Benvenuto Brunello 2019: Introducing the 2014 vintage

As we approach Benvenuto Brunello, which will take place from 15 to 18 February in the Cloister of Sant'Agostino in Montalcino,  we would like to share with you some thoughts regarding the new vintages.

Cupano will show Brunello di Montalcino 2014 and Rosso di Montalcino 2016, while we'll have to wait until late September to introduce the 2016 Ombrone.

We're just back from Rencontres Henri Jayer, where many prominent wine personalities, such as Aubert de Villaine, Jacky Rigaux, Jean-Michel Deiss, Patrick Baudouin, Jo Pithon, Claude et Lydia Bourguignon, Loïc Pasquet, Jacques Puisais, Gabriel Lepousez, Gerard Margeon, Bruno Clavelier, Pascal Agrapart, Yann Chave, broadly appreciated our newcomers for their terroir-driven character and énergie.

2014 was a challenging vintage: because of the unusual humidity recorded, we had to clean the grapes on a regular basis in the vineyard and make a strong selection on the sorting table. We took some risks in order to gain maturity and once again our terroir, with its stony soil and great exposure, gave proof of its faculty in a tough year. Further, our defoliation practices let the grapes dry off more quickly and found an ally in the breeze, leaving less room to grape diseases.

The yield was quite low - approximately 30 hectoliters per hectare - but we're proud to present Brunello in all its vintages, showing potential for long aging even in a lighter and more complicated millésime. The result is a creamy, delicate wine with hints of green tea, well-integrated tannins, great acidity and length.

Rosso di Montalcino 2016 - which was bottled two months ago, right before Christmas - comes out from a sunny, rich année with a generous structure, a wine gouleyant, very pleasant to drink, complex, which will get better and better in the bottle.

See you in Montalcino!

Cupano Rosso di Montalcino 2015 and Brunello di Montalcino 2013 among the best for Weinwisser

Our Rosso di Montalcino 2015 gets 17.5 points and figures out on top of the list of the vintages 2015 and 2016 tasted by the German magazine WeinWisser, together with Salicutti, Poggio di Sotto and Siro Pacenti.

On the other hand our 2013 Brunello stands in the top 15 of the millésime. Here's what they wrote about it:

Süss, duftig und gereift, mit delikater, flüchtiger Note und leichtem Anflug von Holz im Geruch. Feiner, delikater Auftakt im Mund, sehr elegant und mit feiner Säu- repräsenz, breit gefächert, süsslich und weit ausholend im Mund. Ein klassischer, hochreifer, finessenreich komponierter und zarter Brunello mit viel Spiel und saftiger Delikatesse. Ausgezeichnete Nachhaltigkeit und kraftvolle Struktur. 18+/20 –2040

Brunello di Montalcino 2009 - Greatest Italian Wine for 2007 Best Sommelier of the World Andreas Larsson

Our Brunello di Montalcino 2009 is on top of the list of all the Italian wines tasted in the last 5 years by 2007 Best Sommelier of the World Andreas Larsson - we recall that the only entitled are those awarded by the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale, just 15 from 1969 - for Tasted 100% Blind, together with several other vintages of Brunello and Ombrone.

Full ranking here.

Larsson also selected our Brunello di Montalcino 2011 for the Cité du Vin in Bordeaux, the first theme park in the world consecrated to wine.

Cupano at Vinitaly 2017

See you in Verona for Vinitaly 2017! 

Hall 9 / B8 n. 57 in the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino area 

To arrange an appointment, write an email to: cupano@cupano.it

Cupano vertical tasting at 67 Pall Mall, London, on March 23

We're so delighted that the exclusive 67 Pall Mall, founded by the former hedge fund manager Grant Ashton and located in a converted bank in St James’, invited us for a Masterclass on March 23 in London. 

Here's the wines we'll be pouring, starting at 6.30 pm: Rosso di Montalcino 2010 en Magnum; Brunello di Montalcino 2012, 2011 en Magnum, 2009, 2009 Riserva en Magnum, 2008, 2007 Riserva, 2005, 2004, 2003; 2013, 2011 Cento, 2007 Ombrone en Magnum.

The club has just reopened the membership so, if you wish to be part of it, apply here.

Some press releases: Financial Times / Telegraph / Forbes

Benvenuto Brunello 2017: Presentando i nuovi millésimes

Poiché ci stiamo avvicinando al Benvenuto Brunello 2017, vorremmo condividere con voi alcune impressioni circa le nuove annate che verranno presentato dal 17 al 20 febbraio nei Chiostri del Museo di Montalcino.

Cupano proporrà il Brunello di Montalcino 2012, il Rosso di Montalcino 2014 e l'Ombrone 2014.

La 2014 è stata une année difficile: condizioni meteorologiche avverse, pioggia costante, ondata di umidità hanno portato alla propagazione del Drosophila Suzukii, che attacca le bucce dell'uva. La presenza di questo piccolo insetto suggeriva una raccolta anticipata ma la nostra scelta è stata quella di correre alcuni rischi, effettuando una rigida selezione in vigna e aspettando una maturità completa.

Date queste circostanze, ci riteniamo soddisfatti e colpiti dal risultato. In un'annata difficile, infatti, il Sangiovese mostra alcuni parametri inusuali e una nuova forma di espressione, paragonabile a un vin d'altitude. Il Rosso di Montalcino 2014 possiede alcune caratteristiche peculiari, in una tendenza bourguignonne: è delicato, con una struttura elegante, ricca di frutti rossi maturi, acidità sostenuta e longueur. Consci del percorso del 2005, che non fu così «estremo», siamo piuttosto fiduciosi riguardo il suo potenziale di invecchiamento e la sua evoluzione. Non vediamo l'ora di introdurlo ai Rencontres Henri Jayer il 22-23 febbraio presso lo Château de Gilly-les-Cîteaux.

Il blend dell'Ombrone 2014 è 70% Cabernet Sauvignon e 30% Merlot. Queste uve hanno dovuto sostenere il même combat ma sono più resistenti del Sangiovese all'umidità e alle piogge abbondanti. È un vino con una buona struttura, solido, robusto, ricco, con  sentori di frutti neri e molto piacevole al palato. 

Il nostro Brunello di Montalcino 2012 - tra i migliori 5 dell'annata per Walter Speller, Jancis Robinson - ha certamente bisogno di tempo e siamo sicuri che trarrà beneficio dall'invecchiamento, ma mostra già buona presenza, struttura generosa e una maturità completa. È stata un'annata calda, che offre adesso complessità, frutti rossi, puissance e corpo. 

Ci vediamo a Montalcino!

Cupano Brunello 2012 among the top 5 of the vintage for Walter Speller, Jancis Robinson

Our Brunello di Montalcino 2012 gets 17.5+ and figures out among the top 5 of the new vintage for Walter Speller from Jancis Robinson, together with Il Marroneto, Biondi Santi, Salvioni and Siro Pacenti.

Here's what Speller writes about us:

«Tasted blind. Concentrated mid ruby with the beginning of orange tinges. Soft, ripe nose with hints of oak and dried cherry, but not open by far. Gorgeous, tangy, cherry-fruit palate and lots of grainy, ripe tannins. Polished and a little modernist, pulled off with great aplomb».

Full article here.

Harvest 2016: Thoughts and Minds

Sorting table

The generous rains in the crucial moments and a good, hot summer gave us a great harvest. We decided to collect the grapes a bit earlier - even so at a favorable point in the ripening path - in order to avoid the risk of excessive sugar.

It was the first harvest for the new vineyards we planted back in 2013: this will bring us to a more considerable production in the next years.

There wasn't too much alcohol in the raisin - all the wines are at 14° or 14.5° - which augurs well for the evolution. As usual we pressed the grapes softly to protect the vin de coulée. 

Maybe this vintage will be more on the fruity side than on the structure.

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.

Cupano Brunello di Montalcino 2011 at Cité du Vin, Bordeaux

Our Brunello di Montalcino 2011 has been selected for the Cité du Vin - the first theme park in the world consecrated to wine, opening today in Bordeaux in presence of French President François Hollande - by a tasting committee led by Michel Rolland and 2007 Best Sommelier of the World Andreas Larsson.

Here you will find the video that will be available to all the visitors, where Larsson describes our wine: https://youtu.be/e4kTfboM3vA

    This is the 2011 from Cupano, which is really one of the high-end producers of Brunello di Montalcino. This 2011 has got some evolution already, displaying a very elegant nose and I call this style of Brunello more, let’s say, Burgundian. I always find texture being very silky and rounded and yet powerful at the same time. The nose here is extraordinary, really fine with floral notes of violet rose, tobacco, almost cigar box with a fine spiciness and sweet but still that sour red cherry I associate with the variety. A really good grip on the palate, plenty of really fine tannins in the background, giving a good lift and a very dense texture. Notes of chocolate praline, cocoa powder, sweet red berries, fine spiciness and very long and intense finish. A wine I think it’s still youthful but perfectly drinkable and it certainly does have the capacity for another 10-15 years in a good cellar. A really fine, powerful, silky and refined Brunello di Montalcino

La Cité du Vin will be, since the beginning, the largest cellar of the world, offering more than 800 wines in its wine shop, restaurant and wine bar. A true revolution that will change the mondovino.

This opening is one of the most awaited events of the year: la Cité du Vin is at the second place of the Places to Go for the New York Times, among the 10 architectural grand openings for the Huffington Post, the 40 destinations to spend the holidays for The Guardian and the 20 vacation destinations for El Pais. 

Hedonism Wines, London

Lionel with our Russian importers at Vinitaly 2016

Cupano at Vinitaly 2016

See you in Verona for Vinitaly 2016!

Hall 9 / B8 n. 57 in the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino area 

To arrange an appointment, write an email to: cupano@cupano.it

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2005 greatest red wine at Merano Wine Festival 2015

Il nostro Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2005 miglior rosso del Merano WineFestival 2015 insieme al D'Alceo del Castello di Rampolla per Antonio Cimmino, Il Giornale & Keep in Wine.

Our Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2005, together with Castello di Rampolla D'Alceo, is the red greatest wine of Merano Wine Festival 2015 for Antonio Cimmino, from the daily newspaper Il Giornale.

Full article here: http://lorenzovinci.ilgiornale.it/recipe/merano-wine-festival-2015-tutti-gli-espositori-e-le-degustazioni-seconda-parte/

Cupano at Enoteca di Ghino, Pienza

Exhibition of Cupano in the shop window and inside the historical Enoteca di Ghino in Pienza, animated by one of the brightest connoisseurs of Italy.

Merano Wine Festival 2015

Cupano, Rotunde, 174.

Merano Wine Festival 2015 Hall of Fame

Still tasting in the empty fair.

Fiera della Cucina Italiana, Ginza Mitsukoshi, Tokyo.

Pics from the last Fiera della Cucina Italiana held at Ginza Mitsukoshi in Tokyo with our importer Vino Hayashi. 

Harvest 2015: Thoughts and Minds

Lionel after the svinatura

Despite the long and unexpected vague de chaleur that has characterized the month of July, the weather in August and September reduced the speed of the ripening, allowing us to have a great, essentially simple, harvest.

As it always happens in an apparently good vintage, the general trend - stirred up by the press - brings enthusiasm, maybe going too far with the forecasts.

There wasn't too much alcohol in the fruits, which alone makes the 2015 a promising millesime. We collected at less than 15° and then we started the «natural vinification», appreciating the richness of the phenolic maturities.

As usual we pressed the grapes softly, in order to protect the vin de coulée, and made a cold maceration, which has regularly provided great advantages in terms of freshness and fruitiness.

All the malolactic fermentations were completed before the racking with no relevant complications. 

The Merlot was exemplar in his pattern with a perfect evolution.

Here's the photo movie of the harvest days and here's what we wrote about last year's vendanges.

Nürnberg, Germany.

Moscow, Russia.