Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The bright red/ruby-hued 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino La Casaccia is fresh and offers a deeper though equally pure aromatic profile, with notes of darker cherries, candied flowers, sweet sage, and mossy earth. Medium-bodied, it's richer on the palate as well, with ripe tannins and more depth, but it's long and inviting, with a hearty feel in its hints of leather and porcini mushroom on the finish. Drink over the coming two decades.
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James Suckling
Very intense and deep wine. The nose is savory, with earthy strawberries, cinnamon, sweet violets and even yellow stone-fruit. Full-bodied, graceful palate with velvety tannins, refreshing acidity and a polished finish. Long aftertaste. Grace and power go hand in hand here.
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Vinous
Dark and brooding, the 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia slowly blossoms in the glass with a dramatic mix of steeped plums, cinnamon sticks, grilled herbs and sweet lavender. This is a model of purity, lifted and refined with soft textures and cool-toned acidity lending freshness as ripe red and hints of blue fruit settle upon the senses. The 2020 firms up through the finish, taking on a pleasantly bitter tinge that puckers the cheeks as grippy tannins and crunchy mineral tones frame the experience without getting in the way of its energetic persona.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Starting with this vintage, the Canalicchio di Sopra 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia carries a "Vigna" designation. La Casaccia is a two-hectare parcel with clay soils rich in minerals that was planted in 1990. Francesco Ripaccioli embarked on an estate-wide mapping project about 10 years ago to determine which parcels would be worthy of single-vineyard distinction. This wine always has an elegant brightness about it with aromas of iris root, blood orange and tart forest berry. This vintage delivers moderately more heft and intensity to the bouquet, although it remains understated in terms of palate. Give it more time to flesh out.
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Wine Spectator
Rich and velvety, evoking plum, cherry and iron, plus hints of wild herbs, this red reveals fine balance and expression. The ripe fruit is offset by refined tannins, and the finish fades gracefully. Best from 2026 through 2042. 344 cases made, 77 cases imported.
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.