Winemaker Notes
Red meat, oven baked cacciagione, aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Incredibly fresh aromas here with spiced red cherries and boysenberries, as well as wood and new leather. The palate has a deliciously succulent core of fresh red-fruit flavor and tannins that hold the finish in great shape. Drink over the next six years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Ripe al Convento reveals attractive, floral red fruits in a layered, elegant style backed up with lovely density and richness. Mint, flowers and red berries linger on the delicate, silky finish. This mid-weight, refined Brunello is one of the most complete and beautiful wines I have ever tasted from Castelgiocondo. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024.
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Wine Enthusiast
Beautifully intense and generous. this Riserva Brunello from Frescobaldi’s Castelgioconda estate boasts a modern, determined style. Aromas here include black cherry, chocolate, tobacco and spice. In the mouth, this wine is rich, smooth and very persistent.
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Wine Spectator
This red is ultra firm, yet dense with cherry and plum flavors, augmented by wild herbs and black pepper. Stretched taut and sinewy in texture, but shows character and length, despite the astringent finish. Be patient. Best from 2014 through 2026. 175 cases imported.
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.