Brunello di Montalcino 2019 Vintage Report
Brunello di Montalcino 2019: Everything you need to know about the vintage and the wines
Three Decades of Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello Pianrosso
A riveting, age-worthy Brunello with class, energy and longevity.
Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2017
Vintage report on Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2017 Here you find my vintage evaluation of Brunello di Montalcino 2018, updated with new...
Brunello di Montalcino 2018 vintage report
Brunello di Montalcino 2018: here’s everything you need to know about the vintage and the wines.
Brunello di Montalcino 2017: concentrazione, alcol ed alcune stelle lucenti
Il 2017 è stato uno degli anni più caldi e secchi mai registrati, e questo si riflette chiaramente nella maggior parte dei Brunello di...
Brunello di Montalcino 2016: finezza, longevità e…l’elefante nella stanza
Dopo l’incredibile successo del Barolo 2016 che ha debuttato lo scorso anno, la frenesia intorno ai Brunello 2016 appena usciti è...
Brunello di Montalcino 2015: il buono, il brutto e il cattivo (e il grande)
Per fortuna, nonostante le sfide, un buon numero di produttori hanno azzeccato tutte le mosse ed hanno realizzato Brunelli 2015 eccezionali con frutta succosa, freschezza ed equilibrio. Mentre alcuni mostrano un buon potenziale di invecchiamento, la maggior parte dei migliori vini avrà bisogno solo di qualche anno per arrivare al momento ideale per essere goduti, ma dovrebbero mantenersi bene per ulteriori 8-10 anni.
Brunello di Montalcino 2014: un’annata dall’eleganza facilmente approcciabile
La 2014 è stata una delle annate più fredde e piovose della memoria recente in Italia e Montalcino non ha fatto eccezione. Tuttavia, grazie alla competenza dei produttori più dedicati, ci sono alcuni deliziosi Brunelli di questa annata appena rilasciata, vibranti e carichi di finezza, con poche eccezioni si possono già godere ora e nei prossimi anni. Offriranno puro piacere e bevibilità mentre si aspetta che i 2013 si sviluppino pienamente.
Gianfranco Soldera, grande produttore di Brunello, muore a 82 anni
Gianfranco Soldera, uno dei vignaioli simbolo di Montalcino – noto per la produzione di eccezionali vini di notevole finezza ed...
Brunello di Montalcino 2013: un’annata classica e splendente, da mettere in cantina
Se volete sperimentare l’energia, l’eleganza e la struttura che per secoli ha attratto appassionati e collezionisti al vino di...
2013: Radiant, cool climate Brunellos for the cellar
If you want to experience the energy, elegance and age-worthy structure that first drew wine lovers and collectors to Brunello di...
2012 Brunello: a return to finesse and age-worthy structure
If you love wines with elegance, fragrance and longevity, then you’ll love the just-released 2012 Brunellos. And even though I’m one of...
Make it a Double in Montalcino: 2011 Brunello and 2010 Riserva
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage facing the just-released 2011 Brunello vintage – awarded four out five stars by the Consorzio – is...
Brunello 2010. Some fantastic wines alongside under performers
After the wild success of the 2010 vintage in Barolo and Barbaresco, Bolgheri and Chianti Classico, all eyes are on Montalcino. Although...
2009 Brunello di Montalcino: Enjoy Soon
My tasting of the 2009 vintage revealed that it was another challenging year in Montalcino, and the main problem was weather. Scorching...
Brunello di Montalcino 2008 and 2007 Riserva
The latest releases from Montalcino’s cellars have had their first outing and they’re a mixed bag. The 2008 Brunellos and 2007...
Giuseppe Sesti: Brunello Written in the Stars
A medieval Montalcino castle inspires a stargazer to make his own wine. When Giuseppe Sesti, a historian of astronomy, purchased an ancient...
Montalcino rallies round as Soldera’s Brunellos are destroyed
Vandals have destroyed thousands of litres of ageing Brunello in the cellars of cult producer Gianfranco Soldera. The cellars at...
Brunello’s true believer (by Keith Levenberg)
O’Keefe dishes all the secrets about who’s on the hillsides and who’s on the flats; and for those who would find it fascinating to...
The Best Brunello Book Yet (by Tom Maresca)
Kerin O’Keefe’s Brunello di Montalcino: Understanding and Appreciating One of Italy’s Greatest Wines (University of California Press;...
The Real Story of Brunello di Montalcino
In an era where there is so much misinformation about any number of wines and wine news, it’s refreshing to read the work of an author...
Book Review: An Honest Look at Brunello
Kerin O’Keefe’s Brunello di Montalcino is not simply an enjoyable wine book; it’s one of the rare wine books that is truly important....
Brunello: 2005 now, 2004 Later
The tail-end of the vintage was a washout, leading some to write it off. Yet many smaller estates have made impressive Brunellos in 2005,...
Brunello: no change in the rules, producers vote
Brunello di Montalcino producers have voted by a landslide to leave the wine 100% Sangiovese. In yesterday’s highly publicised assembly...
Brunello: Image or substance, truth or dare?
“By law, Brunello di Montalcino can be made only with 100 percent Sangiovese cultivated in Montalcino. Otherwise, it’s not...
Brunello on the brink
An overhyped 2003 vintage, a fraud scandal, and the threat of a US ban has left Brunello in crisis. Could subregions be the answer, asks...
Kerin O’Keefe racconta Franco Biondi Santi, il gentleman del Brunello (di Franco Ziliani)
Kerin, che vive in Italia e ha sposato un italiano, è una wine writer che a differenza di tanti altri suoi colleghi di lingua inglese non ha abboccato alle sirene dell’ineluttabilità dell’internazionalizzazione del vino italiano, e dei vini italiani sa apprezzare e raccontare, con intelligenza, buon gusto e garbo, l’originalità e quella diversità che ne contribuisce a creare il fascino e la grandezza.
Cellar Gems and Fails #5
Brunello di Montalcino and Toscana IGT 2004: Twenty years On (or Gone)?
Cellar Gems and Fails #3
When should you drink your old precious bottles of Italian wine?
Top 100 Italian Wines of 2023
2023 proved to be an amazing year for Italian wines: it was incredibly hard to choose only 100, but here are the best of the best.
Cellar Gems and Fails #2
When should you drink your old precious bottles of Italian wine?
Cellar Gems and Fails
When should you drink your old precious bottles of Italian wine?
Top Italian Wines of 2022
Picking my top 50 was extremely difficult as I tried so many extraordinary wines, but here they are: 30 reds, 10 whites and 10 sparklers that excelled in 2022 and that showcase the class, stellar quality and unrivaled diversity of Italian wine. Enjoy!
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ABOUTkerinokeefe.comIf you love Italian wine, you’ve come to the right site.A subscription-based publication, kerinokeefe.com provides...
Book Reviews
Belfrage, Nicolas (2015). “A measured, informative and very readable tour of Barololandia” (PDF). The World of Fine Wine (48):...
The wine writer (by Jessica Bordoni)
Passion and knowledge. These are the keys to the success of Kerin O’Keefe, one of the world’s most influential wine critics. Born near...
Scrivere di vini (di Jessica Bordoni)
Passione e competenza. Sono queste le chiavi del successo di Kerin O’Keefe, tra le firme più autorevoli e influenti del giornalismo...
The Great Debate: To Decant or Not?
Forget about arguments for or against trendy topics like Natural Wines and the existence of terroir, because nothing causes more debate...
Hot Italian Wines: Is 15% abv the New 14%?
No one can deny that Italian wine has benefitted from a great string of very good and outstanding vintages over the last fifteen years....
Chi è Kerin O’Keefe sostenitrice dei vitigni autoctoni e dell’identità delle zone viticole (di Riccardo Cotarella)
Per lei il grande vino è tutt’uno con il suo territorio di origine, con la sua storia e con la gente che lo produce. La sua scelta...
Pinot Grigio e Prosecco. Termometri di un mercato in costante evoluzione (di Carlo Flamini)
Kerin O’Keefe è Italian editor per “Wine Enthusiast Magazine”, una delle riviste più influenti nel panorama della stampa...
Making sense of Montalcino
Forget recent debates over new oak, excessively low yields and native grapes versus international varieties. Today, the hottest topic in...
Gianfranco Soldera – Case Basse (by Paolo Tenti)
Paolo Tenti catches up with the Brunello di Montalcino producer who lost most of six vintages when his cellar was vandalized. Gianfranco...
Addio Franco Biondi Santi
The Italian wine world lost an icon when Brunello legend Franco Biondi Santi, dubbed “The Gentleman of Brunello,” died over the...
Kerin O’Keefe’s Montalcino subzones (by Walter Speller)
Just before the annual Tuscan en primeur tastings (on which I will report in detail later this week) last February, I met up with Kerin...
2012 wine books – Italy (by Paul O’Doherty)
Kerin O’Keefe, who writes for Decanter and The World of Fine Wine, has compiled a fabulous read exploring what goes into making one...
Police arrest suspect in Soldera wine sabotage
Police have arrested a former employee of Brunello producer Soldera in connection with the destruction of thousands of litres of wine. As...
Italy and the American palate: debunking the myth
Wine drinkers in the United States have long been pigeonholed as obsessed with dark, oaky, powerful wines, and this perceived preference...
The Grace Kelly of wine (byTim Crane)
Kerin O’Keefe’s authoritative book on Brunello is in the Broadbent/Coates tradition… …Brunello di Montalcino is a wine that...
Montalcino: time to get in the zone
Forget blending scandals and infighting over the make-up of Rosso – the biggest issue facing Brunello di Montalcino is the creation of...
A Rosso by any other name
Rosso di Montalcino used to be a light, simple quaffer, not a rich powerhouse like its big brother, Brunello. So why are so many Rossos now...
The Great Escape
It is rare today to find vines that have not been grafted to American rootstock to counter phylloxera, which destroyed so many of the...