Sadly, this was corked.
Ruby in color, clear and bright. The nose has a "dusty attic" quality to it along with cherries. Light bodied. On the palate, light tannins. Cherries turning a bit candied on the finish. Good acidity. This is a bit lighter in style but still true to its Chianti roots. Better with food than on its own. This would be nice with a creamy Tuscan Chicken dish.
Back when the 1997 vintage was released, there was a lot of fanfare and hype. Some bought into it and some didn't. But, the prices rose dramatically and at the time, this was one of the better values in Brunello (around $40). I was curious how well this held up. Sadly, after all this time, the bottle was corked (TCA). What a shame.
This seemed to be at peak. Ruby in color with a touch of bricking, mostly clear and bright. The nose is nice with cherries, slight black cherries, some dried cherries, slight sandalwood and tea leaves. Medium bodied. A good backbone of acidity. On the palate, some depth and complexity. Flavors of cherries, sandalwood and char. Nice finish. This needs food to really shine. It would work great with pasta or pizza and I enjoyed it with Eggplant Rotini. Drink up.
One of my evil guilty pleasures is to put this on the table with non wine geeks and see if they drink it. Usually, they don't, but the ones who do are impressed. Some will just see that it is a Chianti and think it can't be any good. This is possibly the best that Chianti offers and certainly one of the top wines that Italy offers. Although expensive, given that, it is priced fairly. At age 10, this is still young and needs more air though with a few hours, it drank well. Deep garnet with purple streaks, mostly opaque and bright. The nose is great with black cherries, cherries, black
2013 was a more traditional year in Brunello lending itself to more elegance and less full bodied wines. Whether that is good or bad is in the eye of the beholder or drinker. Ruby in color. The nose has cherries, dried cherries with an underlying sandalwood. On the palate, this is soft but complex. Nice cherry and dried cherry fruit. A bit of tea leaves. Of course, great with Italian foods but will work nicely with beef dishes too. This is a very pretty and elegant wine. Just lovely but don't expect a big wine.