Winemaker Notes
Pair with pasta with meat sauce, roasted, grilled meats and medium strength cheeses.
Produced entirely from Sangiovese grapes, sourced in the estate's younger vineyards, Rosso di Montalcino is aged for 12 months in large casks before a period of bottle aging. The wood aging, although not obligatory for the production of Rosso di Montalcino, tones down the tannins typical of a young Sangiovese and gives this red wine a complexity of aroma and structure that make it a great "Young Brunello".
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
There’s plenty of nutmeg and dried-herb character in addition to redcurrants and Chinese spices. Medium body, lovely and grippy tannins and a tight finish. So well-crafted.
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Wine Spectator
Pure, fruity and elegant, featuring cherry, plum, currant and iron aromas and flavors. Well-structured, yet balanced, with a lingering, fresh aftertaste of fruit, iron and leather notes. Drink now through 2024. 16,666 cases made.
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.