Winemaker Notes
#21 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2025
Ruby red in color. On the nose it is very spicy with chilies and peppers before turning to berries and strawberries. Full body, velvety tannins and flavors, as well as lightly salty undertones characterizes the palate.
Pairs well with cheese and mushrooms.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
There's bright cherry and strawberry fruit in this elegant red, along with rose, mineral and wild herb notes, plus a hint of black pepper. Harmonious and vibrant, this is fluid while cruising to the long, detailed aftertaste.
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James Suckling
A fine and subtle Brunello with cherries, candied watermelon, flowers and some orange peel. Medium-bodied with fresh acidity and a bright finish. From organically grown grapes.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino is a transparent bright red color and is ripe with aromas of strawberry preserve, candied flowers, sweet herbs, and mossy earth. Medium-framed, it's vibrant on the palate, with a linear feel, fine tannins, and bright acidity, leading with notes of orange citrus through a rather long finish and a touch of warmth. It retains good purity and energy and is very well-balanced. Drink 2026-2040.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The organic Camigliano 2020 Brunello di Montalcino has a more Rubenesque personality due to the warm exposures and thicker soils of this part of the appellation. The bouquet is definitely bigger in personality, with blown-up aromas of bold cherry, dark plum and spicy earth. The wine ends with young tannins and an upfront, fruit-forward approach.
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.