Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Sangiovese
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Opulent aromas of cherry, plum, dried meat and orange peel with some bark and cedar. Full-bodied with firm yet polished tannins that fill mouth and carry far down the wine to the end. It’s creamy-textured and chewy. Purity and integration. Very drinkable now, but needs another two or three years to come around. Try after 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Castiglion del Bosco 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Millecento represents a happy return for a wine that we have not seen in a few years. This Riserva draws its fruit from an eight-hectare parcel with schistous galestro soils surrounded by thick forests and wildlife. Some 10,000 bottles were made. There is soft and rich cherry fruit at the core with light shadings of spice, cinnamon, tilled earth and a more sanguine tone of rust or iron ore.
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Wine Spectator
A firm structural edge keeps macerated cherry, plum and underbrush flavors defined, while a lively acidity drives them to a lingering conclusion. Fresh and shows fine tension. Best from 2024 through 2045.
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Vinous
The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Millecento Riserva of Castiglion del Bosco takes no prisoners, boasting a striking bouquet of crushed medicinal cherry and plum complemented by confectionary spices. It floods the palate with velvety textures and dark ripe fruits, offset by vibrant acids and salty tension. There’s a density and primary feel to the Millecento which, combined with its fine-grained tannin, promises years of development. Baker’s chocolate and hints of cedar linger on the long and structured finish. The 2015 Riserva spent thirty-six months in thirty hectoliter French oak barrels and another six months in porous concrete vats prior to bottling. It’s a large-scaled yet balanced effort.
Situated in the province of Siena where the renown area of "Brunello di Montalcino" is found, Castiglion del Bosco encompasses approximately 4,450 acres of land, 125 of which are vineyards with plans to plant 15 more acres. The farm is located between the historic towns of Buonconvento and Montalcino. Given the truly magnificent geographical position of the estate, perched on a hill looking down onto the surrounding valleys, exposure is optimal resulting in wines of excellent quality. These are very exciting wines, new and classic at the same time.
Castiglion del Bosco was the first to produce and bottle Brunello di Montalcino in the sixties and today represents one of the most important properties of this region. Plans are currently underway to produce new wines and expand the existing cellar. This estate prides itself on the highest level of quality combined with respect for tradition. Claudio Basla, from Altesino, also consults at Castiglion del Bosco insuring the same levels of quality that we have always enjoyed from that estate.
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.