Winemaker Notes
Ruby-red with a garnet rim, this wine's bouquet displays ample aromas of violet, wild berries, tobacco, chocolate, and vanilla. On the palate, Altesino Brunello is rich, full-bodied, and velvety.
With velvety tannins, balanced acidity, and supple body, this Brunello is the wine of choice for rich dishes such as osso bucco, pot roasts, barbecues, and beef stew.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino is a youthful red color and is expressive in the glass with notes of ripe strawberries, grenadine, crushed roses, sweet herbs, and licorice candies. Medium-framed, it has refreshing ripe acidity, fine, well-defined tannins, and a clean, even finish with fantastic, elegant length. Offering both refined complexity and true drinking pleasure, with nothing heavy or weighted, it's fabulous all around, with notes of stone fruit on the finish. A highly appealing Brunello with a lot to enjoy over the coming 15 years, I would be thrilled to have bottles in my cellar to check in on regularly.
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James Suckling
Very pretty and floral with raspberries and black cherries on the nose, as well as violet undertones. Medium-bodied with chewy tannins, though integrated and polished. Long, intense finish. Extremely well done for the vintage. Drink after 2026, but already solid.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Opening to earthy tones of brimstone and petrichor, the Altesino 2020 Brunello di Montalcino shows the character of a house style that is easily recognized. This elegant wine offers a polished and smooth mouthfeel with finely tuned tannins. The oak is also expertly managed to show some light spice that is deeply integrated into a silky mouthfeel. Of the village Brunellos I tasted from 2020, this one offers excellent quality and will prove easily to locate thanks to its ample release of 110,000 bottles.
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Wine Spectator
This is supple and juicy, bursting with cherry, strawberry, mineral and wild herb flavors. Vibrant and backed by dense, refined tannins that leave a firm grip on the lingering aftertaste. Best from 2027 through 2043. 9,200 cases made, 3,100 cases imported.
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Decanter
With vineyards in virtually every quadrant of Montalcino, Altesino can shape the blend according to the vintage. As some of their northern plots struggled in 2020’s heat, the backbone for this comes from vineyards in the south, and there is also a dollop from young plantings on the hill of Montosoli. An immediately engaging nose proposes preserved red cherry, plum, cinnamon and carob. Evocative nuances of Mediterranean woodlands weave throughout. There is a sunny, sumptuous ripeness to the palate, but it remains well-behaved as sandy textured tannins firm up the edges.
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Vinous
The 2020 Brunello di Montalcino entices the taster with a gorgeous bouquet of fresh strawberries and plums accentuated by sweet herbs and hints of exotic spice. It's soft, round and quite lifted in feel, with vividly pure red berry fruits underscored by a core of brisk acidity. Energy remains high throughout, leaving a tinge of steely minerality and sweet tannins that frame the experience nicely.
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.