Winemaker Notes
Great with roasts, grilled and spit-roasted meats, game, braised meats and aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Bright, with cherry and raspberry fruit, this Brunello is elegant and charming. Accents of mineral and peppery greens—arugula, mizuna—develop on the lingering aftertaste. Best from 2021 through 2032.
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James Suckling
Aromas of dark fruit, dried leaves and hints of cedar follow through to a medium to full body, a solid core of fruit and chewy tannins and a flavorful finish. A little hollow in the center palate, but delivers high quality for the vintage. Give it a year or two to fill in. Drink in 2020.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Brunello di Montalcino is a ripe and nicely balanced effort from a vintage that threw its share of curveballs at producers. The wine rises above those difficulties, showing clearly delineated tones of cherry, plum and spice. It is crisp and lean in terms of mouthfeel, with the shallow depth of flavors that is definitely characteristic of the 2014 vintage. This easy-drinking Brunello ages in traditional oak casks (made with Slavonian oak) for two years.
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.