2005 2004 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997
Poggio alle Mura 2005
"Impresses with its ripe fruit and depth of fresh herbs and spices on the nose. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and an intense, rich finish. There's a lovely polished texture and depth of fruit." 92 Points
James Suckling - Wine Spectator
This brings us to the 2005 Brunello di Montalcino on the market now. The vintage earned four stars, but that may have been on the generous side. On the whole, these wines exhibit beautiful aromatic characteristics of wild berries, ripe cherry, spice, cola and forest floor. In the mouth, however, they are lighter, leaner and simpler than we would have expected. Some exceptions are...the beautiful 2005 Castello Banfi Poggio alle Mura Brunello di Montalcino."
Monica Larner - Wine Enthusiast - August, 2010
Poggio alle Mura 2004
Shows dried raspberry and connamon on the nose. Full-bodies, with an impressive density of fruit and round tannins. Long and flavorful. Just starting to open up. Powerful and rich. 94 Points.
James Suckling - Wine Spectator Online - March, 2009
Rich and meaty with velvety smooth texture, intense, ripe berries, chocolate and spice. 93 Points.
Anthony Dias Blue - Patterson's Tasting Panel Magazine - March, 2009
Shows dried raspberry and cinnamon on the nose. Full-bodies, with an impressive density of fruit and round tannins. Long and flavorful. Just starting to open up. Powerful and rich. 94 Points.
Wine Spectator Online - May, 2009
Banfi’s celebrated vineyard selection wine, delivers a consistent level of quality that reminds us of 1997 and 2001. The wine is true to itself with intense aromas of chocolate, cherry and spice. It’s executed in a bold, blockbuster style with creamy softness and a velvety finish. 92 Points.
Wine Enthusiast - June, 2009
Rich and meaty with velvety smooth texture, intesne, ripe berries, chocolate and spice. 93 Points.
Tasting Panel Magazine - March, 2009
Supple, vigorous, good grip. Individual and characterful. Good mineral fruit, slight alcohol. Recommended.
Decanter Magazine - August, 2009
Medium-deep red. Flamboyantly sweet nose offers plum, mocha, nutty oak and woodsy element. Broad, smooth and quite full, with a much more refined texture and a stronger primary fruit component than the basic bottling. The sweet plum and currant fruit flavors are complemented but not overwhelmed by oak notes of coffee and mocha. This generous Brunello really spreads out on the palate and fills the mouth, without coming across as heavy. A very satisfying drink. 90 Points.
Stephen Tanzer - International Wine Cellar - July, 2009
2004 Poggio alle Mura is an impressive wine. 91 Points
Antonio Galloni - eRobertParker.com
"The rich flavors echo the wine's aromas with emphasis on dark fruit, leather, spice and minerality, and they have admirable depth and concentration. The long, fruit-and-mineral finish carries the wine's flavors on and on." 94 Points
Mary Ewing-Mulligan - winereviewonline.com - June, 2010
A gorgeous 2004 Banfi Brunello di Montalcino "Poggio alle Mura" with years of promise ahead of it.
Brian Freedman - Uncork Life! Blog - June, 2010
This polished powerhouse reveals additional nuances with each sip. 95 Points
Michael Apstein - winereviewonline.com - May, 2010
Poggio alle Mura 2001
This powerhouse Brunello burgeons with spiced plum, dried cherries, dried meat, and earthy clay. Hints of savory herb lie atop thick yet refined tannins, and the finish lasts as long as a Puccini crescendo.
Robb Report (NY) - May, 2007
"It offers more expressive aromatics along with darker, riper fruit and a richly-textured, layered feel on the palate owing to its greater concentration."
Robert Parker - Bonita Daily News/Bonita Banner (Bonita Springs, FL) - January, 2007
"Powerful and youthful nose, intense peppery fruit aromas with some depth and style. Round, full and spicy-sweet with soft, ripe fruit. 2-5 years." * * * * Highly Recommended
Decanter (UK) - August, 2006
"Red-ruby. Spicy, musky aromas of sweet red berries and exotic spices and flowers. Sweet, lush and packed with fruit; seamless, suave and quite concentrated. This is quite layered and full but less heavy-handed than some past vintages. Finishes with suave tannins and excellent persistence." 92 - Outstanding
Stephen Tanzer - International Wine Cellar - July, 2006
"...consistent and appealing reflection of authentic Brunello..."
Franco Ziliani - World of Wine - Issue 12 - June, 2006
"Loads of blackberry and currant on the nose with hints of cooked fruit. Full-bodied, silky and refined with a beautiful structure and refinement. Goes on for minutes. Best after 2009."
Wine Spectator - April, 2006
"Year after year, Banfi delivers the goods with confidence and character. It's a vibrant, ruby-colored wine with cherry, plum, vanilla, vanilla, coffee, wet slate and a strong mineral component offset by hints of green bean or rhubarb. A full, round wine with silky tannins that will flesh out further in 5-10 years." Cellar Selection
Wine Enthusiast - April, 2006
"...represents a noticeable step up from the regular bottling. It offers more expressive aromatics along with darker, riper fruit and a richly-textured, layered feel on the palate owing to its greater concentration. Pretty notes of tobacco, underbrush and minerals develop in the glass, and the wine finishes with more tannic clout than the regular bottling, suggesting a greater presence of new oak that will require a few years to integrate. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2021."
Antonio Galloni - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate - December, 2006
"Montalcino Recommendations." Excellent - Top Notch of its Type. 3 Stars
Anthony Giglio - Food & Wine
Poggio alle Mura 2000
"...This Brunello, to me, will age the longest among all the wines tasted. It's got a darker structure than the rest and on the palate, it has the essence of a Brunello with good freshness in the acidity as well as minerality. The legs are very long and the extraction is darker and deeper. And the finish is very long…this has great potential."
Randy See - Cuisine & Wine Asia - May, 2007
"WOW! This is a veritable feast of concentrated liquorice and smoke on the nose. Thankfully, the palate lives up to the expectations and even delivers more than you had bargained for: brambles, smoke, chocolate and a faint edge of herbs."
Wine & Spirits Magazine (UK) - June, 2006
"From a very hot vintage, a delicate, Christmas cake nose and palate with dried sweet fruit and sour plums. 2-15 years." * * * *
Decanter - March, 2006
"Offering a pleasing balance of fruit and floral aromas, this unfiltered Italian is big and brooding. The fruit aromas are augmented by cedar and cloves, and the flavor offers a big mouthful of ripe berry. Velvety smooth, with lush ripe tannins and good length on the spicy finish."
Jeffery Lindenmuth - Food Arts - August, 2005
"...broad, meaty aromas of black fruits and keeps that tone through the round, rich palate. Everything here is black and ripe, but there's enough acid to produce a juicy mouthfeel. Finishes with licorice, fudge and mineral notes."
Wine Enthusiast - July, 2005
"Impressive nose for the vintage, with loads of ripe fruit and beautiful flowers. Full-bodied and very velvety, with beautiful tannins. I love this. Best after 2006."
Wine Spectator - May, 2005
Poggio alle Mura 1999
"Full-bodied, with still firm tannins but with balance and structure that bode well for its future. An intense wine, already showing plums, currant and blackberry fruits on a generously smoky and herbal background. The wine needs time to show its elegance. Best from 2006-2018, perhaps longer"
Daniel Rogov - HaAretz (Israel) - December, 2004
"There's so much dense, grapey fruit in this wine when it's first poured, the structure is completely hidden. Air helps sort the flavors out, extending the ripe fruit so the tannins become perceptible, allowing the detail to begin to show. This gains depth as it will over years in the cellar, a dark, modern style that needs age."
Wine & Spirits - October, 2004
"Coffee, chocolate and licorice aromas lead in a big, balanced, very long finishing wine of great elegance. From a small group of prized vineyards in the huge Banfi estate, this classic Brunello will reward cellaring." * * * * *
Tom Maresca - Quarterly Review Of Wines - August, 2004
"Bright full ruby. Black raspberry, black cherry, chocolate and sexy oak spices on the nose. Dense and sweet in the mouth; also highly concentrated but comes across as less monolithic than the "regular" bottling, with a flavor of sweet black cherry. Finishes with very suave tannins and excellent persistence."
Stephen Tanzer - International Wine Cellar - September, 2007
Banfi's single-vineyard Brunello shines in ’99. It’s ruby/purple in color, with lush black-fruit aromas accented by vanilla, violets and licorice. Made in the so-called modern style, but with fine tannins and body. Some firm oak pops up late in the game, but if given a few years, that should be integrated. Good teeth on the finish suggest ageability."
Wine Enthusiast - June, 2004
"Deep ruby red-light purple with an aroma of blackberry, plum, subtle tobacco and oak. Medium-full to full-bodied with excellent concentration. Big finish with layers of fruit. Ripe, modern style of Brunello – very impressive. Cellar for 12-15 years." *****
Tom Hyland - Guide To Italian Wines - April, 2004
"Not giving away much right now, but it's deep and concentrated. Full-bodied, with silky tannins and a long, caressing finish. A beauty. Give this time. To be released in October 2004. Best after 2006."
Wine Spectator Weekly - March, 2004
Poggio alle Mura 1998
"Although not their current release, this fabulous wine is still widely available in San Francisco and on the East Coast. It's worth finding because at eight years of age it has a beautiful complexity as well as the signature Banfi suppleness. Not just fruity - - although there's still plenty of fruit - - there is an engaging earthiness and minerality. The wine has great depth and the uplifting quintessential Italian acidity. It's a great example of why Brunello deserves its revered reputation."
Michael Apstein - WineReviewOnLine - September, 2006
"Showed the beneficial effects of aging. It still has plenty of ripe cherry, good depth and notes of leather and spice, but the tannins are relaxing, and the wine is very well balanced."
Laurie Daniel - San Jose Mercury News - March, 2006
"Lovely aromas and intricate, delicate flavors." Critics Gold
Michael Franz - 2005 Critics Challenge International Wine Competition - May, 2005
"Excellent - Rock-ribbed tannins and 24 months in oak (90% French, 10% Slovenian) lend Banfi’s single-vineyard Brunello almost intimidating structure, but the wine manages to be rich, warm and appealing despite its iron-like effect; in fact, the word "gorgeous" stands out at the top of my page of notes. It's a tremendously vibrant mouthful of wine, dense and chewy, and bursting with currant, plum and raspberry tea flavors suffused with elements of dried baking spices and clean woody undertones. It could profitably rest until 2006 to 2010."
Fredric Koeppel - Koeppel On Wine - February, 2005
"...positively loaded with floral notes and fruit characters of all descriptions. Toss in a plank or two of liqueury vanillin oak and a handful of baked earth, and you got one hell of a drink on your hands. Although the palate is still fairly tight, the immensity of the underlying fruit carries the drying, dusty tannins with great aplomb and slips down the palate effortlessly to a very long finish. Yet despite its power, the wine remains supremely elegant in structure. Want to know why people get so excited about Brunello? Grab a bottle of this and find out. Fantastic wine."
Andrew Wood - Divine Food & Wine (Australia) - September, 2004
"Deep cherry ruby with cherry ruby rim. The bouquet is moderately intense and gives an impression of holding back; swishing brings forth cherry and forest berry fruit with slight sour bramble overtones and some underbrush; the overall impression is harmonious, but there will be more in the future. On the palate it’s full and rich, with pleasing slightly dusty cherry fruit laced with black currants and supported by smooth sweet tannins that gain definition from a slight burr and lead into a long warm slightly sour cherry finish with tannic underpinning. Quite nice, though very young, and is one of those wines one could drink young without feeling like a baby killer, though giving it the time it needs to reach at least teenagerhood will have its rewards. Drink it with a steak or a stew; by comparison with the 97 it is a little less powerful, though both are quite approachable. Well worth seeking out." **
Kyle Phillips - Italian Wine Review - January, 2004
"Black raspberry, cherry and cedar with a floral note; long finish with firm tannins and high acidity. Strong hard cheeses."
Santé - December, 2003
Tre Bicchieri
Gambero Rosso Guida Ai Vini d'Italia - December, 2004
"Black-garnet hue. Youthful, complex aromas of brambly blackberry, smoke, Worcestershire, redwood, clove and black pepper. Sweet, focused flavors of blackberry, citrus peel, mint, tobacco and licorice. Long, peppery finish."
Wine News - October, 2003
"Saturated ruby-red. Exotic raspberry, cassis and black cherry on the expressive nose. Layered and dense but tightly wrapped and in need of aging. Not particularly sweet, and currently quite tannic, but shows more finishing ripeness than the basic 1998 bottling."
Stephen Tanzer - International Wine Cellar - September, 2003
"...this well-made Brunello has a surprisingly soft tannic component. The nose is dark berry but with cedar and anise. The palate is much brighter than the ’97 Poggio all'Oro, with red berry, cherry and fruit so bright and ripe it seems almost sweet. Fine finish. Excellent offering from a more difficult vintage. Kudos to Banfi...."
Bill Van Ollefen - Greenwich Time (CT) - August, 2003
"The first result of clonal research was put into this cru Brunello, aged four years. Its nose was distinctive with tobacco, mocha and nutmeg. Layers upon layers of flavor paid tribute to the palate: chocolate, coffee and diluted violet, which leads to a rich, deep black fruity finish which lays like a petal on the tongue."
Patterson's California Beverage Journal - August, 2003
"Aromas of oak, currant, blackberry and black cherry continue as smooth, round, mouthfilling flavors with lots of spice, good acidity and fine tannins. The finish is medium-broad and medium-long and the oak is well integrated. The wine has good structure and depth and is better balanced than the regular Brunello. It needs three to five more years in the bottle to begin to show at its best."
Harold J. Baer, Jr. - Colorado Wine News - July, 2003
"Superconcentrated aromas, with loads of jam, almost raisin aromas, with hints of spices and flowers. Full-bodied, with good and refined tannins and a medium finish."
Wine Spectator - May, 2003
As with Burgandy, the key to Brunello is producer, producer and producer.
Michael Apstein - winereviewonline.com
Poggio alle Mura 1997
The color is deep, vibrant brick-red; lots of cedar, tobacco and dried spices in the nose, picking up notes of dried flowers; flavors of macerated and roasted currants and raspberries; just beautiful, so smooth, mellow and flavorful. Now through 2010 or '12.
Fredric Koeppel - Koeppel on Wine - May, 2007
"Deep black cherry ruby with black highlights and cherry rim. The bouquet is more aggressive than that of the 97 Poggio all'Oro, with some balsamic notes that mingle with moderate cherry and forest berry fruit, hints of leaf tobacco, and slight animal hair overtones. Harmonious. On the palate it's full and quite round, with rich cherry and forest berry fruit that is very slightly sweet—this gives an idea of the richness of the must, and contributes to the roundness of the wine—supported by smooth sweet tannins that have a slight burr, and flow into a clean berry fruit finish that's fairly long, with cedar-laced tannic notes that emerge with time. It's elegant, and also a wine that will work well with what it's served with rather than trying to take center stage by force. Modus in rebus; it is a Brunello, and it will require substantial fare—the obvious roasts come to mind, but the slight sweetness of the fruit will make it a good bet with drier meats as well, including those of a mixed boiled dinner or a pot roast. Worth seeking out; though it is drinkable now it will hold for at least a decade, and likely much longer."
Kyle Phillips - Italian Wine Review - January, 2004
". . .was the wine of the year, heavenly scented with plums, cherries, and light herbs, intense and concentrated, dried extract of bing cherries, raspberries, blackberries, and slight vanilla and cigar smoke for accent. The 1998 was nearly as good."
Dick Rosano - Fra Noi - December, 2003
"A classic Brunello smell with cherry, tar, rose oil, and traces of sandalwood. Not a thick entry, but deep fruit/earth tones, and a long, complex finish that's more tart than tannic. A wine for the cellar. If drinking today, try it with duck confit." Exceptional
Dan Berger's Vintage Experience - July, 2003
"...from a classic vintage that has proved one of Tuscany’s greatest, is lush and rich with smooth texture and dense, spicy fruit. It offers superb depth and lovely finesse. Here, we honor a stylish, modern approach to a century-old wine that has become a standard-bearer for Italian winemaking."
Anthony Dias Blue - Robb Report - June, 2003
Prestige C: medium/full bodied; long finish with soft tannins A: currant, black cherry, vanilla, leather F: chocolate, dark cherry, earth P: grilled calfs liver with onions and prosciutto Key - C: General Characteristics, A: Aromas, F: Flavors, P: Pairings or Product Use
Santé - 2003 Annual Wine & Spirits Buying Guide - December, 2003
"This first release from the vineyard immediately surrounding Banfi's castle in Montalcino has a tight, focused intensity right in the middle of the wine. The currant scents embedded in the aroma build into a warm, gamey density on the palate, substantial enough to balance the active tannins, not yet matured beyond a black grapiness. This needs time for the fruit to absorb all the structural alcohol and tannin; for now it's firm, potent and lasting."
Wine & Spirits - December, 2002
"...rich, ripe and lush, with that plum and dried rose petal nuance that comes from top-notch Sangiovese." ****(1/2)
Michael Lonsford - Houston Chronicle - November, 2002
"General Characteristics: Medium/full bodied; long finish with soft tannins. Aromas: Currant, black cherry, vanilla, leather. Flavors: Chocolate, dark cherry, earth."
Santé - November, 2002
"Deep crimson hue with a purple core. Mixed aromas of raspberry, red cherry, tobacco, cocoa and mint with a wisp of vanillin oak. Youthful acidity softens the big tannins and freshens rich flavors of raspberry, plum, earth, leather and a touch of flowers. Tar and spicy red fruit highlight the finish."
The Wine News - November, 2002
"Balanced, strawberry, cherry, red licorice aromas. Full-bodied, tannic, yet refined, with caressing texture. Long finish."
Wine Spectator - October, 2002
"Exceptional - The first vintage for this single-vineyard Brunello di Montalcino offers the tantalizing scents of old churches and smells and flavors of spice cake and macerated plums set into a beautifully integrated tannin structure that possesses the length and balance for four to eight years' aging."
Fredric Koeppel - Memphis Commercial Appeal - October, 2002
"...luscious, full bodied, somewhat toasty Brunello, with layers of complexity and a very long finish. It tastes of berry jam, cedar, smoky oak, sage, and green olive." ***** Exceptional
Restaurant Wine - August, 2002
"Saturated garnet with dark ruby reflections. Alluring nose of cinnamon, cedar, mint and iris. Wonderfully sweet in the mouth, with remarkably pure, fresh flavors of ripe plum, bing cherry and vanilla bean. Silky tannins and intriguing whiffs of cocoa and cassis on the lingering finish."
Steven Tanzer's International WIne Cellar - July, 2002
"This balanced red is built for aging. Loads of strawberry, cherry and red licorice aromas. Full-bodied and very tannic, yet refined and polished, with a caressing texture. Long, long finish. A masterpiece. Best after 2004."
Wine Spectator Weekly - April, 2002
Poggio alle Mura Vintage Not Specified
No one has done more to raise the quality and profile of Montalcino wines than this estate’s American owners, the Mariani family. This particular single-vineyard offering tastes and smells ethereal, with an extraordinarily complex array of aromas and flavors.
Saveur - July, 2007