Lidl Brunello di Montalcino

Having had some success in Lidl‘s French aisle and with Aldi‘s Exquisite range I thought I’d give Lidl’s Italian range a try.  This Brunello di Montalcino isn’t in the bargain rail, I have tried a wine from the bargain rail and I sometimes wake up sweating in the night still tasting it and unable to swill the nastiness away.  Six months on you’d have thought that would have subsided a little.

So, the Brunello.  I do like Italian wines, and Brunello is usually a treat.  ’09 is a year on from “Brunello-gate” which saw 17 wineries prosecuted for adulterating their wines, not with anything as scary as anti-freeze, but with a little Merlot and other grapes.  I think only seven people went to jail, but still, it was a big deal, Italians take what they eat and drink very seriously.

This Brunello was quite a pale colour, with plenty of bricking around the edges, a reddy brown rather than a purply one.  I ran it through the wine gizmo into a decanter to give it a good shot at being good. It smelled of balsamic and a little Bovril or something similarly meaty.  It was dry with a medium acidity and smooth tannins along with a few firmer ones.

There was a bit of dried fruit and nuts, not quite sherry, but a little Christmas cake-y.  Yet at the same time there was a meatiness.  More Bovril or Marmite than mushrooms, but meaty none the less.  The alcohol level was a comfortable 14%.

I enjoyed it, which at £20 a bottle I’d hoped I would.  It wasn’t my favorite Brunello di Montalcino, but I’d have it again, and I’m gaining confidence in making my picks from the European supermarket shelves.