After a super-hot 2017 and wet/challenging 2018 harvest, the folks who grow and make Brunello di Montalcino had a simple description of 2019: “It was easy.” And after the heat and drought of 2020, 2021 and 2022 and massive disease issues of 2023, the sunny, not too dry, not too hot 2019 season looked easier still!
Comparing 2019 to other great Brunello harvests is a little tricky. Like 2013, the wines smell, taste and feel “classic” – meaning big fruit is balanced by cellar- and food-friendly acidity and tannins are fine and firm. But there’s more fruit intensity than in 2013 or even 2016, if not quite the super darkness of fruit of 2015. James Suckling compares the wines to 2004 and 1997, but I think they have better purity and vibrancy than that. Vinous takes a stab at it like this:
“Vintage comparisons often get thrown around regarding 2019, with most producers relating it to a perfect combination of either 2015 and 2016 or 2010 and 2015. For me, the similarities to 2016 are clear as day, but what 2019 adds to the dark fruit and radiance of 2016 is energy and that crunchiness to the tannins mentioned above. I believe the magic is in their acidity because even as the wines firm up through the finish, they leave a freshness and mouth-watering quality that adds a crunchy sensation to the tannins.”
Pretty much everyone who has tried the wines agrees with Wine Advocate’s characterization of the vintage style:
“The generic 2019 flavor profile sees lots of dark fruit without excessive ripeness. There is good balance between acidity, concentration and tannins, which feel elegantly fine-grained and sometimes chalky.”
And that 2019 matches other great years like 2010 and 2016 on one of the most important metrics of all: quality across the zone and from great value “village” bottlings to special selections and single vineyard wines. As Vinous sums up:
“This is a year where the entire region excelled, from southwest to east and northeast to west. Frankly stated, finding a 2019 that doesn’t show remarkable balance, vivid fruit and freshness is a difficult task. In my opinion, this is always a mark of a great year. The highs are exceptionally high, and the lows are few and far between…2019 provides a blending of power and elegance in a way seldom seen while maintaining a lovely balance of acidity and structure.”
Of course, you never drink a vintage – you drink specific bottles of wine! So our pre-arrival program sorts through 2019 Brunello to bring you the wines we know, year-after-year, are loaded with quality, are fun to taste young, develop consistently in cellar. And, importantly, represent the best price/quality values we can find.
Chain Bridge Cellars 