Benvenuto Brunello 2018 - Toronto & Montréal

For the first time Cupano will attend the Canadian tour of Benvenuto Brunello, on Monday 5 at The Carlu in Toronto and on Wednesday 7 au Marché Bonsecours de Montréal.

We'll be showing Brunello 2013, 2011, 2009, 2008, Rosso di Montalcino 2014 and Ombrone 2014.

Benvenuto Brunello 2018: Cupano among the best for Gambero Rosso, Intravino and Vinodabere

After a very crowded and successful Benvenuto Brunello, we wanted to share with you a few articles and reports of the event.

We resulted among the best for Gambero Rosso, Intravino and Vinodabere #1/#2.

Benvenuto Brunello 2018: Introducing the 2013 vintage

As we're approaching Benvenuto Brunello, we would like to share with you some thoughts about the new millésimes that will be introduced from 16 to 19 February in the Cloister of Sant'Agostino in Montalcino.

Cupano will be showing Brunello di Montalcino 2013, Rosso di Montalcino 2015 and Ombrone 2015.

We're just back from the «Rencontres Henri Jayer», where many prominent wine personalities, such as Aubert de Villaine, Jean-Michel Deiss, Anselme Selosse, Claude et Lydia Bourguignon, Loïc Paquet, Thibault Liger-Belair, Bruno Clavelier, Pascal Agrapart, Yann Chave, broadly appreciated our newcomers for their terroir-driven character and énergie.

Brunello 2013 was bottled last August, after a long aging in barriques bourguignonnes. It took advantage of a regular Tuscan summer which led to a good ripeness and structure. With intense notes of plump fruits, some freshness on the palate, a well integrated acidity and tannicity, this annata shows spiciness, depth, power and a dense, earthy finish. Still very young, we're pretty confident of its potential. 

Rosso and Ombrone both comes out from the long awaited 2015 vintage, which seems to display some common marks. The first one shows a bright ruby red robe, while the second one - made of 52% Cabernet Sauvignon and 48% Merlot - is quite darker and more concentrated. The Rosso was bottled on January 26, Ombrone on February 13. They're both very fruity, elegant, with round tannins and a gentle, silky touch on the palate. 2015 produced wines of perfect phenolic maturity thanks to a great difference of temperatures between day and night and to a sweet marine breeze during summer.

See you in Montalcino!

Benvenuto Brunello 2017: Introducing the new Millésimes

As we're getting close to Benvenuto Brunello 2017, we would like to share with you some impressions regarding the new annate that will be introduced from 17 to 20 February in the Cloisters of the Montalcino Museum.

Cupano will be showing Brunello di Montalcino 2012, Rosso di Montalcino 2014 and Ombrone 2014.

2014 was une année difficile: adverse weather conditions, constant rain, wave of moisture led to the dissemination of the Drosophila Suzukii, which attacks the skin of the grapes. The presence of this small insect suggested an early harvest but our choice was to take some risks, making a strict selection in the vineyard and waiting for a complete ripening.

Given those circumstances, we're pretty satisfied and surprised by the result. In a tough vintage, in fact, Sangiovese shows off some unusual parameters and a new kind of expression, comparable to a vin d'altitude. Rosso di Montalcino 2014 has some original characteristics, in a burgundian inclination: it's delicate, with an elegant texture, plenty of ripe red fruits, good acidity and length. Aware of the pattern of the 2005, which wasn't so «extreme», we're quite confident regarding its aging potential and evolution. We can't wait to introduce it at Rencontres Henri Jayer on February 22-23 at Château de Gilly-les-Cîteaux.

Ombrone 2014 is made of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot. These grapes faced the même combat but they're more resistant to humidity and heavy rains than Sangiovese. That's a well-structured, robust wine with hints of black fruits, good palate, rich, strong, pleasant.

Our Brunello di Montalcino 2012 - which resulted among the top 5 of the vintage for Walter Speller, Jancis Robinson - of course needs some time and we're sure it will get better and better with aging, but it already displays great presence, generous structure and full ripeness. It was a hot vintage, offering now complexity, red fruits, strength and weight.

See you in Montalcino!

Benvenuto Brunello Zurich, Park Hyatt, Monday 10 October

We will show our Brunello di Montalcino 2011 and Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2010 at Benvenuto Brunello in Zurich. 

The event will take place on Monday 10 October at Park Hyatt from 14.30 to 20.

Get your ticket here: http://www.vinum.info/brunello/?cois=ch

Take a look at Vinum - Brunello di Montalcino Extra.

Benvenuto Brunello 2016: Introducing the Annata 2011

As we're getting prepared to Benvenuto Brunello 2016, we would love to share with you some impressions regarding the new vintages that will be introduced from 19 to 22 February in the Cloisters of the Montalcino Museum.

After the rush for Brunello 2010, we're now ready to present the annata 2011, which will be for sale from late April.

Lionel just came back from the «Rencontres Henri Jayer», where many prominent wine personalities - such as Romanée-Conti, Loïc Pasquet, Selosse, Pascal Agrapart, François Duvivier, Leonard and Olivier Humbrecht, Jean-Michel Deiss, Stéphane Derenoncourt, Philippe Charlopin, Bruno Clavelier, Bernard Bouvier, Louis-Michel Liger-Belair, Christian Amiot, Arnaud Mortet, Dominique Videau, Emmanuel Rouget - widely appreciated the new millesime, defining it a «Burgundian-style wine». The judgment of this follement compétent public gives us satisfaction and confidence and confirms once again that our terroir is able to offer notable wines in supposed intermediate vintages. 

Despite the fact it has been bottled about 6 weeks ago, it already shows a great structure, consistence and length. The Brunello 2011 is perfumed, well balanced, with a silky tannin and a considerable ampleur.
Un vrai Cupano.

We will also present to the press and wine professionals the 2013 vintage of our Rosso di Montalcino and Ombrone, both fruity, powerful, juicy and with a nice acidity and persistence, and the Ombrone 2012, strong, smokey, a wine of great character, weight and length.

See you in Montalcino!

Benvenuto Brunello 2015: what to say about Brunello 2010 and new vintages

As we're approaching Benvenuto Brunello 2015, we would share with you some opinions and ideas about the new annate that will be introduced tomorrow morning in the Cloister of the Montalcino Museum.

There are great expectations for the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino.
It certainly is an excellent vintage and we strongly believe that it will develop very well, reaching its maturity in about ten years. As we saw in the 2002, 2003 and 2005, vintages said to be not so good but which are now enjoying full complexity and richness, Brunello needs many time to achieve its apogée.

We think these kind of journalistic outlooks can play a significant role in establishing the potentiality of our cru, pushing sales and attention, but we also want to honor the winemakers who believed in those hard millésimes, such as 2002, 2003 and 2005.

We will also present to the press and wine professionals a newcomer chez Cupano: Ombrone «100» 2011. This special 100% Cabernet Sauvignon Ombrone comes out from an intuition by Lionel, who saw the great potential of that vintage in purity. Andrea really loves Ombrone «100» for its character, fruity nose, freshness and bouche.

Cupano will introduce the 2012 vintages of our Rosso di Montalcino and Ombrone too. These wines are already showing their powerful character, elegance, complexity and interesting fruitiness. The bottle will surely help them improve their qualities.

See you in Montalcino!

Cupano on Vinoteka [Slovakia] - Benvenuto Brunello 2014

A few months ago Antonio Sferlazzo and Renata Kostelnikova, from the Slovak wine magazine Vinoteka, wrote an article about the Benvenuto Brunello 2014 which took place at Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino between 21 and 24 February.

Our Brunello di Montalcino 2009 was their favourite one. Here's what they said about us:

«We tasted excellent Brunellos [...] such as Mastrojannni, Lisini, Vasco Sassetti, La Fiorita, La Mannella, Gianni Brunelli, Sesti. But above all, as always, Cupano, a small biodinamic wine farm, only 7 hectars of vineyards, located on the southwest side, the warmest, of Montalcino hill; the company is managed by a true French vigneron, Lionel Cousin who landed in Montalcino in 1994, fell in love with an abandoned ruined farm in the middle of no-where, which bought and restaured, to produce his Brunello according with a totally organic and natural agriculture, with no chemical products at all. Despite of the problems that biodinamic wine making technique may cause, such as an high acetic volatile, Lionel's wines are perfect, alive, full of emotions, so different from all the standard Brunellos; we can say that they really express what the French word terroir means: a full sinergy between the location, the soil, the weather, the kind of grape and the winemaker's philosophy. Lionel's Brunello, produced in a limited edition of only 8.000 bottles, is a wine for real connaisseurs who can afford a more expensive price!»