An Italian Brunello Blind Tasting, Brown Bags And Fun!

An Italian Brunello Blind Tasting, Brown Bags And Fun! – Episode #487

June 17, 2008

Gary Vaynerchuk tries 3 Brunello wines from Italy, The Brunello Di Di Montalcino wines are some of the most Sought after in the world!

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Comments on this episode(217) Leave a comment ›

“Loved it, i am a huge fan of tuscany, brunello especially. couldn’t a…” by Andrew
“Im down with the Iron Shiek. Poor guy has gone absolutely bat— craz…” by Dessert Wine Nerd
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Wines tasted in this episode:

2001 Ruffino Brunello Di Montalcino Greppone MazziBrunello di Montalcino
2003 Fanti Brunello Di MontalcinoBrunello di Montalcino
2003 La Rasina Brunello Di MontalcinoBrunello di Montalcino

Links mentioned in todays episode.

217 Responses

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June 18, 2008

Klassh
I don’t have one “Yet” *Grumbles and fades back into the shadows*
June 18, 2008

FredHead
There is no better Brunello story than the Cork Soakers. When was that, ‘68? I’m thinking ‘70.
June 18, 2008

Keith
Not tried a Brunello yet…may wait for US dollar to get stronger, they sound expensive.
June 18, 2008

Raybo
QOTD – My Brunello story is when I went out to dinner with my boss several months ago. He goes to this particular restaurant quite often so the sommelier knows him well. She suggested a Brunello and it just so happens that the daughter of the producer was there visiting. She came to our table and poured the wine for us as she told us about her winery and how they made the wine. The wine was fabulous and information insightful.
June 18, 2008

SaraMHCRU
ummm, let’s see, the only brunello stories i have are “i was watching wltv and gary was talking about brunello” so I suppose that’s that. A tad out of my budget, I think.
June 18, 2008

SoCal
QOTD: I have had a few but nothing that I consider best so far…….
June 18, 2008

Kristen
SOTD: Unfortunately, I don’t have a Brunello story b/c it’s just a *bit* outta my price range. However, I do have a Barolo story and those are usually outta my price range unless a few friends and I share a bottle!
June 18, 2008

Oakmon's BF
When I was little my parents told me Santa brought the Christmas presents. He also delivered presents to all the children in the world in one night in a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer. But they never tried to convince me wrestling wasnâ€™t fake. They assumed I wasnâ€™t that gullible.
June 18, 2008

Oakmon's BF
Iâ€™m glad to see you get right back on the horse with the blind tasting.

Brunello doesnâ€™t fall within my price range. I will probably buy one just so I can chalk it up, but itâ€™d really have to change my life for it to become a regular for me.
June 18, 2008

Antony
I found a Banfi Brunello in my local Tesco (kinda like WalMart) going for Â£15. With UK taxes being what they are that equates to something under 25 bones… so I went for it. When I got homw I did a little research and discovered, amongst other things, that the 2002 vintage I had bought was regarded as a wash-out with may smaller producers not even bothering. So that explained the price. What did it taste like? I could have bought a much better wine for the price but learnt a little – so guess it was worth it.
June 18, 2008

Jared Pondelik
Fantastic show Gary.

QQTD: I really enjoy Brunellos, but I deffintely find I like they so much with food more than alone. No real impressive story, but just enjoy drinking them with a favorite dish.
June 18, 2008

rickk
In the last month I have tried to buy a nice Brunello so I could try for the first time. I bought two $50 bottles, one was Orange and the other one was vinegar. Returned then and bought another one, again orange from a different producer.
June 18, 2008

Kirk (aka: slave2thevine)
SoTD: Well here it is…why wine storage units need a lock. I was well into the 17th bottle at a wine tasting I held in my apartment about 7 months ago when the “then” birthday boy announced that Brunello was his favorite wine. I wanted to open something special…but only had one Brunello. I KILLED a 2001 Valdicava Madonna del Piano that night…and it finally started strutting it’s stuff three days later as it was far too young to be opened.

Gary – Thank you for the great shows…we do appreciate all the hard work.
June 18, 2008

DT
Hey Gary! Yet again, another stellar episode. Ok, you finally called me out…this lurker finally dropped a comment! Sadly, no story with Brunello, but…a story about Hacksaw! Hacksaw’s father was the chief of police in the town that I grew up in, and my mother worked at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Obviously the police were regularly there providing security, etc. My mom and the chief became good friends, and while I’m still a bit younger than Hacksaw, I can remember him putting me in quite a good headlock in the backyard while fooling around. This was about ‘82, just before Jim’s career took off. Thanks for including his 2 x 4 in this episode! And really…if there’s one guy that can mish mash Hacksaw Duggan and Brunello…Gary Vee is that man! Oh, and J-E-T-S!!!!
June 18, 2008

BrianSelf
Havnt had a brunello experience yet but I will try number three soon!
June 18, 2008

FMR JERZY GUY
QOTD: Several years ago, I purchased three bottles of ‘97 Castello Banfi Brunello at a supermarket in Boise, Idaho. For some reason that remains unclear, they were ON SALE(???!!) for around $35 so I bought whatever they had. I laid them down for a while, but then found myself in that old bind of never having a significant enough reason to actually DRINK them.

One night, when a winemaker friend of mine (Matt Gubitosa, ANIMALE) here in Seattle had his brother visiting from LA, I brought the last bottle of the three over to his house and he made a beautifully basic meal of pasta, bread and a salad. We opened the Brunello, let it breath for a couple of hours…..and were BLOWN away by its majesty and multi-dimensional layers of flavor. It was a wine that took your breath away. I’m so glad that I had the smarts to open it for exactly the right reason: three friends getting together to eat great food, talk endlessly about wine and share the joyful miracle of winemaking.

Matt told me later that he had the last glass in the bottle some three days after our meal, and it JUST GOT BETTER!

Wine is magic.

Thanks for a great show!
June 18, 2008

rimarfish
Thanks Gary for another great episode. Blind tastings episodes are the best!
QOTD: Don’t have a story yet…
June 18, 2008

Robert Howells
I tasted quite a few Brunellos at a wine festival and it brought serious thunder. They can destroy your palate quickly if you are not careful.
June 18, 2008

teckdeck2008
qotd: I don’t have a story yet, but I might once I get out of college and have $50 to spend on a bottle of wine.
June 18, 2008

ARM90405
Best Brunello I’ve had was a ‘95 Castello Banfi. Some friends and I threw ourselves a nice ten course meal with wine pairings last November. I served the Brunello with a Tuscan style grilled duck breast. Magnifico!
June 18, 2008

Pete G
Thoroughly enjoyed this episode as I have yet to venture into the Brunello end of the pool. Will BOLO the La Rasina, promise.

QOTD: see above
June 18, 2008

John
Don’t have a Brunello story yet but I’m workin on it.
June 18, 2008

John D.
QOTD: Sorry Gary, no Brunello stories here. I’ve tried and enjoyed barolo though. Looks like I have a new mission for this weekend (this message will no self-destruct in 10 seconds, thank you….)

Thanks for the great episode. Love the blind tastings!
June 18, 2008

Wes M
“I don’t have one yet”
June 18, 2008

Brook
Gary,
Good, good episode but why do you have to crinkle up the brown paper bags?

Take good care,
Brook