Wine Legend Blog

A very grand vintage has emerged from the Montalcino region of Tuscany Italy.
With the releases of their 2010 Brunello wines, the critical ratings have been much higher than imaginable. More than 100 wines were rated 95 Points by James Suckling alone, not to mention the high scores awarded by other notable reviewers. This is a tough nut to crack, even though we are still talking wine here!

Suckling says: ‘Never have the wines been so profound in quality, character, and quantity from the best hillside vineyards of Montalcino. These 2010 Tuscans represent a new paradigm for Tuscany’s unique Sangiovese-based red. Vintages like this don’t come along very often.’

What makes for a great vintage in any region in the world, is well, location, location, location. This was partially true for these 2010 Brunello di Montalcino wines.

Here’s what it takes to produce grapes worthy of grand results:  From bud-break through harvest, grapes on the vine need enough sunlight to create the alcohol levels in the grapes; enough coolness for the grapes to develop their acidity levels and enough rain or water to keep them supple. BINGO, the 2010 Brunello grapes got it all!!

The other interesting thing about these 2010 Brunello wines is that while in most vintages, Brunello wine are not really approachable (drinkable) at young ages, the 2010 Brunellos are very drinkable, yet have the potential for long ageing. Quite amazing!

Start buying these beautiful wines, enjoy them now and cellar your favorites. The prices have never been better.

The Perrin family, of Chateau Beaucastel, has been working with Jolie and Pitt on blending and strategy at Provence-based Miraval since 2012. French winemaker Marc Perrin of the famed Beaucastel estate produces the pink wine officially known as Jolie-Pitt & Perrin Côte de Provence Rosé Miraval.

“Château Miraval” is recognized as one of Provence’s highest-quality organic wine producers. The domaine has created a name for itself through the efforts of a serious team working over a 15-year period. The Miraval team strives to produce quality wines vintage after vintage, under both the AOC Côtes de Provence and Coteaux Varois en Provence classifications. The domaine has been rewarded with several honors in major competitions and guides. Industry leaders in France and abroad rely on the Miraval label. All production is from grapes grown organically in the Commune of Correns, the first organic village of France.”

Chateau Miraval vineyards have been cultivated organically for many years and are certified organic. However, since the 2012 vintage, they have made the decision not to claim an organic status for the wines for two reasons:

One is that to maximize quality, they need the flexibility to blend the grapes of their Estate with top quality grapes sourced from other vineyards, which are not necessarily certified organic. They use a stabilization method, which is not homologated as organic in Europe, but is in the USA. So the grapes are not 100% estate grown because of their need to source top quality grapes from outside vineyards that they cannot find on the Estate.

MIRAVAL ROSÉ 2014
“A beautiful light pink color, fresh fruits aromas, a refreshing acidity. This is the interpretation Miraval is making about Provence’s terroirs.” Winery Notes.