Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby with brilliant garnet reflections, the bouquet is rich, ample and intense with notes of brushwood, berry fruit, plums, violets, spices and vanilla confirmed on the palate; luxurious structure, layered flavors and great concentration and depth, good acidity and silky, smooth tannins. Powerful and elegant.
A wonderful accompaniment to red meat, stews, complex dishes and aged cheese.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
This perfumed wine opens with layers of scents, including violet, woodland berries, new leather, forest floor and warm spices. Smooth and elegantly structured, the savory palate boasts juicy black-skinned berry, blood orange, licorice, tobacco and the barest hint of coffee bean alongside taut, fine-grained tannins. Bright acidity keeps it impeccably balanced. Drink 2026–2046.
Cellar Selection -
Decanter
Andrea Costanti believes resolutely that 2016 was a year to make a Riserva. His is confidently extracted by a skilled hand and demonstrates the formidable structure, profundity and length to ride out well over a couple of decades. Even on the nose you sense the depth as coffee, leather, wet soil and tobacco intertwine. Filling every corner of the mouth, it stretches out with a tactile chalkiness. Dark earthy nuances are brightened by blood orange and red plum. That pleasant bitter citrus peel echoes on the finish. This is commanding rather than seductive at the moment. Harvested on 1 Oct, there were 8,000 bottles produced – compared to 20,000 for Costanti’s annata bottling.
-
Wine Spectator
Packed with plum, black cherry and blackberry flavors, this solid red is a bit closed today, despite its freshness. Floral, earth, wild herb and mineral accents chime in as this follows through on the resonant finish. All the components are in the right place. Best from 2025.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is darkly saturated and quite rich; however, this classic vintage also delivers an enhanced level of sharpness and focus too. Dark cherry, plum and other black or purple fruits cede to pretty acidic freshness and a sense of tight buoyancy and vitality, which are among the best qualities of this vintage.
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.