Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesReductive at first, but that soon blows off and will fade with time. What’s left is very transparent red-plum and red-cherry aromas. Hints of rhubarb and hibiscus. Tightly strung tannins suspend blood-orange and peach flavors in a hammock of gently weaving acidity. Drink from 2022.
Sunbaked earth, underbrush, leather and baked plum aromas emerge on this full-bodied red. Round and enveloping, the delicious, concentrated palate doles out juicy Morello cherry, fleshy black raspberry, licorice and baking spice alongside velvety tannins. It’s already almost accessible but will also provide years of drinking pleasure. Enjoy through 2030.
Rich, boasting fleshy black cherry, plum, earth and graphite aromas and flavors. Chunky tannins provide support as this persists through the lingering finish. Fine balance. Best from 2023 through 2042.
The Collosorbo 2015 Brunello di Montalcino immediately makes its warm-vintage DNA clear and present. I tasted this wine right after the 2018 Rosso di Montalcino from the same producer, and the fruit profile of the two wines is completely different, thus illustrating the exuberant character of the 2015 vintage against the more reserved nature of 2018. This wine is plump and soft with robust notes of candied cherry, purple plum and tangy spice. The tannins are soft and velvety, and the role of the acidity is somewhat downplayed. The wine could use a touch more freshness. However, this Brunello ultimately comes across as an immediate and approachable expression to drink in the near and medium term. Some 60,000 bottles were made.
Tenuta di Collosorbo was started in 1995 by Giovanna Ciacci from the division of her family’s estate, Tenuta di Sesta, which was founded in 1850
The Ciacci family always cultivated grapes, olives, and all types of grains. Giuseppe Ciacci bottled the estate’s first Brunello di Montalcino in 1966, the same year that the Producers Association was established and the estate’s Brunello was given a DOC label.
Nowadays, Giovanna Ciacci and her two daughters run the winery, maintaining the family crest as a tie to the past. Giovanna takes care of the general administration of the winery. Laura Sutera Sardo works as both the enologist and viticulturist. Lucia Sutera Sardo, the agronomist, is responsible for the commercial side of the winery.
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.