Pungent – more volcanic notes (like the 2006) somehow. Suave, cool, fresh. Very fine and lively, this smells of sage. A beautiful wine for drinking now. (JR)

The 2001 Flaccianello della Pieve marks a turning point, as it is the first Flaccianello to be made as a selection of the estate's best fruit across a number of parcels rather than as a single-vineyard wine. Black cherries, plums, smoke, licorice and tobacco are some of the notes that burst from the glass in this virile, massive Flaccianello. A hint of sweet toasted oak reminiscent of the 1990 lingers on the finish. This is a great showing, but readers will have to be patient.