Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with Red meats, braised meats, game, aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Baricci 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Nello is elegant and fine but certainly sharper and more linear compared to the fleshier 2015 vintage. This wine is well-suited to long-term aging. Time in the bottle will help it to flesh out and expand, texturally speaking. The wine is etched and focused with cassis, red berry and crushed limestone. You also get hints of wild herb and lavender. This is a very pretty Riserva, and as its opens, it begins to show riper and richer black fruit.
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Wine Spectator
This rich, round red is hallmarked by bright black cherry, blackberry and black currant fruit flavors. Shows grace notes of iron, tar and eucalyptus, which chime in as the beefy structure exerts its influence on the finish. Fine balance and length.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aged in both large casks and tonneaux, this brawny red has a subtle nose recalling underbrush, coffee bean and camphor. Big and bold, the densely concentrated, one-dimensional palate suggests steeped prune, licorice and espresso alongside tightly knit, close-grained tannins. You'll also notice the heat of evident alcohol on the close. Despite the tannins, drink sooner rather than later to capture the remaining fruit and freshness.
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.