Winemaker Notes
Its intense ruby red color tends towards elegant garnet with age. On the nose, it shows a complex personality with a delicious blend of black cherry, raspberry, violet, licorice, vanilla and black pepper. Extremely enticing, opulent and elegant on the palate, with a warm, long-lasting finish, Montosoli is a wine for special occasions.
Pair this wine with beef bourguignon and stroganoff, lamb shank, and roasted rabbit.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Leads off with aromas of shiso leaf, juniper and orange peel, along with cherry and berry flavors. Elegant and lacy, this red is focused, with fine intensity and a long, mineral-tinged finish.—Non-blind Altesino/Caparzo Retrospective (April 2022). Best from 2028.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Montosoli lies above the morning fog line, allowing for greater exposure to the morning sun, and was the first single vineyard designated wine in Montalcino’s history with its first vintage in 1975. The 2016 takes all the components of the estate Brunello and is amplified with concentrated raspberry coulis, sage, and rose petal. Once again, there is tremendous consistency from the nose to the palate, though here the structure is compact and will need additional time for those who shy away from grippy, building tannins. Drink over the next 20 years or more. Drink 2024-2042.
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James Suckling
Lovely sweet cherries and heather with some leather and balsamic undertones. It’s full-bodied with a velvety and lightly dusty palate. Juicy fruit and pretty orange peel to the berry character. Hints of cedar and meat at the end. Subtle and complex. Drink after 2025.
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Wine Enthusiast
Rose, forest berry, underbrush and new leather are some of the aromas you’ll find on this full-bodied red. From one of Montalcino’s greatest vineyard sites, the firmly structured, elegant palate is also delicious, boasting ripe black cherry, raspberry compote, tobacco and licorice set against taut, fine-grained tannins. It’s well balanced, with bright acidity. Drink 2024–2036.
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Decanter
Altesino has been producing a separate bottling from the cru of Montosoli since 1975, though the vines were partially replanted in 2005 and 2016. If Altesino’s estate Brunello is almost accessible already, the polished yet intense Montosoli needs time in the cellar to demonstrate its potential. The nose is discreet with violet, bramble and bay leaf taking on earthy, savoury tones as it sits in the glass. Tight and firmly fastened, the palate fuses stony notes of granite with dark cherry. Ageing is in 30hL casks of Slavonian oak.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Altesino 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli was slightly closed at the time of our tasting. It later opened to show dark fruit, licorice and that special mineral tone that comes from this vineyard site with shale soils. The mouthfeel is streamlined, having shed its baby fat, and the effect on the palate is indeed quite elegant and polished.
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.