Winemaker Notes
Produced mostly from our youngest vineyards, it represents our calling card for Canalicchio di Sopra wines: a young, fruity, and versatile expression of our Sangiovese. The first vintage was produced in 1975 when it was still called Red Wine from Brunello vines.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is a terrific wine that is one big step above your standard Rosso and one tiny step below your standard Brunello. The Canalicchio di Sopra 2018 Rosso di Montalcino is a fresh and versatile wine. The 2018 vintage was cool and had more rainfall than average. Windy conditions dried and helped to concentrate the fruit right before harvest. This wine is made from a selection of the estate's youngest vines, with about 90% of the fruit coming from the Canalicchio area and 10% from Montosoli. I had a glass with a delicious plate of vegetarian lasagna. This wine moves across the palate with steely precision, breaking up any cheese, butter or olive oil flavors along the way. It offers a snappy, lean to medium-weight drinking style with lots of freshness and enough texture to withstand some near-term cellar aging.
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.