Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Brunello di Montalcino is surprisingly dark, rich and concentrated for this house. Violets, black cherries, minerals and licorice are some of the nuances that emerge as the wine sits in the glass. The density and richness are commendable in this vintage, and the wine’s overall balance is outstanding. Though delicious today, the 2005 could use another few years in bottle. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2022.
Fattoria dei Barbi, one of Montalcino’s historic properties, has come on strong of late. This is another fine set of wines made in a slightly updated traditional style. According to proprietor Stefano Colombini the key to the vintage was harvesting early. A 2005 Brunello, potentially a Riserva, is also aging in the cellar.
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Wine Enthusiast
Fattoria dei Barbi’s 2005 Brunello opens with a ripe, saturated ruby color and thick aromas of black cherry, tobacco, leather and a playful touch of exotic spice. The wine needs time to integrate and another three years of cellar aging should do the trick.
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James Suckling
A delicious wine now, with chocolate, berry and hints of cedar. Dried mushrooms too. Full, but a little dry. It's still outstanding.
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.