2013 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 0,75lt.
At first sight, Tenuta Nuova 2013 already shows its potential from the bright red color.
The bouquet is very expressive and intense, with notes of young red fruit, blackberry and the typical balsamic. In the mouth is full body, persistent and rich, with silky tannins and a superb lenght.
A combination of elegance and power, it should be opened at least 2 hours in advance or alternatively decanting gently.
93 POINTS WINE SPECTATOR
97 WINE ADVOCATE
95 JAMES SUCKLING
94 ANTONIO GALLONI
Tenuta Nuova is a pioneering and visionary vineyard project emboding the belief and passion of Casanova di Neri. Tenuta Nuova means new property; Tenuta Nuova is a place where nobody planted Sangiovese before; Tenuta Nuova is the will of Casanova di Neri to produce a powerful yet drinkable Brunello with a high ageing potential. The project began with the study of varied local microclimates and their optimal exposures. Through a cautious and passionate research Casanova di Neri has used the most sophisticated scientific investigations to determine the clones, rootstocks, cultivation practices, plant density per hectare and every possible particular to obtain excellent Sangiovese grapes.
2013 began with a delayed budding and flowering, that turned out to be perfect for the following summer, with cool temperatures and sunny days. Rainfall was well spread out all over the season.
This is why the ripening process was slow and steady, producing grapes with balanced and beautiful aromatic expressions.
Casanova di Neri is founded by Giovanni Neri, a 48-year-old grain merchant from the town of Montevarchi in the Arno valley south of Florence. Passionate about wine, Neri had long dreamed of making a great Italian red, and although the long-established wine zone of Chianti Classico was just on his doorstep, it was remote Montalcino and its austere Sangiovese wines that fascinated him. Brunello di Montalcino had achieved DOC (controlled origin) status just four years previously, and there were still only around thirty producers in the whole area, compared to more than 250 today. One rural property on the market had caught Neri’s attention during his frequent forays to Montalcino: Podere Casanova, a working farm of around 200 hectares on the eastern side of town. Wine represented only a small part of the farm’s production at the time, and what was made was sold in bulk, but Neri recognized that thanks to its altitude, aspect and soil composition, the place had the potential to make great Brunellos. In May 1971, he bought Podere Casanova, changed its name to Casanova di Neri, and in consultation with some of Tuscany’s leading winemakers, immediately began work to restore the estate’s existing Sangiovese vines and plant new ones.
MONTALCINO HISTORY: Though Montalcino almost certainly had Etruscan roots, the first historical mention of the place dates back to 814, in a decree emanated by Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious that awarded the lands sub Monte Licini (‘under Mount Licini’) to the abbot of Sant’Antimo. The current settlement was founded in the tenth century. By the 14th, under the dominion of Siena, it had become a thriving walled town famous for its leather curing workshops. In 1555, it welcomed six hundred Sienese families who had fled from their city after its capture by Florence and the Medicis, and managed to hold out as “The Sienese Republic of Montalcino” for another four years. Subsequently, until well after the Second World War, the town was a small dot on the map of Tuscany, part of a feudal agricultural district whose inhabitants were often desperately poor. Viticulture had arrived on the scene midway through the 19th century, but it was for many years a marginal part of the local economy, the realm of a small group of local landowners and wine enthusiasts.
At first sight, Tenuta Nuova 2013 already shows its potential from the bright red color.
The bouquet is very expressive and intense, with notes of young red fruit, blackberry and the typical balsamic. In the mouth is full body, persistent and rich, with silky tannins and a superb lenght.
A combination of elegance and power, it should be opened at least 2 hours in advance or alternatively decanting gently.
93 POINTS WINE SPECTATOR
97 WINE ADVOCATE
95 JAMES SUCKLING
94 ANTONIO GALLONI
Tenuta Nuova is a pioneering and visionary vineyard project emboding the belief and passion of Casanova di Neri. Tenuta Nuova means new property; Tenuta Nuova is a place where nobody planted Sangiovese before; Tenuta Nuova is the will of Casanova di Neri to produce a powerful yet drinkable Brunello with a high ageing potential. The project began with the study of varied local microclimates and their optimal exposures. Through a cautious and passionate research Casanova di Neri has used the most sophisticated scientific investigations to determine the clones, rootstocks, cultivation practices, plant density per hectare and every possible particular to obtain excellent Sangiovese grapes.
2013 began with a delayed budding and flowering, that turned out to be perfect for the following summer, with cool temperatures and sunny days. Rainfall was well spread out all over the season.
This is why the ripening process was slow and steady, producing grapes with balanced and beautiful aromatic expressions.
Casanova di Neri is founded by Giovanni Neri, a 48-year-old grain merchant from the town of Montevarchi in the Arno valley south of Florence. Passionate about wine, Neri had long dreamed of making a great Italian red, and although the long-established wine zone of Chianti Classico was just on his doorstep, it was remote Montalcino and its austere Sangiovese wines that fascinated him. Brunello di Montalcino had achieved DOC (controlled origin) status just four years previously, and there were still only around thirty producers in the whole area, compared to more than 250 today. One rural property on the market had caught Neri’s attention during his frequent forays to Montalcino: Podere Casanova, a working farm of around 200 hectares on the eastern side of town. Wine represented only a small part of the farm’s production at the time, and what was made was sold in bulk, but Neri recognized that thanks to its altitude, aspect and soil composition, the place had the potential to make great Brunellos. In May 1971, he bought Podere Casanova, changed its name to Casanova di Neri, and in consultation with some of Tuscany’s leading winemakers, immediately began work to restore the estate’s existing Sangiovese vines and plant new ones.
MONTALCINO HISTORY: Though Montalcino almost certainly had Etruscan roots, the first historical mention of the place dates back to 814, in a decree emanated by Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious that awarded the lands sub Monte Licini (‘under Mount Licini’) to the abbot of Sant’Antimo. The current settlement was founded in the tenth century. By the 14th, under the dominion of Siena, it had become a thriving walled town famous for its leather curing workshops. In 1555, it welcomed six hundred Sienese families who had fled from their city after its capture by Florence and the Medicis, and managed to hold out as “The Sienese Republic of Montalcino” for another four years. Subsequently, until well after the Second World War, the town was a small dot on the map of Tuscany, part of a feudal agricultural district whose inhabitants were often desperately poor. Viticulture had arrived on the scene midway through the 19th century, but it was for many years a marginal part of the local economy, the realm of a small group of local landowners and wine enthusiasts.