Le Potazzine - Brunello Di Montalcino 2017 (750ml)
Price: $94.00
| Producer | Le Potazzine |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Tuscany |
| Subregion | Brunello di Montalcino |
| Varietal | Sangiovese |
| Vintage | 2017 |
| Sku | 4680 |
| Size | 750ml |
After working at Biondi Santi, Gigliona Gianetti opened a wine shop in Montalcino town in 1987. In 1993, with the guidance of legendary consultant Giulio Gambelli, who she had met through the Corsorzio, she purchased her first parcel of land on the southeast of the hill. Other property further south, towards Sant’Angello in Colle, was acquired in 1997, extending the estate to five hectares.
The first Brunello was produced in that same year and was called “Le Potazzine”, being the nickname that Gigliona’s mother gave to her two granddaughters. The word means ‘little songbirds” in Tuscan Dialect – and these birds duly appear on the wine’s label. Continuity is assured as both Viola and Sofia work with their mother on the estate.
Fermentations are with ambient yeasts and normally last for 30 days. Resisting the then current trend to age the wine in barrique, the wines have always been matured in large Slavonian oak casks. The Rosso ages for a year and the Brunello ages for a long 42 months. A Riserva has only been made here four times in the last twenty-five years.
The wines are pure expressions of Montalcino.
James Suckling: 97 Points
Blackberry black-cherry and mushroom aromas. The palate is full-bodied with slightly chewy tannins but it remains polished and lively. Berry earth and bark in the finish. Give this a couple of years to open up. Try after 2023.
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Wine Advocate: 95 Points
The ladies of Le Potazzine make a terrific bottle of Brunello and their high-elevation vineyards are especially important in maintaining freshness in a scorching-hot vintage such as this. The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino offers a pretty succession of wild berry cherry and plum aromas along with light spice crushed flowers and perfumed potting soil. This wine is also distinguished by a touch of bay leaf and maybe a warmer note of cured tobacco as well. This is an impressive effort (with 16000 bottles released).
Vinous: 94 Points
An exotic mix of sweet smoke and cloves gives way to dusty black cherries and a twang of sour citrus as the 2017 Brunello di Montalcino unfolds in the glass. Further time reveals hints of animal musk and flowery undergrowth. This enters the palate with pure elegance delicate and silky in feel yet also delivering a core of salty minerals that adds unexpected depths to the vivid display of tart wild berries and inner spice. The 2017 finishes with incredible persistence but also poise structured yet primary exactly as it should be at this young stage. Keep your hands off for at least a few years because the best is yet to come. The higher elevations and no-nonsense winemaking at Le Potazzine really aided in creating one of the most balanced and frankly interesting wines of the vintage.
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