Winemaker Notes
Ideal companion of roasted and stewed meat, game and mature cheese.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A seductive style, featuring fragrant floral, raspberry, tobacco and mineral aromas and flavors. Firm tannins sweep in on the finish, which is tight and unyielding now. It's all there, just needs time. Best from 2013 through 2025. 3,750 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino is an attractive entry-level wine. Dark red berries, crushed flowers, licorice and mint are some of the nuances that emerge from this fleshy, mid-weight offering. The aromas and flavors are decidedly on the ripe side of the spectrum in the racy 2006, but the intensity of the fruit covers the tannins nicely, making this an attractive wine for near-term pleasure. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2021.
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.