Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Decanter
Pale but fresh look. Open, very expressive nose for the vintage, with wild berries, powder puff and hibiscus. Tight ripe tannins and firm structure, with lovely blackberry fruit and a hint of green walnut on the finish.
-
James Suckling
Extremely floral with rose-petal and cherry character. Walnut and mushroom undertones. Medium to full body, velvety tannins and a flavorful finish. Citrus-rind undertones. Delicious, solid and harmonious wine.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Forest floor, aromatic herb, dark spice and eucalyptus aromas come together with a floral twist. Bright and elegant, the palate shows succulent wild cherry, white pepper, star anise and chopped mint flavors. With its taut, fine-grained tannins and firm acidity, it needs time to unwind and fully develop.
Cellar Selection -
Wine & Spirits
Fuligni’s vineyards, 1,470 feet up Montalcino’s eastern slope, gave a wine with red-berry flavors that feel taut and precise despite the warm 2012 vintage. With exposure to air, notes of thyme and fennel seed emerge, along with a hint of cinnamon that warms the bright fruit flavors.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino is a dark and savory wine with a generous bouquet of meaty aromas that peel back in thick layers. At its core is a healthy dose of black fruit, but background aromas of cured meat, grilled spice and smoked bacon give the wine a unique personality. This wine shows enthusiastic readiness were it to be paired with a succulent, fire-roasted steak. The mouthfeel revealed by this Brunello from Fuligni is surprisingly dense, thick and velvety. The wine shows attractive richness on both the nose and the palate. It is ready to drink in the near or medium-term.
-
Wine Spectator
Cherry, plum, spice and tobacco flavors are the themes in this rich, grainy red, which is well-integrated, with a vibrant feel. Accents of earth and leather emerge on the 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.