Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A bright and elegant Brunello that suggests sliced oranges, tulips and rose petals. Medium-to full-bodied and finely structured, drawing on silky layers of tannins and a vibrant edge of acidity. Drink now or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Camigliano 2015 Brunello di Montalcino sees fruit from a 50-hectare vineyard planted 300 to 350 meters above sea level. The soils show lots of variation with clay, sand, rock and marine fossils. The wine's bouquet reveals classic Brunello characteristics of wild berry, forest floor, pressed rose petal, crushed stone and spice. You also get those typical balsam and herbal tones that are so specific to Montalcino. In fact, I argue that they come across with even more intensity in a beautifully balanced and sunny vintage such as 2015. This wine ages in 60-hectoliter botti for 24 months, making for a firm yet surprisingly streamlined mouthfeel.
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Wine Spectator
A focused, lively red, this exhibits cherry, strawberry, earth, mineral and Mediterranean herb flavors. Dense, staying fresh as this unwinds on the lingering aftertaste. Best from 2023 through 2042.
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.