Winemaker Notes
Ruby red wine, with shades tending towards garnet. It has an intense aroma, with references to small ripe red fruits, combined with spicy notes. On the palate the hints of fruit integrate with the floral notes, and recall sensations of freshness and acidity, supported by a balanced structure; the tannins are smooth and integrated, with excellent persistence.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has a savory character of cured meat, iron and wet stones, with spices and red berries in the background. The medium- to full-bodied palate is sleek and smoothly integrated, with well-defined yet supple tannins and a fleshy core of red fruit. Bright and juicy. From organically grown grapes.
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Vinous
The 2021 Brunello di Montalcino opens with a bouquet of crushed strawberries and cherries, complicated by cedary spices and nuances of blood orange. It shows the weight and pliancy of its southern roots, with depths of mineral-inflected red berry fruits and mulling spices. The wine tapers off with medium length, gentle structure and a subtle cranberry tinge that pinches at the cheeks.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Camigliano 2021 Brunello di Montalcino is a certified organic wine that opens with ripe blackberry and blackcurrant followed by an oak-driven tarry and smoky note that adds weight to the bouquet. The aromatic profile is robust and persistent with a clear emphasis on dark fruit grown on the estate’s warmer southwestern exposures, and the palate closes with a hint of sweetness, soft tannins and a fundamentally velvety mouthfeel, making this an immediately approachable Brunello.
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.