Brunello di Montalcino DOCG La Casa 2015 Caparzo

Caparzo's 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casa opens to a very fine and precise bouquet that is carefully assembled with crisp berry notes, smoke, tar, licorice and toasted almond. The wine remains very tight and crisp overall, but it does cede to more volume and puts on more weight as it opens in the glass. There is a pretty note of crushed stone or granite on the close. The La Casa vineyard site is characterized by clay soils broken up with shards of Galestro schist that adds to the cool and fresh profile of the wine. This lovely single-vineyard Brunello is almost ready to drink (wait a few more years), but it should also withstand the next 10 years of cellar aging should you decide to put your bottle aside. Some 15,000 bottles were produced. The wine was bottled in August 2019 and released in January 2020.

Caparzo has skipped over production of the 2014 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, joining the majority of its peers in doing so. The estate also recently made new vineyard acquisitions, and these additional vines will enter production this year. At present, the Caparzo property measures 200 hectares, with 90 hectares of vines, four hectares of olive trees, 19 hectares of grain and 87 hectares of forest. This site sees mostly clay soils (with vineyards positioned between 250 and 400 meters above sea level) that contribute the the fruit-forward, accessible and sweet richness of the wines.

Beautiful combination here of balanced orange and lemon rind and riper glazed cherries, terracotta and scorched earth. Mushroom too. Tightly wound and elegant with a persistent core of mineral acidity and finely wrapped-up tannins. Drink from 2021.

Spicy cherry, raspberry and plum flavors are shaded by tobacco and earth notes in this savory red. Elegant and solidly built, with refined tannins upholding the lingering finish. Shows good sweetness courtesy of the ripe fruit. Best from 2023 through 2040. 

Good full ruby. Brooding aromas of cassis, menthol, chocolate and minerals. Dense and juicy but slightly hard at present, with a floral nuance and nicely integrated acidity lending precision to the red fruit and violet flavors. The slightly tough tannins and the dumbed down fruit leave an impression of medicinal austerity on the long mouthcoating finish. Needs time.