Fontodi Flaccianello della Pieve 1990

95+/100 PP

"The 1990 Flaccianello della Pieve (magnum) boasts extraordinary richness and power. Smoke, licorice, tar, graphite and plums are some of the many notes that jump from the glass in this rich, head-spinning wine. The flashy, opulent personality of the year comes through in spades. There is a pronounced hint of sweetness and smokiness on the finish that this wine has had since the beginning. At this point, it is pretty clear that note will always remain.

This complete vertical of Fontodi’s flagship 100% Sangiovese Flaccianello was yet another of the remarkable tastings of my recent trip to Tuscany. Flaccianello is an interesting wine because the quality level that is the norm today only really starts around 2001. Prior to that the wines were very good, and sometimes even better than that, but not profound. In 2001 proprietor Giovanni Manetti made the decision to focus on his estate’s best fruit rather than making Flaccianello as a single-vineyard wine. Since then, Flaccianello has routinely been among the most exciting wines in Tuscany. Much of the fruit that now goes into Flaccianello comes from vineyards in the Pecille sub-zone of Panzano with a full southern exposure. Today Flaccianello is 100% Sangiovese, but the first vintages up to and including 1984 have 15% white grapes, as was common at the time. The early vintages up until 1990 spent about one year in French oak barrels, 50% new. In the mid-1990s Manetti increased the period of barrel aging to 18 months with the 1997, and then to 24 months with the 2006. Today the percentage of new barrels is close to 100%."
(Antonio Galloni, robertparker.com)