2007 Brunello, 2009 Bordeaux Magical Mystery Tour

I just landed in London to make a connection to Rome to go to my house in Italy, and I am thinking that this may be one of the best tasting trips of my career as a wine critic.

Starting Monday, I taste 2007 Brunello di Montalcinos and 2006 Brunello di Montalcino Riservas. They are from two of the greatest years ever for the famous Tuscan red. I am excited to see how the 2007s compare to the 2006s. I always thought that 2006 has a slight edge because of its more uniform growing season with less heat spikes in the summer, but now I will see. I believed that 2006 had slightly better acidity and structure than 2007 for Sangiovese.

The truth will be told in a few days.

The 2007 and 2006 vintages for Tuscany are very much like the 2010 and 2009 or 1990 and 1989 vintages for Bordeaux. They are great “back-to-back” years.

Once I finish in Montalcino, I head on to Bordeaux to taste the 2009 vintage in bottle. This should be extraordinary. I think that 2009 is the greatest modern vintage of all time in Bordeaux. The wines have incredible depth of fruit, ripe tannins, and freshness. It’s the latter that really makes the year so very special. As I wrote in the past, the 2010 vintage is also exceptional, but it doesn’t have the same depth or brightness of the 2009 overall.

I will compare my notes tasting and speaking with vintners and winemakers.

It’s going to be the same as it has been for more than 30 years as a wine critic with more than 150,000 wines tasted. I’ll be reviewing wines but also looking for clues about the style of the wines and why some wineries did better than others. It’s all part of the story, a fascinating story of great wines that I will report to you in future blogs, tasting notes, and videos.

(Pictured: The cellar of Chateau Latour.)