Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
There are plenty of bass notes here, augmented by plum, licorice, spice and chocolate hints, along with cherry and floral flavors. The solid structure suggests this will age at a glacial pace, though the long aftertaste indicates a lot of future pleasure. Shows excellent balance and harmony overall. Best from 2019 through 2036.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Showing a dark garnet color and thick consistency, the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is a very beautiful expression of Sangiovese executed in a generous and opulent style. The wine reveals deep layers with black cherry, prune, spice, leather, wet earth and pressed rose. Despite the powerful approach, there is no mistaking the wine's feminine side. I am referring to the floral, dried potpourri and church incense elements that give this Brunello such distinguished grace.
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James Suckling
A firm and fresh red with lots of lemon, dried fruit and generosity. Full and firm yet bright and lively. A fun combination of structure and bright fruit to this. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
Truffle, leather, scorched earth, menthol and steeped plum aromas lead the way on this full-bodied red. The brawny palate offers dried black cherry steeped in spirits, blackberry confiture, licorice, cinnamon and mocha alongside a backbone of fine-grained tannins. You can barely detect the warmth of alcohol on the finish. Give it a few more years to fully come together. Drink 2018–2026.
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.