By Mate
Brunello di Montalcino

Wine Details
Country: Italy
Region: Tuscany
Producer: Mate
Size: 750ml
Style: Red
Practices: Certified organic
Grapes: Sangiovese
Other Features: Vegan, indigenous yeasts, natural
Farming/Vinification Practices: Certified organic since the 2016 vintage. The wines are never chaptalized nor fined. They are vegan.

Mate Estate
Mate is a family owned, organically farmed estate in the prestigious, temperate Santa Restituta zone of Montalcino, also home to the vineyards of Angelo Gaja and Gianfranco Soldera. Within the Mate's 75 acres of natural forest and wild fruit, the family planted 15 acres of vineyards in extremely varied terroir between 1,000 and 1,300 feet above sea level.

Vinification
The grapes are selected, hand-picked, then re-selected. Fermentation takes place in small temperature-controlled stainless steel vats. The must is punched down by hand four to five times a day to extract colors and tannins. The wine spends up to three years in 500 liter French oak. After bottling, the wines rest for at least nine months before being released.

History
Writer Ferenc Mate, and his wife Candace, a painter, left New York in 1990 for the Tuscan countryside. They restored an ancient, abandoned friary before planting their vineyards between 1997 and 1999. Being perfectionists, the Mates performed a museum-quality restoration of the friary, then hired Gaja's agronomist, Fabrizio Moltard, to design the vineyards and France's Pierre Guillaume to choose the best varieties and clones. They still consult with Gaja's General Manager, with Ferenc overseeing the vineyards while Peter, their son, and Candace are responsible for the winemaking. Their Tuscan experiences are humorously written about in Ferenc's, A Vineyard in Tuscany.
[Information provided by Olivier Nouet]
[Information is not vintage specific]

MATE BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO 2015
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Country: Italy
Region: Tuscany
Vintage: 2015
Score: 95
Beautiful aromas of sliced plums, spice and hints of dried flowers. Medium to full body, bright and tangy acidity and a long and vivid finish. Lovely balance and energy. Drink now or hold.

MATE Brunello di Montalcino 2015
Score: 94
Country: Italy
Region: Tuscany
Insider Issue: Apr 15, 2020
Enticing flavors of cherry, plum, licorice, almond and autumn woods mark this supple red. Juicy and balanced, with a well-integrated structure and excellent length. Best from 2023 through 2042. - BS

Mate 2015 Brunello di Montalcino
Rating: 92
Writer Ferenc Mate and his wife, Candace, a painter, bought this estate in 1990 and planted 15 acres of vines on slopes between 1,000 and 1,300 feet in elevation. This wine, from the warm 2015 vintage, offers flavors of dark cherry and plum layered with rich tones of roasted fennel, anise and dark chocolate. Firm, ferrous tannins add lift to the flavors, but the impression is warm and cozy-a guilty pleasure to be enjoyed next to a roaring fire.
V.O.S. Selections, NY
(04/20)

Mate 2015 Brunello di Montalcino
Points: 92
Montalcino, Tuscany
Red wine from Italy
Drinking window: 2022 - 2031
Deep red. Delicate cinnamon notes at first, then blood orange and sweet spices emerge with aeration. Enters plump and sweet, then turns peppery in the middle but remains fleshy on the nicely saline finish. A very good showing for this winery; well done.
Ian D'Agata. Tasting date: March 2020

Mate, Brunello di Montalcino, 2015
Tasted by Michaela Morris (at Chiostro Museo di Montalcino, 21 Feb 2020)
Points: 92
Producer: Mate
Vintage: 2015
Type: Still
Colour: Red
Country: Italy
Region: Tuscany
Appellation: Brunello di Montalcino
Sweetness: Dry
Closure: Cork
Alcohol: 14.50%
Body: Full
Time in Oak: 36 months
Oak: Oaked
Blend: 100% Sangiovese
Drinking Window: 2022 - 2032
Located in the Santa Restituta area, Mate is just a stone's throw from Gaja's Montalcino property. It is owned by a Canadian couple - artist Candice Mate and author Ferenc Mate. At the moment, the 2015 is still wound up in the influence of wood, needing time to unfold. Cherry bark, cola and clove make way for heather nuances. The palate is compact and concentrated, with layers and layers of sweet, supple tannins, but a radiant juiciness shines through. A deftly-constructed polished wine.

Mate 2015 Brunello di Montalcino
Producer: Mate
Appellation: Brunello di Montalcino
Region: Toscana
Country: Italy
Colour: Red
Alcohol: 14.50%
Score: 17+/20
When to drink: 2020 - 2032
Published on: 11 Feb 2020
Date tasted: 15 Jan 2020
Reviewer: Walter Speller
Tasted blind. Concentrated, complex nose of sweet cherry fruit and minerally, earthy notes and with a touch of gingerbread. A great mouthful of fruit aligned with a perfect dose of bright acidity. Very long, intense and rewarding and with a full, fruit-driven finish. (WS)

Mate 2015 Brunello di Montalcino
Points: 88
Variety: Sangiovese
Appellation: Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy
Winery: Mate
Alcohol: 14.50%
Size: 750.00 ml
Category: Red
Importer: Forza Wine Imports
Date Published: 5/1/2020
Reviewed By: Kerin O'Keefe
This opens with aromas of French oak, roasted coffee bean and coconut. The assertive palate offers ripe black plum, mocha and clove alongside raspy tannins that clench the finish.