Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Aromas of walnuts and dark berries with hints of flowers and smoked meat. Full body, with chewy tannins and delicious fruit. This is a wine that needs another year or two but it's already so delicious.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The estate’s 2008 Brunello di Montalcino Campo del Drago is materially more interesting and complex than the straight bottling. Freshly cut flowers, tobacco, mint, dark raspberries and smoke aromas jump from the glass as this vibrant, beautifully delineated wine shows off its class. The 2008 impresses for its vibrancy, nuance and detail. It can be enjoyed upon release, although the firm tannins require some aeration to soften. This is a terrific showing from Castiglion del Bosco and a major step up from the straight bottling. The 2008 spent 28 months in French oak barrels. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2020.
-
Wine Spectator
A rich, muscular style, with vanilla-tinged cherry and plum flavors. The tannins are dense and unrelenting now, around a core of sweet fruit and ample spice on the finish. For fans of the modern style. Best from 2016 through 2030.
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.