Winemaker Notes
Sangiovese’s high natural acidity and complex tannic structure make it an admirable ally to a range of hearty meat or game dishes. Go the traditional route with braised short ribs or Osso Bucco, but don’t be hesitant. Brunello benefits from a straightforward pairing, no artifice – as the Tuscans prefer. Bean and kale soup, papparedelle, or an aged pecorino, are resoundingly local choices.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Hot and very dry, 2012 was a vintage where location was key - and Il Marroneto's vines are situated in one of the coolest parts of Montalcino. This has a balsamic nose with tobacco and cherry, youthful in both aroma and flavour. Fine, slightly grippy tannins frame tangy cherry, dark chocolate and wood, leading to a long balsamic finish with juicy, stony acidity.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made strictly according to the Sangiovese playbook, the Il Marroneto 2012 Brunello di Montalcino shows that exacting Sangiovese precision and personality. This is Alessandro Mori's greatest talent. He takes this workhorse grape and gives it a platform to articulate its most hidden and intricate inner feelings and sentiments. This is a bright and very tight red wine that will benefit from more years to flesh out further. All those budding aromas of wild berry, licorice, cola, and blue flower are strategically in place and ready to explode in time. The wine opens to a luminous dark ruby color and a compact mouthfeel that is spicy and fresh on the close. This is an impressive annata wine that shows the personal evolution of a man and his estate.
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Wine Enthusiast
Forest floor, wild berry, new leather and balsam are some of the aromas you'll find in this bright, linear red. On the palate, firm, polished tannins support ripe red cherry, white pepper, andcrushed mint notes with a hint of black tea. It's still young and tightly wound but already boasts stunning elegance. Drink 2020–2032. Cellar Selection
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Wine Spectator
This offers a mix of strawberry and cherry fruit that is very pure, married to an elegant frame. Beautifully balanced, with refined tannins and a mineral, tobacco, and spice tinged aftertaste. Best from 2020 through 2032.
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.