Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby red color with garnet notes on the rim. Complex aromas of cherry, blackcurrant, plum, almond and vanilla with hints of balsamic. The aromas repeat on the palate which is smooth and balanced with added spice and a long, persistent finish. This wine is generally ready to drink soon after release and has an excellent capacity to age.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a very transparent and beautiful Brunello with black cherries and dark mushrooms on the nose and palate. Full body, round and juicy tannins that turn firm and lightly chewy at the end of the palate. Tight still. Give this two or three years to come together. Better after 2021.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Fattoria dei Barbi 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna del Fiore unfolds slowly to reveal a tight core of wild berry aromas, balsam herb and light touches of smoke and spice. This is a medium-weight expression that offers the carefully measured acidity and structure to ensure a healthy aging future ahead. Speaking of aging, Brunello is released five years after the harvest, and tertiary notes defined by cellar age are always an important characteristic of the wine. I notice that this Brunello has embraced its age with particular grace and elegance. You could wait to age it longer, or you could also enjoy this bottle in the near and medium term.
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Wine Enthusiast
Camphor, rose and new leather shape the nose along with whiffs of woodland berry and underbrush. It's full bodied and loaded with elegance, delivering mature Marasca cherry, crushed raspberry, licorice and tobacco set against firm fine-grained tannins. Drink 2023–2030.
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Wine Spectator
A bright, fresh version, delivering cherry, plum, iron and tar flavors. Features ample tannins underneath, with good acidity, and displays the balance and length to develop over the next two decades. Best from 2023 through 2040.
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Decanter
Barbi's Vigna del Fiore hails from the estate's highest vineyard at 350 metres. It is an historic site as the Cinelli Colombini family has been cultivating vines there since the 16th century. Evolving notes of green tea, leather and undergrowth are rather comforting. The palate offers good grip and bright acidity with some lingering cinnamon and ginger notes. It could do with a bit more complexity but is graceful and well-balanced.
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.