1999 Valdicava, Brunello di Montalcino, Riserva Madonna Piano 1x750ml

Vinous 96

The 1999 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano is everything a great wine should be. This is an expansive, spectacularly ripe wine endowed with layers of perfumed dark fruit, sweet tobacco, new leather and spices. A brooding, structured beauty, the wine needs some serious bottle age to show at its best, but it is already pretty stunning. According to Abbruzzese 1999 represents another step up in quality as the estate’s vineyards had begun to acquire some age at this point. Certainly this seems true in the Riserva, but I don’t perceive as marked a difference from previous vintages in the regular Brunello (see below). [Antonio Galloni, 11/01/2008]

Anticipated maturity: 2009-2021

Robert Parker 97

The 1999 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano is a stunning and superb wine that will simply blow you away. This Riserva is at its prime so you should not miss the opportunity to taste it soon (within the next two to three years) if you have a bottle in your cellar. Aged aromas of old spice and leather are creeping forward, but there’s plenty of kirsch, cherry liqueur, cola, mocha, prune, licorice, menthol, bramble and rosemary twig to keep those tertiary aromas from taking over completely. In fact, there’s loads of life still packed within the brooding, thick texture you behold before your eyes. The tannins are fine and smooth. It’s a beauty now, and although I’m assigning a longer drinking window because that’s what it merits, I also think it’s too good to pass up now. Decant four hours prior to serving. Drink: 2014-2024. [27/02/2014]

Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024