Monte Antico ’09 shows special grace, balance & depth, and inaugurates increased bottle age before release.
It is now 35 years that the Empsons’ signature Tuscan has stood for quality, reliability and value, world-wide.
One of the side effects of success is resistance to change: you move with the times while appearing to stand still; touch up the classic packaging so it looks fresh yet timeless; renovate closures and labels so they’re as sleek and user-friendly as possible, without rocking the boat of brand recognition.
On the quality front – what’s actually in the bottle – the recurring adjectives from top reviewers are “delicious” and “consistent”. Change, in this case, is provided by nature. Move in time with the music, season after season, vintage after vintage, and you get the caliber and style you’ve always wanted without apparent effort: all the more so when you can orchestrate a variety of selections (as many as 50), cherry-picking according to harvest conditions on the individual vineyard sites…
Not to mention the actual cherry-pickers!
As fans of Monte Antico will remember, these are Neil Empson himself and the Maestro of Sangiovese, Franco Bernabei; today, as in 1977.
Sangiovese remains the predominant variety, complemented by 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot, and élevage in oak continues to be one year. (80% of this is in Slavonian barrels, 20% in barrique; 10-20% of the barriques, all French oak, is new, while the rest is 2nd year; barrels are 5-6 years old. In Franco’s words, “The larger barrel is conducive to slow ageing and maintains fruit, finesse and elegance. Barriques are conducive to complexity and structure, as well as to that light, toasted and vanilla nuance which, blended into the mass of barrel-aged wine, creates floral fusion integrated by a subtle spicy tone, without compromising the floral character of the major variety, Sangiovese.”)
There is, however, one innovation we trust everyone will love – especially when paired with the grace, balance and depth of the 2009 vintage.
From ’09 onwards, ageing will be a minimum of 2 years rather than 1½: the usual one year in oak will be followed by at least one year in bottle prior to release.
CLICK BELOW TO READ THE FULL REPORT, with Neil & Franco’s respective tasting notes!
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