Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A restrained wine with a sleek, elegant nose of licorice, red cherries, cherry pits, Parma violets and a hint of balsamic. Precise, focused and full-bodied, it shows tension, firm yet ripe tannins, blood orange flavors, a tight yet woven palate and focused acidity. Drinkable now, but best from 2026.
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Decanter
Iacopo Mori says that the selection for Madonna delle Grazie was easy in 2021 given the high quality of grapes. It also meant that the estate was able to produce more than usual – 9,500 rather than just 8,000 bottles. It sports a stunning nose of violets, roasted chestnut, incense and allspice. The palate plunges deep with wild forest berries – it's paradoxically fresh given how long this stays in barrel. Where it distinguishes itself from the estate Brunello is in its structure. Balletically toned and chiseled, the tannins grip resolutely and demand time. But oh my, what mouthwatering salinity! Blackcurrant pops on the finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Three selections were made in this vintage that will go into the blend for the 2021 Brunello Di Montalcino Madonna Delle Grazie in final production. It is a noble and potent expression and takes on significantly more structure and potency. Here again, it retains driving energetic tension of acidity and freshness.
Barrel Sample: 95-98 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a special vineyard near the chapel that gives the wine its name, Il Marroneto’s 2021 Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie is a wine of beautiful complexity and delicacy, distinguished by an elegant savory note reminiscent of cypress trees on a warm summer day. It shows striking focus and intensity yet remains finely balanced, with a sense of richness carried by a refined, seamless texture. The tannins are softly polymerized thanks to a slow fermentation that emphasizes patience and finesse over extraction, carried out spontaneously with no temperature control. It matures in oak botti for 47 months, a regimen that shapes the wine’s depth and balance. Only 9,000 bottles were made.
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Vinous
The 2021 Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie dazzles with a beguiling display of dried strawberries, spiced blood orange, cinnamon, mint and crushed stones. It is harmonious throughout, with textures of pure silk, a subtle inner sweetness and tantalizing acidity that offsets its penetrating core of tart cherry and blackberry. The 2021 leaves a chewy sensation and an array of sweet tannins that pinch at the cheeks as an air of rosy inner florals mixes with hints of Earl Grey and spice. In 2021, Madonna delle Grazie has taken on a whole new identity, relying more on beauty than power.
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.