Winemaker Notes
To fully appreciate its qualities, decant the wine at least one hour before serving.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A full, chewy red with velvety tannins and lots of berry, chocolate and cherry character. Rich and balanced. Better in 2015 when the tannins soften.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2009 Brunello di Montalcino comes across as lush and concentrated with bold fruit tones that wrap smoothly over the palate. The wine is well-balanced and really doesn't show overt signs of the hot 2009 vintage. In fact, the bright crispness, backed by sharp aromas of chopped mint and blue flower, show the quality of fruit that comes from this historic estates from one of the southern-most and warmest points of the appellation. This is a beautiful effort that will award those who wait a bit longer. Drink: 2017-2025.
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Wine Spectator
A rich, fruity style, offering cherry, briar and tobacco notes, backed by dusty tannins. Open and bright, with fine length. Should be excellent with steak. Best from 2016 through 2025.
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.