Winemaker Notes
Filo di Seta Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is the result of extended aging and rigorous selection of the best barrels from the Filo di Seta Brunello di Montalcino harvest. The wine expresses the bold yet elegant character of the wilder and darker essence of the area’s cooler north-westerly microclimate.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A striking and intense specimen, the second ever Riserva release from the estate’s Filo di Seta vineyard launches with clove-studded cherry, sarsaparilla and candied orange zest. Ageing in tonneaux (mostly used) confers subtle roasted and incense accents. Broad and expansive, this delivers wet leaves and porcini mushroom to offset fruit sweetness. There is also a pleasantly puckering tartness to the acidity. Ultra suede-like in texture, with a crisp tannic bite on the backend, it rebounds with zesty citrus.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This bottle is distinguished by its black label, and the wine has not been made since 2016. It's great to see it back (albeit in a small production of 2,666 bottles). The Castello Romitorio 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Filo di Seta delivers savory barbecue spice, tarry smoke and black fruit over full-bodied, big-boned texture. However, within that brooding darkness is a complex and modern wine that remains fluid in the glass as it shifts between various fruit and oak-driven aromas. It reveals softly polished edges over a firm backbone with chalky tannins.
Rating: 97+ -
Vinous
Crushed ashen stones and rubbed sage give way to dried orange peels, hints of smoke and dried black cherries as the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Filo di Seta blossoms in the glass. It floods the palate with silken textures and ripe, citrus-laced wild berry aromas as tactile mineral tones add grip. There's a cooling acidity here that contributes a lifted and graceful feel. An air of lavender lingers over saturated tart red berry scents as it tapers off with notable length—potent yet wonderfully fresh.
Rating: 96+ -
Wine Spectator
An elegant style, with vivid acidity and a line of fine-grained tannins lending support for the strawberry, cherry, mineral and woodsy underbrush flavors. Firms up on the finish, where the lacy texture gives way to crisp tannins. There's plenty of structure, but this is more about finesse.
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.