2008 Il Pino di Biserno

The 2008 Il Pino di Biserno is a rich wine endowed with considerable depth. Plums, blackberries, exotic spices, mocha and licorice are all woven together in this imposing, structured wine. The pedigree of the 2008 vintage comes through in spades. The 2008 is striking. I can't wait to see how this ages. The 2008 has come along beautifully since I tasted it last year. Il Pino di Biserno is 40% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot.

The 2008 Il Pino di Biserno is a rich wine endowed with considerable depth. Plums, blackberries, exotic spices, mocha and licorice are all woven together in this imposing, structured wine. The pedigree of the 2008 vintage comes through in spades. The 2008 is striking. I can’t wait to see how this ages. The 2008 has come along beautifully since I tasted it last year. Il Pino di Biserno is 40% Cabernet Franc, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2028. Marchese Lodovico Antinori is one of the most interesting figures in the history of the wines of Maremma. In the early 1980s, Antinori founded Tenuta dell’Ornellaia, which quickly established itself as one of Italy’s great estates before Antinori was forced to sell the property a decade ago. Antinori’s cousin, Nicolo Incisa della Rochetta, made Tenuta San Guido’s Sassicaia an icon. And of course, Antinori’s brother Marchese Piero Antinori runs the family business out of Florence. But Lodovico Antinori seems to march to the beat of his own drum. He remains deeply linked to his family, but also equally eager to carve out his own reputation. Antinori’s latest project is composed of three separate estates in Maremma, which I have listed separately to avoid the confusion that has surrounded these properties in the past. Stylistically, Lodovico Antinori’s wines lie in a middle ground between the approach at San Guido, which favors earlier harvests and a more classic sense of structure, and the riper, more opulent expression of Bolgheri found at Ornellaia. Importer: Wade & Clark, Hawthorne, NY; tel. (914) 345-0967

The 'second wine' of Biserno. Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot. Serious, concentrated cassis, dark forest fruit and posh oak. Intense palate backed up by a generous dose of new oak. Very international, but well crafted. Perhaps the price is a tad too ambitious? (WS)