2015 Le Due Porte Brunello di Montalcino

**Grape:**
100% Sangiovese.
**Aging in wood:**
Minimum 24 months in oak.
**BOTTLE AGING:**
The D.O.C.G. regulations governing the production of Brunello require a minimum of 4 months bottle aging before release.
**Total production:**
2,209 numbered 0.75 Liter bottles & 150 Magnums (1.5 lt), 25 Double Magnums (3 lt), 1 Mathusalem (6 lt), 2 Salmanazar (9 lt) and one Balthazar (12 lt).
**Bottled:**
4th June 2020

Purchase this wine

Tasting Notes Harvest Notes Food Pairings Reviews

Tasting Notes

Consider letting this wine breathe and taste over a couple of hours.

The color is bright ruby with classic garnet hues. Herbaceousness and bright fruit compete on the nose, with licorice and some sottobosco, whiffs of leather, Cuban cigar, graphite and dark cocoa.

The wine is lean and sinewy, dancing on the palate like a ballerina, stretching out elegant, well-structured tannins. The mouth-feel is juicy with fruit and the texture is balanced yet firm. Everything promised on the nose is there on the palate and the finish is immensely long and pure.

This is a classical expression of Sangiovese, for those who appreciate and seek an exquisite balance of grace, refinement and stamina. This wine can accompany sophisticated cuisine but can also be enjoyed as a Vino da Meditazione, when contemplating the joyful lightness of being.

Harvest Notes

I often exaggerate but in Montalcino 2015 really was one of the vintages of a lifetime, a year of unparalleled excellence, in short una vendemmia da sogno. The Consorzio del Brunello describe it as a vintage of altissimo e raro livello qualitativa extremely high and unprecedented quality. Nobody was surprised to see it awarded five stars in February 2016.

The vintage was distinguished by a cold, wet winter and a cool, rainy spring that established water reserves in the vineyards. We pruned in February and had budbreak on 7th April 2015 at Le Due Porte. There was double the foliage present in 2014 due to the warm autumn and wet 2014. The vines kept their green leaves for much longer than usual, allowing them to store good reserves of sostanze.

An extremely hot and dry July (even hotter than the scorching 2003) meant that the grapes changed color ten days earlier than usual and fruit was smaller than normal (good for the skin:flesh ratio). The heat was mitigated by showers at the end of the month and in early August (48 mm), and a marked thermal excursion permitted a long slow ripening, incredibly positive for the development of aromatics and tannins. A final blast of heat in August was great for the skins, again beneficial for aromatics and dry extract. After a rainy start, we the grapes enjoyed a wonderful September with ideal conditions for healthy development and perfect un-rushed ripening. Constant bunch-drying wind from the east and day/night temperature differences (15°C/34°C) continued to sustain aromatic development.

At our lower altitude vineyards we had earlier ripening and higher sugar levels. We picked the Castelnuovo vineyards on 17th and 18th September. The Due Porte vineyards were slower to mature and maintained wonderful acidity. We picked here a full ten days later on 27th and 28th September.

One of the defining characteristics of 2015 Brunello is a beautiful acidity that is often lacking in hotter years. 2015 followed sodden 2014, featured a hot growing season punctuated with “useful” rain after an early veraison, no extended periods of drought all summer and marked day/night thermal excursion from August onwards. Complexity of aroma, elegance and fine tannins are part and parcel of this lovely year.

Food Pairings

When choosing a chef to approach for a recipe to accompany Le Due Porte 2015, the most obvious choice was to approach our dear friend Roberto Rossi, from Il Silene. Richard and Laura Parsons have never missed an opportunity to eat there over the last twenty years of their ownership of Il Palazzone. Roberto was our chef for an amazing event at the property in May 2015 where he was cooking for five Italian restaurateurs who – at the time - totalled 16 Michelin stars. No pressure! He also created an unforgettable “benfinita” end-of-harvest lunch in 2017 which we enjoyed on the upper terrace of the cellar.

This is the man who built a heliport to facilitate access to his own Michelin-starred establishment and has launched an incredible home-delivery service. I have yet to meet a more meticulous attention to vegetable texture and provenance. Grazie Roberto!

Pollo Ficatum

Ingredients for 2 people:

1 chicken breast with skin
1 ladleful of vegetable broth (made with carrot, celery, onion, parsley and garlic)
1/2 glass of white wine
Fresh rosemary
A clove of garlic
Half a peach, two blueberries, 2 strawberries, one fig divided in half
2 small carrots, 2 small courgettes, 2 radishes, 2 purple cauliflower florets
Fresh horseradish
EVOO, Salt, Pepper

Method

Heat the oil in a saucepan and rest the chicken breast skin-side down until it becomes crispy before flipping it.
Add the white wine and allow to evaporate.
Add a spoonful of vegetable broth.
Transfer the chicken in a hot oven (200°C / 390°F) for eight minutes while still bathed in the broth.
Separate the broth from the chicken. The meat must rest. Reduce the broth in a pan.
Stir fry the vegetables, garlic and rosemary in a pan with salt and pepper.
Plate as your own taste dictates, decorating with fruit, vegetables and a final grating of fresh horseradish.

Buon Appetito!

Reviews

JANCISROBINSON.COM - JUNE 2021 - 17 PTS (W.S.)
From a single vineyard of 1.24 ha (3 acres) called Le Due Porte at 540 m above sea level with a south-west exposure and planted in 2004 at a density of 4,500 vines/ha. Fermented in oak barrels and aged for 36 months in large Slavonian oak casks, followed by a further six months in two 10-hl barrels. 2,209 bottles produced, this is bottle number 40. Striking label! Not beautiful but not forgettable either. Concentrated mid ruby with orange tinges. The nose shows richness of fruit, but at the same time, it's quite composed. Dark cherry laced with laurel. Cherry fruit palate with plenty of acidity that takes the lead on the finish. Quite pure and a little austere and with plenty of life ahead. Cool-climate kind of wine and with modest alcohol although this is from a hot vintage. 13.5% Drink 2020 – 2030.

WINE & SPIRITS - APRIL 2021 - 95 PTS (S.J.)
This is the first release of a single-vineyard Brunello from a plot of high-elevation vines replanted in 2004, and its immensely appealing. The vines of Le Due Porte are rooted in limestone-rich soils and sit at 1,770 feet above sea level, ripening more slowly and later than the estate's other vineyards and gaining an extra edge of complexity that shines through in this wine's red-cherry flavors that are bold, vivid and detailed. It's an exciting project to watch in the coming years and a wine to seek out, if you can find one of the 2,200 bottles produced.

TUSCAN VINES - FEB 2021 - 93 PTS (J.F.)
The 2015 Il Palazzone Le Due Porte Brunello is a Cru wine from the estate's highest vineyard. Lying directly next to the cellar, it's often called the "home" vineyard. In great vintages, some of the fruit from this vineyard will be reserved for the Cru bottling. 2016 is the next one coming. In the glass, the wine is a deep violet that shows a copper rim at the edge of the bowl. This is super elegant, graceful and feminine. Crushed red plums, warmed earth, cigar tobacco and dusty spices mark the nose. On the palate, this was shy at first. Flavors of fresh berry mix with cured meat, soft wood and baking spices. This was really tight despite being decanted for an hour. It needs cellaring to show it's best. I can't wait to try this one again in 5-10 years time.

THE WINE ADVOCATE - NOV 2020 - 94 PTS (M.L.)
Il Palazzone is unveiling its first single-vineyard Brunello. The new wine, the 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Le Due Porte, marks the 20th anniversary of the partnership between the estate's American owner Richard Parsons and winemaker Maurizio Castelli. This is the first bottling of this wine that comes from a mere 2,000 liters of wine drawn from a tiny 1.24-hectare parcel. The Il Palazzone 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Le Due Porte sports a modern label design that makes a handsome impression. The wine is streamlined and compact with a good mix of wild berry, sour cherry, apple blossom and lilac. There are some light mineral dustings as well. With only 2,209 bottles made, I'd suggest holding on a little longer to give this Brunello more time to flesh out in the bottle. Drinking window 2023-2040.

VINOUS.COM - NOV 2020 - 93 PTS (E.G.)
The 2015 Le Due Porte from Il Palazzone is the first vintage for this cru Brunello di Montalcino. It lifts up with a dark and alluring display of musky red fruit laced with smoky minerals, incense and dusty dry earth tones. The textures are silky and refined, coming across as quite elegant, while cascading a contrasting mix of tart wild berries, licorice and savory spice across the palate. The balance here is quite admirable, not showing the ripeness of the year in any way and instead coming across as classically dry, with great length and the potential for a medium-term stay in the cellar. Drinking window 2024-2032.

WINESCRITIC.COM - NOV 2020 - 95 PTS (R.V.)
Dynamic and extremely defined thanks to the precision of execution, it gives pleasant memories of lavender, eucalyptus leaves, warm white stone, chalk and talc. In the background the noble soul is revealed in the citrus notes of mandarin and bergamot. Full bodied with silky tannins perfectly fused in the matrix and an essential final pure art form in the grandeur of a vintage to be framed in Montalcino. Drink from 2022 onwards...

2015 Le Due Porte Brunello di Montalcino

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2016 Le Due Porte Brunello di Montalcino

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2015 Le Due Porte Brunello di Montalcino

Grape:

Aging in wood:

BOTTLE AGING:

Total production:

Bottled:

Pollo Ficatum

2015 Le Due Porte Brunello di Montalcino

2016 Le Due Porte Brunello di Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino

Le Due Porte Brunello

Rosso del Palazzone

Brunello di Montalcino

Le Due Porte Brunello

Rosso del Palazzone

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Club 100

Grappa

Olio Extravergine D'Oliva

Club 100

Grappa