Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThis is a very pretty Brunello that shows fresh red cherries, strawberries, citrus, nutmeg, rose petals and cedar. Great combination of finesse and concentration. Silky tannins and chewy fruit are a winner. Full-bodied and powerful, yet agile.
The Col di Lamo 2015 Brunello di Montalcino is a standout wine that offers a great balance of dark fruit and savory spice. It is fruit-forward, but it hits all the classic Brunello selling points. It shows emphasis on the dark side of the wine (with black cherry, black currant and plum) that is very much in line with this vintage. You might get a hint of ripeness too, with some blackberry preserves and cherry confit, but despite that more overt softness, the wine fully shows the elegance of the vintage. It's a great effort for organic farming.
This offers aromas of dark-skinned berry, tilled soil and a whiff of new leather. The savory, balanced palate delivers dried black cherry, staranise and tobacco alongside firm, youthfully austere tannins. Drink after 2023
The commercial farm Col di Lamo extends up to eight hectares in the territory of Montalcino. The property owner, Giovanna Neri, graduated in Law, got her passion for wine from her father and she is actually one of the most successful and valued winemakers. One of the most fascinating aspects of Col di Lamo wines is the ability of Giovanna to spread love and respect her products in the same way as a woman, a mother, loves her son. That is how she considers her “creations”: the Red Wine of Montalcino, Brunello of Montalcino, Lamo and Eau-de-vie are the result of a winemaking process firsthand that Giovanna’s father taught her daughter. Col di Lamo’s label has been creatively studied with the aim of showing the feminine touch: the delicate profile of a woman’s face and the colours orange and green of Lamo represent the image that Giovanna decided to give to her wine cellar and to her products.
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.
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.