Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Ripe, savory and richly flavorful with plenty of sun-dried tomatoes, tapenade, ripe cherries and walnuts. Full-bodied with round, ripe tannins. Salty freshness at the end. Long and delicious. Excellent energy for the vintage.
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Wine Spectator
This is bright, juicy and packed with cherry, strawberry, floral and mineral aromas and flavors. Linear in shape and tightly wound, yet very pure, with a long, detailed aftertaste that pulls all the elements together. Best from 2021 through 2040. From Italy.
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Wine Enthusiast
Enticing scents of iris, violet, perfumed berry and cake spice mingle with whiffs of balsamic and menthol. Full in body, but boasting a weightless elegance, the palate delivers juicy wild cherry, raspberry preserve, cinnamon and licorice. Taut, polished tannins provide structure and finesse while fresh acidity keeps it balanced. Drink 2022–2032.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From the moment you put your nose into the bouquet, the 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva gives off heat, ripe fruit and power. Brunello from this warm vintage tends to be bold, muscular and emphatic, and this wine definitely supports that claim. Black cherry, prune and plum at the core are surrounded by soft oak spice and cinnamon. The Fuligni winemaking team has done its best to tame the fruit (and allow for the more delicate aromas to emerge), but this wine moves toward the bigger side of the Brunello spectrum nonetheless.
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.