Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of spice, bacon, smoked meat and ripe fruit follow through to a full body with round, silky tannins. Delicious finish. Sexy, opulent 2011. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino is a compelling wine that I had the opportunity to taste at intervals several hours after opening the bottle. The wine showed a long and very interesting evolution. Moments after opening the bottle, it presented very dry aromas of pressed rose petal, red currant and dusty mineral. Hours later, the wine had gone into high gear with more articulate aromas of exotic spice and crushed clove. This fast-paced evolution leads me to believe that this vintage from La Gerla will not age as long as the excellent 2010 vintage.
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Wine Spectator
Intriguing aromas of cherry, soy and Szechuan peppercorn give way to cherry and cedar flavors in this elegant red. The core of cherry builds as this persists on the 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.