Winemaker Notes
The flagship bottling of the estate, fruit comes from a mix of their vineyard holdings, most of which are located on the hill of Montosoli endowing this wine with a more lifted and floral character than is typical of most of Montalcino.
Brunello di Montalcino is a visibly limpid, brilliant wine, with a bright garnet color. It has an intense perfume, persistent, ample and ethereal. One can recognize scents of undergrowth, aromatic wood, berries, light vanilla and jam. To the taste the wine has an elegant harmonious body, vigorous and racy, it is dry with a lengthy aromatic persistence.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has a perfumed nose of cloves, lavender and chocolate-coated raspberries and plums. Some macadamia nut and praline. This has a full body and sleek, well knit tannins. There is elegance from layers of praline and dried raspberries. Drink after 2024.
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Wine Enthusiast
Crushed berry, wild herb and violet aromas lift out of the glass. Poised and medium bodied, the vibrant, savory palate features juicy red cherry, orange zest and star anise accompanied by taut, polished tannins. Fresh acidity keeps it tangy. Drink 2023–2028.
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Wine Spectator
A fresh and floral red, exuding red berry aromas. Elegant and vibrant, featuring strawberry, cherry, rose and mineral flavors. This is also linear and focused, gaining speed through the refined finish. Sangiovese. Best from 2024 through 2040.
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.