Winemaker Notes
Ruby, tending towards garnet with age. Penetrating, ample, and extremely complex, with wild berry fruit, spice and vanilla. Dry, warm, firm, harmonious, delicate and austere, and
persistent.
Pair with roasts, grilled and spit-roasted meats, game, braised meats, and aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Dark fruit flavors of black cherry, blackberry and plum mark this fluid yet dense red. Its dusty tannins leave a solid grip on the menthol- and mineral-infused finish. The lasting impression is ripe fruit, so give this time to knit together.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casa is a medium ruby red color and is spicy and inviting on the nose with aromas of cigar box, baked cherries, red plum, leather, and forest earth. It’s full-bodied but remains light on its feet, offering plush, velvety tannins, refreshing acidity, and good length with ripe red fruit shining through, but a pure finish.
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James Suckling
A smoky and spicy wine with aromas of graphite, ripe red cherries, dried flowers and mint. Full-bodied, it shows velvety tannins, crisp acidity and an elegant, woven finish. Best from 2028.
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Vinous
The 2021 Brunello di Montalcino La Casa is perfumed and spicy in the glass; ground cloves mix with cedar shavings, dusty earth and black cherries. It displays textures of pure silk alongside cooling acidity and polished red and black fruits. The balance is exceptional. This 2021 finishes with sweet tannins, a plum skin resonance and exceptional length. La Casa has flown under the radar for many years, and the 2021 makes for an excellent introduction to its capabilities.
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Decanter
Caparzo’s Gnudi Angelini family boasts the largest holdings of any estate lucky enough to possess vineyards on the Montosoli hill. La Casa is selected from plots on its southerly exposed slope. The 2021 surges with fruit depth and purity from start to finish. Ripe dark cherry and wild strawberry are evocatively nuanced with sweet earth, rosemary, mint and ginseng. Plump and full, it is balanced by penetrating acidity. Bolstering tannins remain friendly while providing a secure frame. Approachable but no need to rush.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Straightforward and predictable in style, the Caparzo 2021 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casa delivers a familiar mix of dark fruit, spice and grilled herbs that firmly anchors it within the appellation. The wine remains easy in personality and does not push beyond that established Brunello framework, favoring consistency over distinction. Produced in roughly 14,000 bottles, this single-vineyard bottling stays close to a classic but unambitious interpretation of the house style.
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.