Winemaker Notes
Intense ruby red colour. Fruity bouquet with red berry notes. Very well structured, yet soft, long-lasting flavor with smooth, velvety tannins.
Pairs well with pasta with meat sauce, roasted, grilled meats and medium strength cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Plum and berry with some smoky bark undertones. It’s medium-bodied with delicious fruit and a crunchy finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of ripe plum, camphor and oak-driven spice waft out of the glass. The full-bodied palate features fleshy black cherry, licorice and vanilla alongside close-grained tannins.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Rosso di Montalcino delivers soft fruit, a medium dark color and extra texture. These traits come from a hot vintage that produced ripe, sweet fruit. The wine ages in small oak botte in order to lock in that pretty primary fruit. Cherry, redcurrant and baked plum rise from the bouquet.
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.