Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby red, tending toward garnet. On the nose violets, sweet ripe red fruits and berries, as well as cigar box and spices. Flavors of plums, cherries, blackberry jam and raspberries, with just a hint of wood. Well-structured with extraordinary concentration of fruit. Supple tannins and long finish.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Cool and perfumed 2016 Brunello with black cherries, flowers and crushed stones. Medium to full body with firm, chewy tannins, yet polished and very silky. Mineral and seaweed undertones. Just a hint of bitterness. Drink after 2023.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This wine represents a selection of fruit from vineyards near the property's postcard-perfect Castello, and it's often the most representative of the new releases presented each year by Castello Banfi. From a classic and balanced vintage, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Poggio alle Mura shows beautiful depth and balance with dark fruit, cassis, dried cherry, licorice, balsam herb and earthy tones. The wine is symmetrical, tight and elegant with long, silky tannins. This is the full Banfi package.
Rating:</> 95(+) -
Wine Spectator
There’s a lot going on in this bone-dry yet complex red, whose cherry, strawberry and plum fruit meshes with iron, tobacco, wild thyme and Mediterranean pine flavors, while the dusty tannins exert their presence on the lingering finish. Think hearty stews or wild boar ragù. Best from 2025 through 2043. 160 cases imported.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Rose, exotic spice, menthol and coffee-bean aromas mingle together in the glass. The full-bodied, tight palate offers sour cherry, French oak, espresso and the warmth of alcohol alongside close-grained, assertive tannins that grip the finish.
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.