Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2023 Rosso di Montalcino offers a scaled-down expression of Brunello authority while remaining approachable and immediately engaging. Fresh fruit is supported by a subtle salty mineral note on the close, giving the wine energy and appeal for a new generation of Sangiovese-curious drinkers. The wine sees an initial two months in Slavonian oak followed by brief aging in large-format 750-liter French barrels, with fruit sourced from the youngest vines in the Canalicchio cru on clay-rich soils.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2023 Rosso Di Montalcino pours a medium garnet hue and offers a more serious profile than most wines in this category. The aromatics lean toward savory and detailed, with incense, orange rind, dried flowers, and currants. Medium-bodied, it carries ripe tannins and balanced acidity, finishing clean and tapered.
-
James Suckling
Open and fruity, featuring bright cherries, dried rose hips and red spices. Medium-bodied, rounded and smooth, it offers fresh acidity and a juicy flow. The finish is marked by a chalky texture.
-
Wine Spectator
This bright, juicy red is focused on its fresh cherry and raspberry fruit, along with a savory side that reveals earth, licorice and salty mineral notes. Shows fine balance and length. Drink now through 2030. 2,300 cases made, 1,000 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.