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2012 Col D'Orcia Brunello di Montalcino Nastagio

Light label condition issue

Removed from a temperature and humidity controlled wine cellar; Purchased at retail

Ends Sunday, 7pm Pacific

RATINGS

94Wine Spectator

Everything is correctly proportioned in this cherry-, leather- and tobacco-flavored wine. Shows a hint of oak spice. Firm grip plies the fresh, lingering finish.

93The Wine Advocate

Dark cherry and wild blackberry segue spice, leather, cola and licorice.

93Vinous / IWC

Like a dark, rich cherry sauce fresh off the stove, mixed with grilled sage, coffee grinds, cocoa and shavings of cedar...silky contours wash across the palate in a display of pure elegance, delivering masses of mineral-tinged berries and savory spices, all nicely contrasted by a twang of sour citrus.

92James Suckling

Some light leather and cedary oak with spiced red cherries and dried herbs. The palate has a very supple, fine array of tannins that carry ripe red cherry flavors long and even. A very smooth finish.

91.9CellarTracker

91Wine Enthusiast

Balsamic aromas of menthol and eucalyptus merge with roasted coffee bean and a whiff of blue flower. The taut polished palate shows dried cherry, raspberry compote, star anise and espresso alongside fine-grained tannins.

PRODUCER

Col D'Orcia

Col d’Orcia is a 370-acre estate in Montalcino, Tuscany. Its name means "hill near the Orcia," which is a river that runs through the valley in the southwest part of the Brunello di Montalcino appellation. The estate dates from the 19th century and is today owned by Count Alberto Marone Cinzano of the famous Vermouth-making family. Tenuta Col d’Orcia is best known for its Brunello di Montalcinos. Gambero Rosso has written that all the estate’s wines “are impressive because of the obvious care and attention that goes into every single process and because the wines are unquestionably modern in style, showing smooth, fragrant and but mouth filling, but never commonplace or standardized.”

REGION

Italy, Tuscany, Brunello di Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino is regarded as one of Italy’s best appellations. Located in south central Tuscany below Chianti, the wines of Brunello di Montalcino DOCG are made of a Sangiovese clone called “brunello,” which means “little dark one,” a reference to the brown tones in the skin of the grape. Unlike some Tuscan appellations that allow other grapes to be blended with Sangiovese, Brunello di Montalcino is entirely Sangiovese. Montalcino itself is a picturesque, hill-top town not especially well known for wine production until the mid-19th century, when a local vineyard owner isolated the brunello clone and planted it. Other growers followed suit. Nevertheless it wasn’t until 1970s that wine enthusiasts started paying attention to Brunello di Montalcino, which by then was becoming an outstanding wine. Today there are 120 estates in the DOCG, up from about 25 estates in 1975. Brunellos in general are bigger, darker, more tannic and more powerful wines than Chiantis or most other Sangioveses. By law they must be aged for four years, and two of those years must be in wooden barrels.

TYPE

Red Wine, Nebbiolo, D.O.C.G.

This red grape is most often associated with Piedmont, where it becomes DOCG Barolo and Barbaresco, among others. Its name comes from Italian for “fog,” which descends over the region at harvest. The fruit also gains a foggy white veil when mature.

VINTAGE

2012 Col D'Orcia Brunello di Montalcino Nastagio