Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Sangiovese
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Donatella Cinelli Colombini 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is silky and fine, but the wine also shows that special power and intensity that is so specific to this classic growing season. The wine's tannins, freshness and fruit flavors reach a point of harmony, and no one element overshadows the other. There is some crunch or tension on the close that underlines the quality of Sangiovese fruit harvested this year.
Rating: 95+ -
Wine Spectator
Packed with juicy cherry, strawberry and raspberry fruit flavors that are framed by rosemary, eucalyptus and tar notes. Becomes compact and firm on the finish, offering fine length. Best from 2025 through 2040.
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James Suckling
Berry and cherry aromas with some cedar and walnut undertones. Full-bodied with round and chewy tannins that are polished and pretty. Rather concentrated for a 2016 with lots going on. Needs time to soften. Try after 2024.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of camphor, oak and coconut form the nose along with whiffs of blue flower, prune and game. The prune note carries on to the austere, assertive palate, along with licorice and black olive while tightly wound, grainy tannins leave a grippy 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.