Winemaker Notes
Great wine with intense aromas and balanced tannins that is able to express all the characteristics of the "terroir" in quality and typicality in the selection of clones in addition to the choice of the sunniest terrain with the best location.
A classy wine that promises an interesting evolution that will extend over time. Best paired with game, beef and aged cheeses, but it can also be served alone as a meditation wine.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A ripe and full-bodied Brunello with intense notes of cassis, stewed plums and kalamata olives. Some grilled herbs, too. Broad and creamy tannins with plenty of rich fruit. A little one-dimensional but concentrated and flavorful.
-
Wine Spectator
Ripe and opulent, boasting macerated cherry, plum, eucalyptus and iron flavors matched to a muscular structure. Shows beefy tannins that take over on the finish, yet this feels balanced, with a beam of cherry persisting through the conclusion. Best from 2026 through 2043. 16,000 cases made, 3,250 cases imported.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A certified organic wine, the Camigliano 2018 Brunello di Montalcino is medium dark in appearance with round and ripe aromas of cherry confit, blackberry tart, black rose and balsam herb. The wine is textured and rich; however, the alcohol is too high at 15%. That power takes away from the long-term potential of delicate Sangiovese and places the grape into a near or medium-term drinking window instead.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino is forward with medicinal herbs of menthol, pine, and dried cherry. Ripe and medium-bodied on the palate, with a silky texture and fine tannins, it is noted with wild strawberry, herbes de Provence, and dusty earth. Its savory style leaves a mouthwatering need to be at the table alongside salumi and pecorino. Best after 2023.
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.