Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
The bright cherry and strawberry flavors are shaded by coconut and vanilla notes in this powerful red. Leather, tobacco and iron accents add depth as this builds to a long, muscular finish. Best from 2020 through 2036.
-
James Suckling
A 2012 Brunello with lots of coffee and toasted-oak character as well as ripe fruit. Full body, velvety tannins and a chewy finish. Better in 2018 when it softens.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Forest floor, dark cooking spice, chopped mint, coconut and baked plum aromas lead the way on this full-bodied red. The robust juicy palate doles out black cherry, raisin, espresso, clove and anise while firm fine-grained tannins provide plenty of structure. An espresso note closes the tight finish. Drink after 2020.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Vallocchio is an elaborate Sangiovese with thick layers of dark fruit. The bouquet shifts into first gear thanks to dark cherry and dried blackberry. Second gear is marked by spice, tobacco and barbecue smoke. The high gears show oak influences with firm tannins and rich consistency. This wine needs a few more years to find balance.
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.