Brunello and a half

There's always a tinge of guilt when I open a fine wine too young... Like I've interrupted the wine's journey to enlightenment! So despite the temptation I try to be a steward of my wine, fostering its growth and development in a cool and dark environment in order to someday help it see its potential. Being a relatively young in cellaring wine it's a challenge to give the wines I'm most excited about enough time. I suppose there's a future tipping point when someday I'll have more ready-to-drink wine than I know what to do with.

With this in mind the half-bottle (375 ml) is useful for early indulgence. With less wine to fend off the air in the bottle it matures more quickly, so the size is perfect to open and enjoy without feeling the need for extended time in the cellar. The size can also be useful in restaurants. The drawbacks are selection and price - few producers bottle the size and it's never as good a value as the standard (750ml) bottle. However at the right times the small bottles can find good use.

I had such an occasion to make use of a half-bottle of 2007 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello di Montalcino that I picked up a while back. From the vaunted 2007 Tuscan vintage, this wine received high praise as Wine Spectator's #9 most exciting wine of 2012. With such acclaim for both the wine and the vintage, I was curious to get a glimpse of how this might be showing.

Lying in wait

Tenuta Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona is an historic estate dating back to the 17th century and is now owned by the Bianchini family. The vineyards are located in the south-southwest part of Montalcino at altitudes hovering around 1000' on sloping stony soils. The Pianrosso vineyard on the estate represents their finest expression of quality and terroir and is bottled as the estate's top-end single vineyard Brunello and Brunello Riserva. The estate hand-tends the vines throughout the year and farms using organic principles.

The 2007 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello di Montalcino comes from 100% Sangiovese Grosso grown on the estate. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and glass/concrete vats. The wine is aged for 24 months in Slavonian oak barrels with an additional 4 months in bottle. In the glass this is a brick-ruby color and medium in body. There's no shortage of mineral and earth notes- most notably crushed rock, along with violet-floral, tangy cherry and orange zest. The palate brings hints of rich cedar and polish along with finely rustic tannins. There's a nice balance between austerity and elegance and richness, culminating with lingering spice and fruit on the finish. This was noted at about an hour after opening, and the profile had mostly shut down by the third hour. This was truly a glimpse, and is definitely something to hold onto before trying a long decant.

There's no shortage of well-received base-level 2007 Brunello on the market hovering around $50 (often less). This will run about $60, but with excellent pedigree and a serious profile mixing both modern and traditional elements, it's a worthy buy-and-hold for fans of the mighty Brunello Di Montalcino. And available in half-bottles!