Fontodi, Flaccianello della Pieve 2009

robert_parker94

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2009 Flaccianello della Pieve is a huge wine that definitely shows the richness of the year, yet somehow retains fabulous balance. Ripe black cherries, mocha, spices and licorice are some of the many notes that flesh out in the glass. The 2009 Flaccianello is impressive, but readers will have to be exceptionally patient. As good as the 2009 is, it doesn’t have the sexiness of the 2004 or 2007, nor the power of vintages like 2006 or 2008. Instead, it is a bit of an in-between wine with elements of all those years. Today it is the wine’s structure and concentration that dominates. My most recent tasting suggests the wine is beginning to close down hard. Next to the Sorbo, Flaccianello has more richness and volume, but slightly less vibrancy. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2029. I was in Panzano in mid-August 2009, just as a huge heat wave began to take hold of Northern Italy. Growers were tempted to pick early, but Sangiovese is a late-ripening variety that needs the extra hang time to develop its full range of aromas and flavors. Proprietor Giovanni Manetti waited until late September to start harvesting, and it paid off. His Sangiovese based wines in particular are fabulous in 2009. Importer: Vinifera Imports, Ronkonkoma, NY; tel. (631) 467-5907

robert_parker94

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2009 Flaccianello della Pieve is a bit of a shock to the palate after 20+ older vintages. Still, it is impossible to miss the wine’s striking purity and finesse. Today the 2009 is a bit of a brute, but it should mellow out over the next 5-7 years as the tannins start to soften. Firm tannins frame layers of ripe, juicy fruit in this young, extroverted Flaccianello. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2029. 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_parker95

Reviewed by: Monica Larner

The 2009 Flaccianello della Pieve is now hitting that very specific point in a wine's evolution in which you still identity some of the fruit, but you also get a supporting chorus of evolved aromas that enhance the overall finesse and depth of the bouquet. This wine is coming along beautifully and seems right on point in terms of its forward moving aging trajectory. Dried blackberry, cherry confit and plum are rounded out by spice, toast and bitter chocolate. The bouquet fires out on multiple sides, thus increasing the perceived complexity on hand. This vintage is very open and frank, and this is another endearing quality to admire. Interestingly, this vintage saw naturally high yields. Giovanni Manetti tells me they had to work very carefully in terms of green harvest and fruit selection in order to achieve this impeccable level of balance.

robert_parker95

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2009 Flaccianello della Pieve is now hitting that very specific point in a wine's evolution in which you still identity some of the fruit, but you also get a supporting chorus of evolved aromas that enhance the overall finesse and depth of the bouquet. This wine is coming along beautifully and seems right on point in terms of its forward moving aging trajectory. Dried blackberry, cherry confit and plum are rounded out by spice, toast and bitter chocolate. The bouquet fires out on multiple sides, thus increasing the perceived complexity on hand. This vintage is very open and frank, and this is another endearing quality to admire. Interestingly, this vintage saw naturally high yields. Giovanni Manetti tells me they had to work very carefully in terms of green harvest and fruit selection in order to achieve this impeccable level of balance.

vinous94

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2009 Flaccianello is gorgeous, but the relative shortcomings of the year relative to the sublime 2010 are apparent when the wines are tasted side by side. Firm tannins support a core of dark red fruit, smoke and crushed flowers. Readers will need to give the 2009 time to settle down, but it is unquestionably a fine Flaccianello.

vinous94

Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni

The 2009 Flaccianello della Pieve is a huge wine that definitely shows the richness of the year, yet somehow retains fabulous balance. Ripe black cherries, mocha, spices and licorice are some of the many notes that flesh out in the glass. The 2009 Flaccianello is impressive, but readers will have to be exceptionally patient. As good as the 2009 is, it doesn't have the sexiness of the 2004 or 2007, nor the power of vintages like 2006 or 2008. Instead, it is a bit of an in-between wine with elements of all those years. Today it is the wine's structure and concentration that dominates. My most recent tasting suggests the wine is beginning to close down hard. Next to the Sorbo, Flaccianello has more richness and volume, but slightly less vibrancy.