Excellent Arnais, with Ferruccio, Giorgio and friends in the center of Alba — a year ago
Excellent Barbera d’Alba at Porto di Savona Restaurant of Turin. With Antipadti misti e trout with hazelnuts. Special occasion with Davide and Lilly on their first night in Italy, Marco and Ferruccio — 2 years ago
Veuve Clicquot rose’. Riunione con Paolo Ferruccio e Cristiano. Epocale — 3 years ago
2005 was a challenging year for Tuscany, especially in Montalcino. Several days of raining (especially in March and September) interrupted the ripening of the grapes. Only the best vineyards, with south/south-east exposure, reached maturity. Among them, we can find Greppo, the single vineyard from Biondi-Santi estate. Biondi-Santi is the father of Brunello, the first bottle of one of the Italian flagship wines being bottled by Ferruccio Biondi-Santi in 1888. It is also the first DOCG in Italy. In short, it's history in a glass. We can be safe in assuming that, even in difficult years such as 2005, this producer will extract all the value in the grape.
The color, after 3 years in Slavonian oak casks and 14 years in bottle, is a beautiful garnet red with orange finishing. Beautiful, powerful. The nose starts with the typical notes of Sangiovese, rose, sour cherry, a hint of almonds, while age delivers tertiary flavors such as leather, tobacco, cedar. There are no gamey notes that can be found in older Brunellos slightly over their expiration date, a sign of the ability of the winemaker to make the most out of this difficult year. A subtle hint of vanilla completes the bouquet.
The first sip reveals a powerful acidity (maybe too much), probably a sign of the cold weather, paired with perceptible alcol level and smooth, refined tannins. The balance is almost perfect, alcol and acidity creating a wonderful pair, where mature tannins are able to perform at their best (medium-high acidity, medium alcol, medium-high mature tannins, full body).
The aftertaste is long, pleasant, offering taste of sour cherry and hints of tobacco. Lastly, we find again this subtle note of vanilla.
Biondi-Santi produced less than 40000 bottles in 2005, and we recommend to open them now, as this year is now at its peak. Difficult years require savvy hands to work the grape, and Biondi-Santi is one of the master in the art of winemaking. — 5 years ago
In reality it is a Blanc de Blanc. Excellent. We had it at Osteria Libera in Alba with Davide, Lilly, Ferruccio, Luca and Cristiano. Memorable! — 2 years ago
Bollicine at VinCafe in Alba with Luca, Paolo and Ferruccio — 2 years ago
One of my favorite Sauvignon. With Ferruccio Paolo and Cristiano plus SO. At Uri Roddino — 3 years ago
Excellent Chardonnay to accompany a fantastic “merenda sinoira” with Ferruccio and Anna in Monforte D’Alba. Paired with salami, tuna, stuffed peppers, stuffed chili pepper, hummus, marinated zucchini. Fantastic Saturday. — 5 years ago
Jay Kline
Let’s just get the obvious out of the way: yes, it’s THAT Lamborghini. After Ferruccio retired from building cars and tractors, he bought the La Fiorita estate in Umbria and he took up winemaking. I’ve had the good fortune to enjoy a few different vintages of “Campoleone”, their most serious wine, over the years but it’s often a bit of a challenge to find in the middle of the US. It’s traditionally a 50/50 blend of Sangiovese and Merlot and labeled as an IGT. I had two bottles of the 2001 vintage in my cellar and decided to open one because, why not? As luck would have it, the first one was corked. Might as well open the second! That’s more like it!
Popped and poured a small glass for myself. The 2001 “Campoleone” pours a deep ruby/purple color with an opaque core moving out towards an orange rim; medium+ viscosity with light staining of the tears. Some faint signs of sediment too. On the nose, it seemed a bit reticent so I took Tim Heaton’s lead, based off his fabulous note from back in 2017. Into the decanter it went while I prepared dinner. I ended up leaving about 2oz in the bottle as it was full of sediment; almost a muddy sludge. After about 90 minutes, the nose came alive!
Developing still, after 23 years! Beautiful notes of plums, brambles, purple flowers, leather, tobacco, green herbs and spice drawer. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannins (though well integrated at this stage) and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long, dry and zippy. What a tasty treat and I can’t underscore how youthful this seemed! Based off this experience, well-stored examples are drinking well now with a 1-2 hour decant or enjoy through 2031 with ease. — a month ago