A Vintage of Transcendence: 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Retrospective

BY ERIC GUIDO | JANUARY 2, 2025

I fondly remember the release of the 2004 Brunellos. It was early 2009, and like many other collectors, I was eager to hear about the next big vintage in Montalcino. The hype was high. Winemakers spoke in depth about their satisfaction with the season, and the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino had assigned five stars to the vintage at a time when we still believed their rating system was worth paying attention to. Retailers were pushing hard on pre-sales, and everyone waited with bated breath for the critics to chime in. 

Brunello lovers were starved for the next collectible vintage. We had our fill from the 2001s, which were resting deep in our cellars, but we also felt unsatisfied by the nearly nonexistent 2002s and ultra-ripe 2003s. Tensions surrounding the region were high as well. Montalcino had just gone through the massive Brunellogate scandal, in which officials accused several winemakers of blending international varieties in their vineyards and confiscated wines for lab analysis. Would that mean that many of our past favorites would never see release? We didn’t know.

Moreover, due to the recession that began in 2008, it was a challenging time financially. I was fortunate to remain fully employed and safe with my family, but many others were not. Frankly, those of us who could afford to buy wine as a passion or a hobby were lucky, but we were also seeking our next thrill. We hoped that the 2004 vintage would fill those needs. 

An eclectic mix of 2004 Brunellos.

The news was generally very good when the word hit, even if the 2004s weren’t without flaws. As an avid reader of Antonio Galloni’s writings, I dug deeply into his tasting notes and vintage report to make the most informed decisions and secure all the wine I could afford. He spoke about wines of balance and power hailing from a cooler, classic year (especially compared to what we see today), but he also noted inconsistency from north to south, with the south excelling through the vintage while producers in the north didn’t fare as well. This may have been the first time I really thought about an in-depth breakdown of the region. Little did I know that one day, I’d be on the warpath for the creation of official subzones in Montalcino.

Another issue was abundance. The 2004 vintage presented growers with a considerable crop set due to the built-up energy in the vines from 2003. In cases where producers didn’t cut back their yields, hoping to make up for lost sales from the 2002s and 2003s, dilution was evident in the wines. 

Ultimately, I made my choices and buried the wines deep in the cellar, knowing that the best was yet to come. 

The 2004 Brunellos Today

Fast-forward to today. Overall, the 2004s are in fine condition—rich yet harmonious, with vibrant acidity and a residual tug of resolved tannins. In the best cases, the 2004s still hold onto a balanced core of fruit, imbued with the silken weight that maturity brings. I can see many of these wines reaching their 30th birthdays with grace. Like most classic seasons, a cool and structured vintage means the wines will reach peak maturity at around 20 years of age, for my preferences. I can attest that drinking a 2004 Brunello today is a rewarding experience. 

I did notice a bit of inconsistency from bottle to bottle, even within the same producers and occasionally the same wines. Some come across as oddly mature, while others are a model of freshness and vitality. This is likely an issue with the timing of these releases, as many consumers were delaying purchases due to the economy at the time. The likelihood that a 2004 Brunello sat on a retail shelf for an extended time is pretty high. But as we all know, in this game, provenance matters first and foremost when selecting collectible wines.

Jan Erbach of Pian dell'Orino speaks on the importance of pruning.

For the last six months, I have taken every opportunity to taste 2004 Brunellos, often analyzing the same producer’s wine from multiple sources on different occasions. The wines for this report came from my cellar (procured primarily in 2009 and stored professionally ever since), from the cellars of trusted collectors who were generous enough to share them with me, and direct from producers’ libraries in Montalcino. The bottles tasted in Montalcino often showed the best, but not always. Going back to 2004, many wineries had yet to install temperature-controlled storage. Wines of this age often have issues with corks, however I was amazed that many of these wines had nearly perfect corks. That said, others were rotting completely.

Stylistic differences in the wines also bear consideration, as the average consumer had different expectations of Brunello at that time. Big, rich and oak-influenced was the order of the day, and many wine lovers had yet to embrace the staunchly traditional producers that now enjoy worldwide fame. Filippo Chia of Castello Romitorio detailed this point in our conversations, explaining, “It [2004] is a vintage that sits in a stylistic limbo between the Brunellos of the 1990s—heavily oaked, dark and brooding—and the Brunellos post-2007 scandal—lighter, lifted and generally made more in the spirit of tradition.” Bernardino Sani of Argiano noted, “Argiano was making very different wines at the time. Aging was mostly in smaller barrels with a more extractive fermentation and maceration process: higher temperature, longer, and at least one to two délestages.” There are very few similarities between an Argiano Brunello today and one from 2004. The same can be said about many wineries in the region.

The vintage bottle library at Il Marroneto.

Considering all of the above, I came to realize that 2004 was a vintage of transcendence for Montalcino. It represented both a milestone and a line drawn in the sand between what came before and what we now love about the region, where the popularized producers of the past realized what the world was actually craving from Montalcino. While the wines of the late nineties and beyond have their positive qualities, 2004 paved the way for a new level of purity and, in many ways, a return to tradition.

I also must note the positive state of several 2004 Rosso di Montalcinos that I tasted. This was yet another eye-opening experience. Rosso di Montalcino offers wine lovers fantastic value, and I couldn’t be happier to see this category gaining public acclaim today. Tasting 2004 Rosso di Montalcinos that hold firmly onto their vibrant fruit and retain a balance, energy and bright acidity is a testament to the quality of the vintage. The Rossos of Le Potazzine, Pian dell'Orino and Uccelliera are all in fine form.

The barrel-aging cellar at Uccelliera.

A Snapshot of the 2004 Vintage in Montalcino

Many will remember the 2004 season as a classic vintage in Montalcino. The one word that the majority of winemakers would use to describe the year is “balanced.” Most well-stored bottles are just approaching their peak and, in most cases, have many years of positive development ahead of them. It was an abundant season, as the vines released their energy following 2003, which was an excessively warm and arid year. Crop thinning was essential in order to craft wines of depth and complexity. A build-up of water reserves following precipitation in the winter and spring helped maintain healthy vines through a warm yet balanced summer. Ideal conditions of warm days, cool nights and perfectly timed precipitation allowed for a perfect harvest. Notably, some producers in the north struggled with isolated hailstorms in the fall leading up to harvest.

I tasted the wines in this report from my cellar, the cellars of generous collectors and directly from winery libraries in Montalcino.

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