Wine Advisor
Casanova di Neri, Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto 2019
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Description
Cerretalto is a special blend of intuition, passion and vision – the hallmark of all Casanova di Neri’s work. The grapes hail mainly from a vineyard situated in a natural amphitheatre alongside a small river. The prized white truffles which grow in our private truffle reserve here bear witness to the purity of this environment. Soil rich in minerals, a very particular microclimate and low yield per plant coupled with our experience, dedication and passion for our work in the vineyard and in the cellar make Cerretalto a wine of immense character and harmonious structure. It's a wine of exceptional quality, personality and inimitable style – the perfect expression of the territory that nurtures it, the distillation of our idea of what a great Brunello should be. Cerretalto is a wine of outstanding character. Its uniqueness lies in the aroma’s graphite notes and sanguine undertones, and the extraordinary length and persistence of flavour on the palate. Its collection of accolades is incredible and unmatched: 100/100 Wine Advocate, 100/100 Wine Spectator, 100/100 James Suckling, 100/100 Falstaff, 100/100 Luca Gardini, 100/100 International Wine Report, 100/100 Wine Enthusiast.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
The Casanova di Neri 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto (with the black label) opens to medium-plus concentration, dark fruit, ferrous earth and black licorice. You get a lot of detail on the bouquet. This is a big wine with all muscle and no fat. It concludes with smoky barbecue, cola and pressed blue flower. These ethereal aromas appear only after the wine has been in the glass for a while. Rich concentration wraps over the palate but imparts no residual heaviness. This wine has great capacity to age, but I love Cerretalto when its primary fruit is still apparent (10 to 20 years in). Production is 9,700 bottles. The Cerretalto will not be made in 2020.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Wow. Seductive aromas of slate, violets and black cherries as well as some graphite and cedar. Full-bodied, this has incredible depth, intensity and purity, building on the palate with focused fruit and pronounced tannins. Goes on for minutes. A wine for the long run. Best of the vintage? Try after 2029.
Reviewed by: Eric Guido
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto is a showstopper, with a bouquet that mixes hauntingly dark florals, black cherries, incense, exotic spices and sweet sage. It seduces the senses with silken textures and ripe wild berry fruit scents, taking on a steady tension as hints of blood orange and an air of violet florals saturate the palate. It finishes structured and impossibly long as a primary concentration lingers, leaving a stain of blackberry and sour cherry, all framed by regal tannins. The balance here is otherworldly. The 2019 Cerretalto displays all of the best attributes of this radiant vintage. Spellbinding.
About the Producer
Casanova di Neri is founded by Giovanni Neri, a 48-year-old grain merchant from the town of Montevarchi in the Arno valley south of Florence. Passionate about wine, Neri had long dreamed of making a great Italian red, and although the long-established wine zone of Chianti Classico was just on his doorstep, it was remote Montalcino and its austere Sangiovese wines that fascinated him. Brunello di Montalcino had achieved DOC (controlled origin) status just four years previously, and there were still only around thirty producers in the whole area, compared to more than 250 today. One rural property on the market had caught Neri’s attention during his frequent forays to Montalcino: Podere Casanova, a working farm of around 200 hectares on the eastern side of town. Wine represented only a small part of the farm’s production at the time, and what was made was sold in bulk, but Neri recognized that thanks to its altitude, aspect and soil composition, the place had the potential to make great Brunellos. In May 1971, he bought Podere Casanova, changed its name to Casanova di Neri, and in consultation with some of Tuscany’s leading winemakers, immediately began work to restore the estate’s existing Sangiovese vines and plant new ones.
