2010 Brunello di Montalcino
Buying options
Tasting notes
The Il Poggione 2010 Brunello di Montalcino is not showing as well as expected. Whereas the challenging 2012 vintage exceeds expectations, the celebrated 2010 edition is not especially expressive. We opened two bottles from the cellar to compare, and although there was variation, with the second bottle outperforming the first, they both felt closed. These notes are based on the second bottle that showed an overall cleaner bouquet with dried fruit, dusty mineral and dry clay. The wine delivers ample textural heft, and the tannins are upright and precise. However, the overall delivery is muted and shallow. You are left wanting more from the wine, and I wonder if it is going through an awkward phase at this moment with the potential to extend and open in the coming years.
Critic scores
Average Score
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
The Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Il Poggione’s 2010 Brunello di Montalcino is the single best value in top-flight Brunello di Montalcino. If there was any doubt about that, this tasting makes it clear that Il Poggione belongs right up there along with the best of them. A towering, massively endowed wine, the Poggione is simply marvelous.
Pale crimson, bricking at the rim. Quite bright and leafy on the nose: an impression of tartness. Some sweet fruit on entry, though also slightly flat in perfume, with a grainy, floury feel, then an acidic crunch on the finish. Falls between the stools of thick and delicate, not quite committing to either. (AH)
Il Poggione's 2010 Brunello di Montalcino is a remarkably beautiful wine. Rose petal, mint, cinnamon, sweet dark cherries and smoke lift from the glass in a translucent, wiry Brunello built on energy and power. This is an especially lifted, precise and nuanced Brunello from Il Poggione, with more emphasis on length and mid-weight structure rather than overt volume. In many ways, the 2010 comes across as a modern-day version of the 1982 Riserva. Readers who have tasted that wine know just how special that is. For the money, there is not a single better wine being made in Montalcino than Il Poggione's Brunello. Truth is, it is also better than many far more expensive offerings. There are two Brunellos I would buy confidently in any vintage. This is one of them.
About the producer
Il Poggione is one of Montalcino’s largest but most respected estates, with a reputation for producing some of the most reliable, best-value and age-worthy Brunello di Montalcino.