Winemaker Notes
Perfect for grilled, roasted, and stewed red meat as well as stewed guinea fowl and duck.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is really complex with blackberry, spice and floral aromas that follow through to a full body, with firm and chewy tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Shows great length and presence. Top stuff. Even better than I remember. Drink now and onwards.
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Wine Spectator
Delivers raisins, blackberries and roses on the nose. Full-bodied, with a soft and silky tannin structure and a long and delicious finish. This is the best Brunello ever from here.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino is the first Brunello oenologist Hans Vinding-Diers made from start to finish at Argiano, and it represents a significant stylistic shift in direction. Among the changes Vinding-Diers instituted are lower temperatures in fermentation, which have given his wines gorgeous, detailed aromatics as well as notable textural elegance. The medium-bodied 2004 Brunello di Montalcino possesses perfumed layers of sweet ripe fruit that flow gracefully onto the palate, where sweet notes of tobacco, leather and spices come to life, adding further complexity. Finessed tannins round out this beautiful Brunello that is more about elegance rather than sheer power alone. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2019.
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.