Winemaker Notes
Pair with roast red meats, game and very aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
One of the few founding estates of the Brunello consorzio in 1967, Capanna crafts its Riserva from the oldest vines among their 12ha holdings on the Montosoli hill. It is given a long maceration of 35 days and aged in Slavonian oak botti. Inviting floral, tea, earth and dried mint aromas lead the way. The palate is currently less giving, wrapped up in chewy tannins, but promises great potential. Drinking Window 2020 - 2035
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James Suckling
Lots of balsamico and soy sauce on the nose as well as super ripe red fruits. Rather sweet on the palate in spite of the full, chewy tannins, which weighs it down a bit. With more freshness this would have been rated higher.
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Wine Enthusiast
Powerfully, structured, this robust wine opens with aromas of forest floor, baked plum, camphor and a whiff of new leather. Showing the heat of the vintage, the warm hearty palate offers stewed prune, tobacco, licorice and a hint of dried mint framed in assertive close-grained tannins. You'll also notice the heat of evident alcohol on the close. Give the tannins a few years to unwind then drink to capture the remaining fruit. Drink 2020–2027.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Capanna's 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva opens to a darkly saturated color and very ripe aromas of cherry and prune. To me, the fruit tastes overripe in this warm and dry vintage, although the wine doesn't necessarily show jammy aromas per se. Instead, it delivers noticeable power and heat (with alcohol recorded at 15%). The complexity and delicate nature of Sangiovese is downplayed in this warm-vintage Riserva.
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.