Winemaker Notes
#17 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2018
The Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino displays deep garnet color with full and penetrating aromas of wild berries. The palate is dry, warm full-bodied while harmonious, delicate and austere at the same time, persistent.
Pair with roasts, grilled and spit-roasted meats, game, braised meats, and aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This cuts more of a broad swath than its peers, yet remains graceful, evoking strawberry, cherry, tobacco and stony mineral flavors. Long and dense in structure, with a tobacco- and underbrush-tinged finish. Best from 2021 through 2033.
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James Suckling
The caramel and ripe fruit are impressive with some grilled meat too. Full body, firm and silky. A tight and exciting wine for the future. Drink in 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Caparzo is my go-to producer when I'm looking for classic Brunello with a more accessible and immediate personality to pair with pasta or grilled steak. The 2013 Brunello di Montalcino is made in traditional botte from Slavonian oak, where it rests for two years. Yet the bouquet is softer and more open than many other wines made in this fashion (that ultimately sees less oxygen during overall winemaking). Bright cherry and cassis is followed by deep layers of smoke, tar and grilled herb. The wine is elegant and graceful for either a medium or a long-term drinking window.
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.