Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Iron, mineral and wild herb aromas and flavors frame the cherry and raspberry fruit in this sleek, racy red, which is harmonious and full of energy, with a long aftertaste driven by the firm structure and bracing acidity, as well as flint and stone elements.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Argiano 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna del Suolo has an elegant, ever-changing bouquet with black fruits and a pronounced mineral signature of dusty slate and crushed stone. With 63-year-old vines, this site is located along the picturesque, cypress-lined dirt road that leads to this imposing castello (one of the greatest architectural works in Italian wine). The bouquet fleshes out to show tobacco leaf, linden tree, balsam herb, exotic spice and an especially fresh quality of berry fruit that sits somewhere on the cusp of over-ripeness. The fruit tastes sweet but in a delicately measured way, and the tannins are elegant with dryness that is not overdone. This is a very pretty wine (with only 5,000 bottles made).
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna Del Suolo pours a medium youthful red hue and takes a nervous and wonderful energy on opening. Perfumed and mineral-tinged, it reveals notes of gravelly earth, rosewater, raspberry liqueur, and lifted fresh herbs. Medium-bodied, with a linear feel, it’s vibrant with fresh acidity, fine tannins, and a long mineral and citrus-noted finish. It strikes a great balance between elegance and nobility.
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.