Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A balanced and firm red with plum, light chocolate, walnut and spice character. Medium to full body and silky tannins. I love the flavorful finish. Drink in 2021.
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Wine Enthusiast
Enticingly fragrant, this opens with delicate scents of forest berry, underbrush, new leather and crushed purple flowers. Juicy and enveloping, the smooth, full-bodied palate presents ripe Morello cherry, raspberry preserve, licorice and chewing tobacco framed in taut fine-grained tannins. Drink 2023–2033.
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Decanter
A fascinatingly historic property, tracing its roots back to 1023. Its vineyards are to the northeast of Montalcino, in the locality of I Cottimelli. This predominately east-facing site is relatively cool, as vines take in the gentler morning sun. Woodland violets, rosehip and herbal tea aromas unfold slowly, with dark tones of strawberry, mineral and cinnamon chiming in on the palate. Powerful tannins dominate at the moment, and will need time to unwind.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Fuligni 2013 Brunello di Montalcino exhibits a dark garnet color with copper-like highlights at the rim. The wine is sophisticated and austere in character, and the fruit tones are etched and firm. All of these qualities contribute to the overall sense of finesse and pedigree presented by Fuligni. Dark cherry and dried fruit segue to mineral aromas and campfire ash. The wine maintains a somewhat serious and introspective quality throughout. This Annata Brunello shows more nuance compared to the 2012 Riserva.
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.