2010 La Rasina Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 750 ml

Marco Mantengoli’s 2010 La Rasina Brunello: “A Gentle Monster”

Both Wine Spectator and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate described the 2010 vintage of Brunello di Montalcino as the greatest in modern history, posting 96-99 and 98-point scores, respectively. As is always the case in this fascinating appellation, the luscious, extraordinarily age-worthy 2010s come in a couple of styles. Some are a bit lighter in color, elegant Sangioveses infused with Burgundian floral notes and flavors. Others are more modernistic, smooth, ripe, and pliant, finishing with supple tannins.

But due to the unusually intense concentration provided by that magnificent Indian summer, there’s a third style of 2010 Brunello. These are extremely dark Sangioveses, wines of deep color and extract, buttressed by sturdy backbone and dusty tannin muscle. Within this extraordinary class of 2010s, in the opinion of nearly every critical voice, Marco Mantengoli’s La Rasina ranks with the best of the vintage.

While the Mantengoli property in the prized northeastern hillsides above Montalcino spans 45 hectares, just 11 are planted to vines, with a low-cordon trellising system and tight spacing. Mantengoli is known for “challenging” his vines, pushing the envelope on concentration by delaying the call to harvest. In the summer and fall of 2010, one of Montalcino’s more daring winegrowers crafted a powerhouse that blew us away — just as it did Antonio Galloni, James Suckling, and The Wine Advocate.

Antonio Galloni praised Mantengoli’s 2010 as “a terrific vintage for La Rasina,” calling it “one of the darker, racier wines of the vintage.” The Wine Advocate savored its “thick fruity fleshiness” and “dark cherry, blackberry and plum.” James Suckling, the longtime Italian wine expert for Wine Spectator, piled on with a 94-point rave, completing a rare critical trifecta.

The 2010 La Rasina is a gentle monster. Extremely dark — purple, but leaning towards black — with explosive aromas of black cherry, black raspberry, licorice, and cedar (plenty of Slavonian oak here). Rich, dense, and almost chewy in texture, like all the big, brooding Brunelli of the vintage, if you choose to pop a cork in the next year or two, decant the 2010 La Rasina for two hours before serving. Alternatively, and far better, do as we’re doing, and lay Marco Mantengoli’s powerhouse down until the early 2020s. It could surely use the rest.

$60/bottle on release. A tad more than HALF PRICE today — only on WineAccess. 420 bottles are up for grabs.