Winemaker Notes
Ideal companion of roasted and stewed meat, game and mature cheese.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The aromas of wet earth, sliced mushroom and blueberry are very pretty. Full body, firm tannins. Structured and firm. Excellent. One of the wines of the vintage. Drink now or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino is a very beautiful wine that shows a fraction of good things to come. Very fruit-driven at the moment, it should flesh out further with time. Evident fruit underlines the warm growing conditions of this vintage. You get dark cherry, raspberry, dried strawberry and plum. The bouquet doesn't feel overripe per se, but you definitely get a taste of the warm growing season. Delve deeper, and this Brunello begins to reveal spice, herb, cola, tar and black licorice. These elements form the base of the wine's budding complexity. As nice as this wine is to drink now, I look forward to trying it five years from now.
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Wine Enthusiast
Earthy and structured, this opens with aromas suggesting underbrush, grilled porcini, sunbaked earth, wild berry and dried aromatic herb. The big, bold palate doles out layers of mature black cherry, raspberry jam, licorice, sage, tobacco and black tea. Firm, velvety tannins provide structure and finesse. Drink 2019–2029.
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Wine Spectator
Cherry, leather, wild herb and underbrush flavors highlight this juicy red. On the lean side, but the vibrant acidity keeps this focused and fresh, extending the woodsy spice and tobacco elements on the finish. Best from 2017 through 2025.
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.