Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Capanna's offering in 2007 is extremely bold, dark and opulent. Loads of aromatic momentum in the form of blackberry, cherry liqueur, spice, leather, tobacco, rum cake, cinnamon, vanilla bean and bitter chocolate characterize the bouquet. The wine also shows a soft, ripe, generous texture, yet remains well-contained and balanced.
Cellar Selection -
James Suckling
Aromas of ripe raspberries and blueberries follow through to a full body, with a solid core of fruit and bright acidity. Dried lemon rind as well. This is a wine that needs a few years to open and show you what it truly has. Always serious.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Brunello di Montalcino is gorgeous in this vintage. Sweet red berries, flowers, mint, hard candy and licorice are some of the many notes that flow from this radiant, hugely expressive wine. The 2007 stands apart for its sensual, feminine personality and fabulous overall balance. High-toned floral notes waft from the glass on the sensual finish. There is just a touch of sweetness from the ripeness of the fruit. The 2007 was vinified in conical oak vats and aged in Slavonian oak casks for 40 months, a very traditional approach that works nicely here. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2027.
Rating: 93+
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.