Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Paganelli is a phenomenal effort in this average vintage. I am amazed by the estate's ability to make a wine with this level of textural richness, depth and sheer power in 2005. This is a dark, inward Brunello loaded with black fruit, smoke, tar, menthol and a host of other dark, sensual aromas and flavors. The wine’s length and intensity are truly a marvel to behold. Like the 2003, I expect demand for the 2005 Riserva to be relatively weak given all of the interest for the 2006s and more highly-regarded vintages of the Riserva, which means this wine will almost certainly be available at favorable pricing somewhere down the line. It is a stunner. The 2005 Riserva spent 25 days on the skins and 40 months in French oak casks. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2035.
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Wine Enthusiast
Riserva Vigna Paganelli is an outstanding wine with bold chocolate and exotic spice aromas that are folded deep within the wine’s solid, succulent structure. This expression earns high marks thanks to the impressively rich and creamy feel it imparts in the mouth.
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Wine & Spirits
From the oldest estate block, planted in 1964, this is a rich Brunello with a modern feel. Long aging in French oak barrels has given a sleekness to the black cherry-scented fruit, while the tannins still maintain their youthful edge. This should be best around ten years from the vintage.
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.