Winemaker Notes
Intense, vivid ruby–red color with aromas of red and black berries, maraschino cherry and eucalyptus. The aromas repeat on the palate with added hints of licorice and tobacco. Tannins are firm and tightly woven and the juicy fruit is refreshed by a lively acidity that leads to a long, persistent finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Fattoria dei Barbi strikes a terrific balance between elegance and sheer muscle in the 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. This Riserva is distinguished by dark fruit and savory tones of toasted clove, cedar, campfire ash, leather, tobacco and smoked bacon. Those smoky flavors are expertly woven into the thick fiber of this well-structured wine. They may not appeal to everyone, and indeed this wine offers a higher level of aromatic intensity compared to many of its peers, but I quite like it. Some winter nights call for a robust Brunello to pair with grilled meat cooked over an open flame as snowflakes fall gently outside. This wine completes that pretty picture.
-
James Suckling
A succulent red with plum, cherry, chocolate and cookie character. Some walnut and burnt-orange undertones. Full-bodied, layered and delicious. Chewy and intense at the end. Give it a couple years to soften.
-
Wine Spectator
A dense, muscular red, this sports black cherry, plum, leather, tobacco and tar flavors. There is requisite fruit to offset the gruff tannins, with a long aftertaste of fruit, savory and mineral. Best from 2023 through 2042.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Underbrush, blue-flower, new leather and dark spice aromas form the nose. The lithe, linear palate offers dried cherry, tobacco and star anise alongside polished tannins and firm acidity.
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.