The “Blame it on Gretzky….” subtitle to this year’s annual report of the new vintage of Brunello di Montalcino and Brunello di Montalcino Riserva wines, though curious and capable of bringing a smile to one’s face might, at the same time, also be confusing to some readers. Why?
Well…
Wayne Gretzky was the greatest hockey player that ever lived, but on a true dynasty like the Edmonton Oilers he played for (winners of five Stanely cups in seven years) he wasn’t the only name to watch. Mark Messier, Jari Kurri and Paul Coffey were at the very least super-superstars, which means that other memorable players on that team such as goalie Grant Fuhr or defenseman Kevin Lowe (both winners of five cups) were “only” superstars. As crazy as it may seem to be considered as “only a superstar”, that’s what happens when you play alongside once in a lifetime, truly generational players like those others. On AC Milan’s Champion League-winning teams of 1989 and 1990 (a team that during that time span also won two International Cups, two European Supercups, and was named by FIFA “the best soccer team of all time”) the Dutch trio of Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard got most of the attention, but they played on a team that also had once in a lifetime super-superstars like Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi, which reduced outstanding players like Roberto Donadoni and Carlo Ancellotti to mere superstar status; and the Joe Montana-led San Francico 49ers could also count on generational players like Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, and Charles Haley, meaning that superstars like John Taylor and Roger Craig became almost afterthoughts. There are many other sports-related examples such as these I can think of, in tennis, in baseball, in basketball, in golf, and so forth, but the point ought to be clear by now. Fact is, with two stellar vintages blessing Montalcino back-to-back in 2015 and 2016, to be then quickly followed by the almost as outstanding 2019, then it is inevitable that the excellent 2021 vintage ends up being thought of as just that, as merely “excellent”. True, the Brunello wines of 2021 are not at the same exalted level of those three other vintages: but in any other decade, a vintage like 2021 would have had producers and wine lovers dancing in the street and whirling like dervishes gone crazy in paroxysms of joy.
