2012 San Filippo Brunello di Montalcino Le Lucere

This is an incredible 2012 with fantastic depth, richness, focus and tension. Full body, polished velvety tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Goes on for minutes. Better in 2020 but a joy to taste now. One of the wines of the vintage.

This is a terrific wine from San Filippo. The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino le Lucere is plush and rich in all the right places. It opens to a generous bouquet with tones of dark fruit and spice that contrast each other nicely. The wine straddles a position between primary aromas (directly from the fruit) and secondary aromas (derived from oak aging). The effect is well balanced and the intensity of the wine feels brighter and more harmonious as a result. The mouthfeel is compact and firm. It wine shows good persistence in terms of finish. Mar 2017, www.robertparker.com

Vivid ruby-violet; this wine’s color is much darker than San Filippo’s 2012 Brunello classico and a bit of a throwback to the Brunello hues that were routine a decade ago. Then also very dark on the nose and palate, with blueberry, blackcurrant and flnty notes dominating. With prolonged aeration (I retasted this twelve hours after having first opened the bottle), red fruit nuances finally become more apparent but still remain mostly camouflaged by notes of darker fruit. While this is another outstanding wine from San Filippo that will have many admirers, and despite the fact it is deeper and more concentrated wine than the estate’s 2012 classico Brunello, it is not what I personally like about Brunello, look for, and buy. Mar 2017, www.vinous.com, Drink: 2024-2030