Winemaker Notes
Intense ruby red color. On the nose it shows alluring aromas of ripe red berries and delicate spices. On the palate the full body is gratifying and persistent, without standing minerality. Remarkable tannins, soft and creamy in texture, concentration and aging potential to this wine.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino is expressive with brooding aromas of dried cherry, polished leather, shitake, and menthol. Pure, with a lovely concentration of fruit, it is medium-bodied, with fine tannins and a gorgeous arch of fresh acidity balancing it the whole way through. Through the palate, it offers notes of pure raspberry liqueur, pressed roses, blood orange, and crushed saline earth. This is a beautiful wine, with a lot of complexity and elegance. Drink 2024-2034.
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Wine Enthusiast
On the nose, aromas of cherry, blood orange, iron and sage come together to create a warm, sanguine feeling. The palate leans earthy, with notes of brick and more herbs, but the incisive astringency of dried cherries and cranberries provides balance. Acid slices through a cloud of dusty, chewy tannins.
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James Suckling
A juicy Brunello with aromas of dried flowers, blueberries, cherries and hazelnuts. It’s medium- to full-bodied, with fine-grained tannins and a creamy, inviting palate. Succulent fruit throughout. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
There is a sweet side to the Fossacolle 2018 Brunello di Montalcino with candied cherry and cinnamon stick. This is a mid-weight Brunello that opens to a dark garnet color with crimson highlights that are typical of aged Sangiovese. The bouquet is rather subdued and advanced with dried cherry, redcurrant, licorice stick, pressed rose and caramel cola. The wine's intensity is moderate, and it follows through to the palate with silky tannins and a thin, medium-long finish.
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.