The reason the Biondi wasn't as good, is because 2011 is a much weaker vintage in comparison to 2010. 2010 is just stunning across the board, where as 2011 has a lot of peaks and valleys. I will say, your videos are a lot of fun to watch & very educational.
Suggest a side by side of a Soldera vs Burgundy. Soldera as you know is a uniquely tasting BdM and can easily be confused for a top end Burgundy. Wonderful wines
Another great video😊 I love the fact that the 3 of you give your honest opinions and the bond between you contributes a lot to your successful videos so keep up the good work.
BDM is one of my favorite wine, good quality and GREAT price. Drinking a glass of Argiano Brunello di Montalcino 2018 (2023 Wine Spectator Wine of the year) while watching. Enjoy the show, it educational and entertaining!! Thank you, keep up the great work.
Cheers to Hilary preparing such a beautiful dinner! B & Pops making learning fun. His eyebrows are quite expressive in this episode. Truly enjoy all your content!❤
While I do like Napa cabs, I’m with Stacy on this one. Over the past couple years I have been buying mostly French and Italian wine. I just love Brunello with tomato sauce pasta, I’m sure Mom made a great one. I actually went to a dinner party last night. Was going to bring a Napa cab but brought a Brunello instead. Keep up the great work. This is my favourite wine channel
Love the fact that you are covering a range of wines/regions. If you are open to suggestions, I think it would be interesting to be a Sauternes video and an Australian Shiraz video (or Syrah in general). Cheers!
Liked it again: Brunello is definitely on my favorite list and have all that you tasted in my cellar with recent vintages. Except for the last one; actually never heard of it 🙈🙈 !! Thanks for this again, loved watching 🙏🙏
From South Africa and went to Tuscany at the end of 2023 and specifically went to 4 wine farms in Montalcino and was blown away. Everything is 100% organic or biodynamic and the wine is beautiful. I’ll forever be a fan of Brunello de Montalcino. Anyone who hasn’t had it should get it asap!
@@John-sg9fz Hahahaha what are you saying? I’ve had MUCH MUCH better wines than any Brunello or Margaux wine I’ve ever had. In my opinion SA wines are some of the best in the world. I was very disappointed visiting other apparent “famous” wine regions in France, Italy and US. They just don’t stack up against SA wines except if you pay 10 times more.
@@John-sg9fz so many but to name a few you can try the flagship wines from Kanonkop, Klein Constantia, Creation, Delair Graff, Meerlust, Bartinney, Oldenburg, just to name a few. Most aren’t shipped so you’ll have to come to SA to taste (assuming you’re not from here).
Finally some Brunellos! I myself spent some time to get used to the characteristic of DOC Brunello di montalcinos. Nice cherry flawors, long dry aftertaste. Give them some air. Here they got to taste much more expensive Brunellos than what most people drink, always interesting. Throw in a more cheaper brunello next time in a blind tasting👌 Skål!🍷
A great video and you summed it up perfectly at the end, as I was thinking if you were finding this tasting tough, you need to enjoy with food and see what you think of them then. On their own, like Chianti, they are in their element with hearty Italian food. Same for Barolo, but that’s another story. 😎👍😅🍷🍝
My “lightbulb” wine is a Brunello. Didn’t know anything about wine but was in Florence and heard Brunello was good. Had a glass and I was so stunned I’ve been in love ever since. Also greatly disagree that these aren’t crowd pleasers. They are.
Ohhh. Those are all wonderful wines. A Brunello was my epiphany wine….. I love these….. especially the riservas. The numbers have all increased in the last decade or more. IMHO the pay to play is a boon and a bane. Boon to the wineries that submit and a bane to consumers since the wineries are certainly not sending sub par wines to be tasted. thank you for sharing!!
Just back in Australia from Italy and had a fantastic experience tasting at Uccillieria . A few of their 2018 Brunello's made it's way back home to the cellar. Great little winery. Of all the wines I drank, was a Oasi Degli Angeli, Kurni 2021. A montepulciano grape variety from Marche. If you ever get the chance, that wine changed my entire viewpoint on that grape.
That wine uses dried grapes, so essentially like amarone, hence super concentrated. Also if you can there is another version of this style a wine called lamarein which also uses dried grapes (lagrein) in alto adige italy, super hard to get though
I had quite a few years where for one reason or another I didn't drink wine (preferred beer then) and when I finally started drinking wine again it was because I had a Brunello. What it was, I don't quite remember! This grape (sangiovese) therefore means a lot to me. For my eldest son's 30th birthday, I served Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 2010. Young but drinkable. For the guests with a different taste, I served an Aalto PS 2017. And finally Salwey Kirchberg GG, Spätburgunder (for my cousin who had just visited the winery in Germany). It was a good evening :-)
I'm still pretty new to wine but Stacey hit on something I'd noticed and thought about as well - inflated ratings. To me, why use a 100 point scale if I can't ever seem to find anything below 84-86? And I've seen 86 pt wines where the tasting notes said it had mouse taint on the finish. I know it's not a big deal overall - just comes off as marketing silliness once you dive in and think about it more in depth. I simply maintain my own tasting notes and comments since ultimately those are also what will matter most. Great vid as always!
Lucky that you guys are able to return corked wines. From where I am, wine stores either won't accept it back or it has to be within 3 days from purchased.......
Brunello > Napa Cabs. Love the lineup but you're missing out on the best of brunello. Salvioni, Poggio di Sotto, Molinari to name a few. Obviously Biondi is a gem, Ucc is also well respected, so a few beauties in there. Cheers
You made a slight mistake for Biondi Santi, it’s not Slovenian oak barrel, it’s Slavonian oak barrel and Slavonia is a region in Croatia famous for making oak barrels used all over the Europe. 5:37
You really seem to have bad luck with the Biondi-Santi! But you have reacted very, very cool!:-) This was again a phantastic tasting - as Always!:-))) P.S.: I think you should give Burgundy another chance - you also had bad luck with the La Tâche! I would recommend to taste once Musigny Grand Cru: not cheap at all - but can be as great as DRC!
Glad to see Pops might be coming around to wines other than Cabs and Merlots. I’ve not tried Biondi Santi and based on this video I’m glad I’ve not spent the money on it.
Do you happen to buy any of your wines through a “merchant” in NYC? I recognize a lot of those names, and you said all but the Biondi-Santi came from your cellar…keep up the good work!
No, these wines were purchased on release from merchants in Chicago and Raleigh. I also believe I got the Renieri through Total Wine's Concierge Program.
Something very important.... It is not Slovenian oak, but Slavonian Oak. Which is a forest. which very distinct tones compare to french or amerikan oak. Some wines are not for every ´pallate´. W il Brunello
I think you missed out on some really great ones, like Stella di campalto, Salicutti Teatro since 2016, Cupano, and Pian del Orino... they are in my opinion right now the bench mark. And the best Sangiovese out there is Soldera!
Awesome video! You gotta run it back with some other BdM producers and something to be said about “Traditional” vs “Modern” producers. For BdM, my personal favorites are Poggio Di Sotto, Il Marroneto, Stella di Campalto, and Soldera (skewing more traditional than modern). For a traditional producer as old as Biondi Santi, I’ve had great experiences with Conti Costanti. Just wanted to share my opinions and preferences on BdM. Its also such a terroir expressing varietal, possible to be so elegant and finesse - had a tasting where multiple people (albeit non wine professionals) called Grand Cru Burgundy for BdM. Nonetheless, thank you for making content! I’m excited to follow the journey here!
The single biggest mistake that these wine tastings have is the lack of food to unlock the depth and nature inherent in the wines. Italian wines, in particular, have bright acidity and earth grit and spice to pair with the fat of food on the palate. Fat is the transitive medium for flavor, and it is one flavor element that cannot be found in wine, but must be supplied from another source in the form of food. Sipping an Italian wine, then tasting some cheese, or prosciutto, and then going back to tasting the wine opens whole vistas of flavor and aroma that the first sips were lacking. It’s as if the wine glass has been swapped for another of something completely different, and incredibly more complex. New World wines don’t do this, but French, Spanish, and other Old World wines will. They all NEED to be with food, and they are crafted to be that way. To taste Italian wines without food completely misses the point of the wines, and leaves the palate imbalanced with only half of the formula of the winemakers’ intended recipe.
I hope you noticed Stacey making this point in the video. Also, you may know that we always drink the wine with food at the end of the episode to test the point that you're making.
Hi guys, Thank you for another amazing video! I just had a 2016 Biondi-Santi a week ago. I can't agree more with Pops... It was amazing to try because of its history and reputation, but unfortunately, it did not blow me away as I hoped it would. Just like Pops said, for the same money, one could definitely buy many better wines. I probably have the same taste as Pops, just with a very different budget... LOL. I would love to see you guys do one on top Merlots from around the world. Maybe compare Petrus, Masseto, Vérité “La Muse,” etc... throw in a Duckhorn Three Palms to see how it compares to the big guns.
Okay, first of all - love it when viewers agree with me... :-) Second, we're already planning such a video. Trying to find two bottles of similar vintages for Masseto and Petrus with solid provenance. We'll see....
Reniere is overrated. I think Castello de Romitorio is better. Definitely need to let those wines breath for a few hours to really appreciate how they evolve in the glass.
That's what I always thought about Sangiovese. Some are really good, but paying hundreds of dollars for it? This seems a thing only wine professionals can feel....................
I should have added that the prices listed were current prices for the wines and not the release prices. BdM prices are typically better than Napa and Bordeaux.
Not in my cellar so therefore not in the episode. We were lucky to purchase a bottle of Biondi Santi locally but did not manage to get the 2010 vintage. Would have loved to have both in there.
whole concept of tannins been too much and wine needs 30 years to becomes an easy drinking liquid chocolate is such a hard concept for me to understand
Stacey is great and keeps it fresh with her bizarre hair/glasses combinations. I really like combo of pops (enthusiastic collector), B (clueless but keen to learn) and Stacey (academic professional). I think the three of them make the channel IMO
i collect wines and these brunellos age beautifully and are for sophiosticated wine drinkers like myself. Limiting your tastes to bordeaux and napa is self limiting and you are depriving yourself of all interesting varieties that exist.
I couldn’t agree more. I have nothing against Napa or Bordeaux but I find them to be not as complex when it comes to higher end wine. Sure, they are big and bold, but I’m after complexity and subtlety. That said, when I go to dinners or get togethers, I bring Napa or Bordeaux because that’s what everyone wants.
brunello is brigitte bardot... not for those who are into kim kardashian..wines..... not to be rude but new world tastes as always are not very refined.
I like the fact that fancy rich guys don't really like Italian wines and remain them gems for me. :P
LOL
Barolo and Barbaresco would be a great episode! Thanks for this one
The reason the Biondi wasn't as good, is because 2011 is a much weaker vintage in comparison to 2010. 2010 is just stunning across the board, where as 2011 has a lot of peaks and valleys. I will say, your videos are a lot of fun to watch & very educational.
You missed ‘Soldera’ which is far superior to those you tried IMO. Worth a separate episode
Yes, I desperately wanted a bottle of Soldera in the episode but did not have any in my cellar.
Suggest a side by side of a Soldera vs Burgundy. Soldera as you know is a uniquely tasting BdM and can easily be confused for a top end Burgundy. Wonderful wines
Another great video😊 I love the fact that the 3 of you give your honest opinions and the bond between you contributes a lot to your successful videos so keep up the good work.
Barolo next!!
BDM is one of my favorite wine, good quality and GREAT price. Drinking a glass of Argiano Brunello di Montalcino 2018 (2023 Wine Spectator Wine of the year) while watching. Enjoy the show, it educational and entertaining!! Thank you, keep up the great work.
Cheers to Hilary preparing such a beautiful dinner! B & Pops making learning fun. His eyebrows are quite expressive in this episode. Truly enjoy all your content!❤
While I do like Napa cabs, I’m with Stacy on this one. Over the past couple years I have been buying mostly French and Italian wine. I just love Brunello with tomato sauce pasta, I’m sure Mom made a great one.
I actually went to a dinner party last night. Was going to bring a Napa cab but brought a Brunello instead.
Keep up the great work. This is my favourite wine channel
Thank you!
Loved the content of this video; I learned something. And as always, the production level is awesome. Keep up the great work.
What a lovely family, thank you for your time and sharing your love for wine!
I would take Brunello over Napa every day of the week.
And every other day..
Love the fact that you are covering a range of wines/regions. If you are open to suggestions, I think it would be interesting to be a Sauternes video and an Australian Shiraz video (or Syrah in general). Cheers!
Love your suggestion!
Brunello is probably my favorite wine in the world and I'm saying this as a huge Napa fan who grew up in the Bay Area!
For Biondi-Santi, when I was at the vineyard they told me to air it for at least 8hrs (!) before tasting. It did make a difference.
Liked it again: Brunello is definitely on my favorite list and have all that you tasted in my cellar with recent vintages. Except for the last one; actually never heard of it 🙈🙈 !! Thanks for this again, loved watching 🙏🙏
I love these videos. So fun to watch. Thanks for creating this wonderful content! 🍷
Love to see a Zin video. I think it's America's greatest wine grape (though it originates in Croatia).
I'm a little surprised you felt so lukewarm on the 2011 Biondi-Santi. I had a bottle recently and I found it to be wonderful!
From South Africa and went to Tuscany at the end of 2023 and specifically went to 4 wine farms in Montalcino and was blown away. Everything is 100% organic or biodynamic and the wine is beautiful. I’ll forever be a fan of Brunello de Montalcino. Anyone who hasn’t had it should get it asap!
Anything tastes good compared to SA wines IMO. SA is a beautiful country but their wines are a big avoid
@@John-sg9fz Hahahaha what are you saying? I’ve had MUCH MUCH better wines than any Brunello or Margaux wine I’ve ever had. In my opinion SA wines are some of the best in the world. I was very disappointed visiting other apparent “famous” wine regions in France, Italy and US. They just don’t stack up against SA wines except if you pay 10 times more.
Which SA reds as I am curious?
@@John-sg9fz so many but to name a few you can try the flagship wines from Kanonkop, Klein Constantia, Creation, Delair Graff, Meerlust, Bartinney, Oldenburg, just to name a few. Most aren’t shipped so you’ll have to come to SA to taste (assuming you’re not from here).
@@jacoolivier9244thanks
Finally some Brunellos! I myself spent some time to get used to the
characteristic of DOC Brunello di montalcinos. Nice cherry flawors, long dry aftertaste. Give them some air. Here they got to taste much more expensive Brunellos than what most people drink, always interesting. Throw in a more cheaper brunello next time in a blind tasting👌 Skål!🍷
A great video and you summed it up perfectly at the end, as I was thinking if you were finding this tasting tough, you need to enjoy with food and see what you think of them then. On their own, like Chianti, they are in their element with hearty Italian food. Same for Barolo, but that’s another story. 😎👍😅🍷🍝
Fantastic Episode. Keep up the great work!
My “lightbulb” wine is a Brunello. Didn’t know anything about wine but was in Florence and heard Brunello was good. Had a glass and I was so stunned I’ve been in love ever since.
Also greatly disagree that these aren’t crowd pleasers. They are.
Ohhh. Those are all wonderful wines. A Brunello was my epiphany wine….. I love these….. especially the riservas. The numbers have all increased in the last decade or more. IMHO the pay to play is a boon and a bane. Boon to the wineries that submit and a bane to consumers since the wineries are certainly not sending sub par wines to be tasted. thank you for sharing!!
Just back in Australia from Italy and had a fantastic experience tasting at Uccillieria . A few of their 2018 Brunello's made it's way back home to the cellar. Great little winery. Of all the wines I drank, was a Oasi Degli Angeli, Kurni 2021. A montepulciano grape variety from Marche. If you ever get the chance, that wine changed my entire viewpoint on that grape.
Would love to try that - is it available outside of the local market?
That wine uses dried grapes, so essentially like amarone, hence super concentrated. Also if you can there is another version of this style a wine called lamarein which also uses dried grapes (lagrein) in alto adige italy, super hard to get though
I had quite a few years where for one reason or another I didn't drink wine (preferred beer then) and when I finally started drinking wine again it was because I had a Brunello. What it was, I don't quite remember! This grape (sangiovese) therefore means a lot to me. For my eldest son's 30th birthday, I served Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 2010. Young but drinkable. For the guests with a different taste, I served an Aalto PS 2017. And finally Salwey Kirchberg GG, Spätburgunder (for my cousin who had just visited the winery in Germany). It was a good evening :-)
Sounds like a great evening indeed!!
I'm still pretty new to wine but Stacey hit on something I'd noticed and thought about as well - inflated ratings. To me, why use a 100 point scale if I can't ever seem to find anything below 84-86? And I've seen 86 pt wines where the tasting notes said it had mouse taint on the finish.
I know it's not a big deal overall - just comes off as marketing silliness once you dive in and think about it more in depth.
I simply maintain my own tasting notes and comments since ultimately those are also what will matter most.
Great vid as always!
Great episode. As a big fan of BdM this was a treat vid. 🍷
2010 was a great year for Bourdeaux as well as 2005 and 2009.
Lucky that you guys are able to return corked wines. From where I am, wine stores either won't accept it back or it has to be within 3 days from purchased.......
Great guys! 🍷🍷🍷 not tried Brunello but love big Italian, had lasagne tonite! Keep going! ❤
Brunello > Napa Cabs. Love the lineup but you're missing out on the best of brunello. Salvioni, Poggio di Sotto, Molinari to name a few. Obviously Biondi is a gem, Ucc is also well respected, so a few beauties in there. Cheers
Grazie mille 💝🇮🇹
You made a slight mistake for Biondi Santi, it’s not Slovenian oak barrel, it’s Slavonian oak barrel and Slavonia is a region in Croatia famous for making oak barrels used all over the Europe. 5:37
You really seem to have bad luck with the Biondi-Santi! But you have reacted very, very cool!:-) This was again a phantastic tasting - as Always!:-)))
P.S.: I think you should give Burgundy another chance - you also had bad luck with the La Tâche! I would recommend to taste once Musigny Grand Cru: not cheap at all - but can be as great as DRC!
We'll do Burgundy again for sure. I'd love to try Musigny.
Glad to see Pops might be coming around to wines other than Cabs and Merlots. I’ve not tried Biondi Santi and based on this video I’m glad I’ve not spent the money on it.
Love the bowl
Bummer about the corked bottle, but good thing you can get replaced
Are you going to be doing any Super Tuscans in the future?
Do you happen to buy any of your wines through a “merchant” in NYC? I recognize a lot of those names, and you said all but the Biondi-Santi came from your cellar…keep up the good work!
No, these wines were purchased on release from merchants in Chicago and Raleigh. I also believe I got the Renieri through Total Wine's Concierge Program.
Something very important.... It is not Slovenian oak, but Slavonian Oak. Which is a forest. which very distinct tones compare to french or amerikan oak.
Some wines are not for every ´pallate´. W il Brunello
Cheers,,,,,
Cool episode - makes me want to go back to Florence and dive into a bistecca alla fiorentina (with Brunello of course!)
Love it! Had it when we were there - yum!
I think you missed out on some really great ones, like Stella di campalto, Salicutti Teatro since 2016, Cupano, and Pian del Orino... they are in my opinion right now the bench mark. And the best Sangiovese out there is Soldera!
Lots of viewers mentioning Soldera. Excited to try it one day. Unfortunately, it is not something I had in my cellar.
Stella Di Campalto is excellent. Step down from Soldera but still wonderful
Awesome video! You gotta run it back with some other BdM producers and something to be said about “Traditional” vs “Modern” producers. For BdM, my personal favorites are Poggio Di Sotto, Il Marroneto, Stella di Campalto, and Soldera (skewing more traditional than modern). For a traditional producer as old as Biondi Santi, I’ve had great experiences with Conti Costanti. Just wanted to share my opinions and preferences on BdM. Its also such a terroir expressing varietal, possible to be so elegant and finesse - had a tasting where multiple people (albeit non wine professionals) called Grand Cru Burgundy for BdM.
Nonetheless, thank you for making content! I’m excited to follow the journey here!
I may be technically incorrect here. Soldera is a declassified BdM
Great feedback!
For sure .
Amazing!!! Can you guys do super seconds next??
We'll do a super seconds at some point. Probably in '25.
First! Can't wait to watch!
An episode showcasing Port?
The single biggest mistake that these wine tastings have is the lack of food to unlock the depth and nature inherent in the wines.
Italian wines, in particular, have bright acidity and earth grit and spice to pair with the fat of food on the palate. Fat is the transitive medium for flavor, and it is one flavor element that cannot be found in wine, but must be supplied from another source in the form of food. Sipping an Italian wine, then tasting some cheese, or prosciutto, and then going back to tasting the wine opens whole vistas of flavor and aroma that the first sips were lacking. It’s as if the wine glass has been swapped for another of something completely different, and incredibly more complex.
New World wines don’t do this, but French, Spanish, and other Old World wines will. They all NEED to be with food, and they are crafted to be that way.
To taste Italian wines without food completely misses the point of the wines, and leaves the palate imbalanced with only half of the formula of the winemakers’ intended recipe.
I hope you noticed Stacey making this point in the video. Also, you may know that we always drink the wine with food at the end of the episode to test the point that you're making.
Stacey is the Ms Frizzle of wine tasting!!!
Hi guys,
Thank you for another amazing video!
I just had a 2016 Biondi-Santi a week ago. I can't agree more with Pops... It was amazing to try because of its history and reputation, but unfortunately, it did not blow me away as I hoped it would. Just like Pops said, for the same money, one could definitely buy many better wines. I probably have the same taste as Pops, just with a very different budget... LOL.
I would love to see you guys do one on top Merlots from around the world. Maybe compare Petrus, Masseto, Vérité “La Muse,” etc... throw in a Duckhorn Three Palms to see how it compares to the big guns.
Okay, first of all - love it when viewers agree with me... :-) Second, we're already planning such a video. Trying to find two bottles of similar vintages for Masseto and Petrus with solid provenance. We'll see....
@@OurPourDecisions Looking forward to it, as for any new videos of yours!
Some Sicilian wines are wonderful but… the best Italian wines come from France if you get my drift.
What’s the decanter setup near the end?
We double decanted all the wines.
Reniere is overrated. I think Castello de Romitorio is better. Definitely need to let those wines breath for a few hours to really appreciate how they evolve in the glass.
Would love to try Castello de Romitorio one day.
That's what I always thought about Sangiovese. Some are really good, but paying hundreds of dollars for it? This seems a thing only wine professionals can feel....................
I should have added that the prices listed were current prices for the wines and not the release prices. BdM prices are typically better than Napa and Bordeaux.
Italian wines are made to eat with food!
Sorry, but Slavonian not Slovenian oak barrels. Slovenia is a state and Slavonia a Croatian region producer of oak barrels.
Where is stella di campalto and soldera ?
Not in my cellar so therefore not in the episode. We were lucky to purchase a bottle of Biondi Santi locally but did not manage to get the 2010 vintage. Would have loved to have both in there.
@OurPourDecisions understood still amazing wines you good to go any bolgheri sassi or ornellaia? I think I saw a bottle of masseto ?
whole concept of tannins been too much and wine needs 30 years to becomes an easy drinking liquid chocolate is such a hard concept for me to understand
If you're able to, give it a try sometime!
I cellar for more like ten years
B is so pretty, prettier than any wine on earth😊
👍
Your Pour Taste Buds
Lol
Try other experts please. Will
Give this channel much more dynamic.
Stacey is great and keeps it fresh with her bizarre hair/glasses combinations. I really like combo of pops (enthusiastic collector), B (clueless but keen to learn) and Stacey (academic professional). I think the three of them make the channel IMO
@@John-sg9fz it’s not about the looks. It’s about in-depth perspective that difference per sommelier.
I mean... People growing up on corn bread will find everything too bitter I suppose. Please stick to California cabs and leave Brunello to us then.
Money cannot buy you taste.
i collect wines and these brunellos age beautifully and are for sophiosticated wine drinkers like myself. Limiting your tastes to bordeaux and napa is self limiting and you are depriving yourself of all interesting varieties that exist.
I couldn’t agree more. I have nothing against Napa or Bordeaux but I find them to be not as complex when it comes to higher end wine. Sure, they are big and bold, but I’m after complexity and subtlety. That said, when I go to dinners or get togethers, I bring Napa or Bordeaux because that’s what everyone wants.
Thank you for a pleasant and educational wine tour to wonderful Brunello di Montalcino!
brunello is brigitte bardot... not for those who are into kim kardashian..wines..... not to be rude but new world tastes as always are not very refined.
the background musinc is too loud and annoying
Good point, we need to work on that!
Loved this video. Great reviews