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
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Brunello Riserva is more assertive than the 2016 in its aromatics of licorice, dried black cherry, oregano, and sunbaked earth. Dried strawberry, sweet herbs, and tomato leaf have purity and concentration as well as a long finish. The tannins have a slightly more rounded feel in this warm vintage, though the wine maintains a classic sensibility. Drink 2022-2034.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Fattoria dei Barbi 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva opens to a medium dark color with lots of ruby and garnet brilliance. The fruit is selected from a 27-hectare parcel with youngish vines (20 years old, on average) in schistous galestro soils. Elevations of 400 meters above sea level ensure that the grapes are ventilated even during the hottest months of summer but also protected from cold winds in winter. This was a warm and sunny vintage, but the fruit shows spot-on ripeness with bold cherry and plum, backed by hints of lively acidity. The mouthfeel is fine and smooth with delicate mineral accents.
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Wine Spectator
Leather, earth, plum and cherry aromas and flavors are the hallmarks of this powerful red, with iron and tobacco elements emerging as this unfolds to the finish. Balanced and long, ending with an impression of sweet, ripe fruit. Best from 2025 through 2048
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.