Winemaker Notes
Warm and pleasantly balanced wine combines power and elegance. The nose shows ripe fruit flavors of red berries, licorice and leather.
This wine goes well with rich dishes, red meat and cheese.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Earthy truffles and porcini mushrooms on the nose here. Dried herbs and leather, too. It’s full-bodied with delicious dried cherries, blackberries and mushrooms. Wonderful depth, framed by sleek, fine tannins. A little tight now. Give it a little more time. Drink from 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
La Colombina's 2015 Brunello di Montalcino takes a classic approach with a fine texture and a steady delivery of aromas that grow cautiously in intensity the longer the wine sits in the glass. This Brunello is stitched together carefully with wild and forest fruit aromas that segue to pressed blue flower, spice and light balsam herb. Released five years after the harvest, according to the Brunello appellation rules, this wine has had the time to integrate and smooth out. There are no hard edges here, and the mouthfeel is silky and polished. This is a classic expression of Brunello that ages in oak for 36 months.
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Wine Spectator
A supple, juicy version, revealing macerated cherry, sandalwood, tobacco and iron flavors. The bright acidity is matched to well-integrated tannins, giving this red a harmonious feel. Offers a fine, mouthwatering finish.
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.