Fontodi, Flaccianello della Pieve 2006

robert_parker96

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2006 Flaccianello della Pieve (Sangiovese) is just as phenomenal as it was when I tasted it from barrel. This spectacularly ripe and concentrated wine reveals masses of dark cherries, plums, licorice, smoke, violets, French oak and minerals that coat the palate with extraordinary richness. The wine possesses plenty of structure, but the sheer density of the fruit provides stunning balance. The 2006 Flaccianello is one of the more primary wines of the vintage, and it will require considerable patience. Flaccianello continues to prove that Panzano’s Conca d’Oro is one of the most privileged spots for Sangiovese in Tuscany. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2026. My visit to Fontodi last year was fascinating, as I spent several hours with proprietor Giovanni Manetti and oenologist Franco Bernabei tasting through multiple barrels of all of the estate’s wines. Importer: Vinifera Imports, Ronkonkoma, NY; tel. (631) 467-5907

robert_parker96

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2006 Flaccianello della Pieve (Sangiovese) is just as extraordinary as it was when I tasted it from barrel. This spectacularly ripe and concentrated wine reveals masses of dark cherries, plums, licorice, smoke, violets, French oak and minerals that coat the palate with extraordinary richness. The wine possesses plenty of structure, but the sheer density of the fruit provides stunning balance. The 2006 Flaccianello is one of the more primary wines of the vintage, and it will require considerable patience. Flaccianello continues to prove that Panzano’s Conca d’Oro is one of the most privileged spots for Sangiovese in Tuscany. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2026. My visit to Fontodi a few months ago was fascinating, as I spent several hours with proprietor Giovanni Manetti and oenologist Franco Bernabei tasting through multiple barrels of all of the estate’s wines. Importer: Vinifera Imports, Ronkonkoma, NY; tel. (631) 467-5907

robert_parker97

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2006 Flaccianello della Pieve is monumental, as it has been since the very beginning. Smoke, black cherries, plums, incense, licorice and tar are some of the many notes that burst from the glass in this powerful wine. The 2006 has fruit and structure to burn. It is going to be an absolutely fabulous wine to follow over the coming years, but patience is key. A huge, explosive finish rounds things out in style. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2036. This complete vertical of Fontodi’s flagship 100% Sangiovese Flaccianello was yet another of the remarkable tastings of my recent trip to Tuscany. Flaccianello is an interesting wine because the quality level that is the norm today only really starts around 2001. Prior to that the wines were very good, and sometimes even better than that, but not profound. In 2001 proprietor Giovanni Manetti made the decision to focus on his estate’s best fruit rather than making Flaccianello as a single-vineyard wine. Since then, Flaccianello has routinely been among the most exciting wines in Tuscany. Much of the fruit that now goes into Flaccianello comes from vineyards in the Pecille sub-zone of Panzano with a full southern exposure. Today Flaccianello is 100% Sangiovese, but the first vintages up to and including 1984 have 15% white grapes, as was common at the time. The early vintages up until 1990 spent about one year in French oak barrels, 50% new. In the mid-1990s Manetti increased the period of barrel aging to 18 months with the 1997, and then to 24 months with the 2006. Today the percentage of new barrels is close to 100%. Fontodi Flaccianello Key Points: 1. 100% Sangiovese aged in French oak barrels 2. Since 2001 made from the estate’s best fruit across a number of vineyards in Panzano’s historic Conca d’Oro, prior to that a strict single-vineyard wine. 3. Flaccianello’s status as an icon wine is cemented beginning in 2001 4. One of the more powerful of the 100% Sangioveses from Chianti Classico 5. Aging potential: 20+ years

robert_parker94

Reviewed by: Monica Larner

The two bottles of the 2006 Flaccianello della Pieve opened during this retrospective were both below my admittedly high expectations. I had bad luck with a vintage that has every reason to impress, seriously impress, and for that reason, I am putting a question mark next to my score. There is a vegetal note that is out of place, and although it appears only in brief and contained pluses, I kept finding it each time I returned my nose to the glass. It reminded me of green olive or dried garden herb. The bouquet delivers dark plum, prune, earthy notes, menthol freshness, camphor ash and pronounced minerality. The wine shows beautiful elegance, freshness and silkiness in terms of mouthfeel. This vintage was characterized by extreme diurnal shifts that reached as high as 30 degrees Celsius during the days toward the end of August, and dropped down to ten degrees Celsius at night. On the positive side, that green note recalls balsam herb, and on the negative side, it feels a tad stringy and astringent. The wine may just be in an awkward phase, requiring extra time to iron out those rough spots.

robert_parker94

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The two bottles of the 2006 Flaccianello della Pieve opened during this retrospective were both below my admittedly high expectations. I had bad luck with a vintage that has every reason to impress, seriously impress, and for that reason, I am putting a question mark next to my score. There is a vegetal note that is out of place, and although it appears only in brief and contained pluses, I kept finding it each time I returned my nose to the glass. It reminded me of green olive or dried garden herb. The bouquet delivers dark plum, prune, earthy notes, menthol freshness, camphor ash and pronounced minerality. The wine shows beautiful elegance, freshness and silkiness in terms of mouthfeel. This vintage was characterized by extreme diurnal shifts that reached as high as 30 degrees Celsius during the days toward the end of August, and dropped down to ten degrees Celsius at night. On the positive side, that green note recalls balsam herb, and on the negative side, it feels a tad stringy and astringent. The wine may just be in an awkward phase, requiring extra time to iron out those rough spots.

vinous97

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2006 Flaccianello della Pieve is monumental, as it has been since the very beginning. Smoke, black cherries, plums, incense, licorice and tar are some of the many notes that burst from the glass in this powerful wine. The 2006 has fruit and structure to burn. It is going to be an absolutely fabulous wine to follow over the coming years, but patience is key. A huge, explosive finish rounds things out in style.

vinous96

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2006 Flaccianello della Pieve (Sangiovese) is just as phenomenal as it was when I tasted it from barrel. This spectacularly ripe and concentrated wine reveals masses of dark cherries, plums, licorice, smoke, violets, French oak and minerals that coat the palate with extraordinary richness. The wine possesses plenty of structure, but the sheer density of the fruit provides stunning balance. The 2006 Flaccianello is one of the more primary wines of the vintage, and it will require considerable patience. Flaccianello continues to prove that Panzano's Conca d'Oro is one of the most privileged spots for Sangiovese in Tuscany.