Winemaker Notes
Ruby red with violet hues. Complex and elegant. The huge fruity notes as the red berry, are perfectly balanced with the spice from the oak. Wine of excellent structure, full and persistent with soft ripe tannins. The aftertaste is sapid and pleasantly fruity.
An ideal companion to red meat entrées, hearty stews and assorted cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The deep, rich red-plum nose sucks you into this powerful Brunello that has great fruit and polished, dry tannins that are beautifully in synch. Long, intense and rather complex finish. A great food wine for tonight, but this has the structure to hold for up to a decade.
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Wine Enthusiast
Earthy aromas of underbrush, tobacco leaf and grilled porcini lead the nose. The full-bodied linear palate evokes wild cherry, pomegranate and ground clove set against tightly knit tannins and fresh acidity. Drink from 2021 through 2033.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Brunello di Montalcino opens to a light garnet color and an elegant appearance. The bouquet is redolent of wild berry, cherry and red forest fruit. At the back, you get mild spice, cured tobacco and grilled rosemary. The effect is delicate and finessed. Yet the wine offers a long and polished mouthfeel with integrated tannins and acidity. These help to build power and length on the close.
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.