Winemaker Notes
Aromas of black cherries, plums, and walnuts with undertones of cedar. The palate is dense and full-bodied, with rich tannins, and a complex finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino is a jeweled ruby/red color and has a very lovely, complete feel with aromas of cherry liqueur, raspberries, candied licorice, balsamic herbs, and sage. It's beautiful and saturated and floats on the long palate, with a medium to full frame, a supple, ripe feel, and lovely freshness. It has the ability to improve and drink well over the coming 20 years.
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Vinous
The 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is spellbinding. Youthfully coy, it features a minty freshness and wild herbal thrust, giving way to bright cherry-berry fruit complicated by hints of worn leather. This is energetic and spry, yet elegant to the core, with crisp wild berries and a cascade of sweet spice elevated by zesty acidity. Tannic and potent yet still fresh, the 2020 lingers with a resonance of tart cranberry and sour citrus that leaves the cheeks puckered and the palate thirsting for more. This is a wild vintage of Uccelliera's Brunello di Montalcino. It's structured for the long haul yet already such a pleasure to taste.
Rating: 95+ -
James Suckling
A compressed and fresh 2020 Brunello with red-cherry, plum and peach character. Medium body, fine tannins and a tangy finish. Give this two or three years to open and soften, but it’s already crunchy and fresh. Delicious in fact. Best after 2026.
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Wine Spectator
This red is both rich and vibrant, offering cherry, strawberry, floral and mineral flavors. Elegant, with flashes of wild herbs and earth peeking through. A harmonious version, leaving a mouthwatering impression on the lingering aftertaste. Best from 2026 through 2042.
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Decanter
Uccelliera suffered minor frost damage in 2020 and is among those estates that decided not to produce a Riserva in this vintage. I first tasted this from barrel soon after it was blended in 2021. Now in bottle, it is still fully packed and vigorous. Starting from a profusion of lavender, cinnamon and chocolate, it progresses to a macerated cherry and blackberry coulis-soaked palate. The tannins layer up but are yielding. Warming alcohol rises too – hopefully it will be able to maintain poise as it ages. Mediterranean herbs infuse the finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Uccelliera 2020 Brunello di Montalcino shows a dark color and earthy notes that lean into oxidation. The wine's alcohol content is a potent 15%. The bouquet does not show the same clarity as past vintages, but you do get plenty of baked plum and blackcurrant. This is not my favorite vintage from one of my favorite producers. The wine ends with accessible, open-knit tannins.
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
Famous for its bold, layered and long-lived red, Brunello di Montalcino, the town of Montalcino is about 70 miles south of Florence, and has a warmer and drier climate than that of its neighbor, Chianti. The Sangiovese grape is king here, as it is in Chianti, but Montalcino has its own clone called Brunello.
The Brunello vineyards of Montalcino blanket the rolling hills surrounding the village and fan out at various elevations, creating the potential for Brunello wines expressing different styles. From the valleys, where deeper deposits of clay are found, come wines typically bolder, more concentrated and rich in opulent black fruit. The hillside vineyards produce wines more concentrated in red fruits and floral aromas; these sites reach up to over 1,600 feet and have shallow soils of rocks and shale.
Brunello di Montalcino by law must be aged a minimum of four years, including two years in barrel before realease and once released, typically needs more time in bottle for its drinking potential to be fully reached. The good news is that Montalcino makes a “baby brother” version. The wines called Rosso di Montalcino are often made from younger vines, aged for about a year before release, offer extraordinary values and are ready to drink young.