Winemaker Notes
Ruby red tending to garnet. Dry, warm, velvety, harmonious, steady body and character. Evolved that crumbles into shades of Parma violet and gladiolus, likens the humble fruits of the forest floor.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very fresh and aromatic with flowers, blueberries, dried cherries, oyster shell and seaweed. Full-bodied, tight and poised. Compressed palate. Very long and powerful yet very fine and fresh. This is getting better and better in the bottle. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Pure cherry, rose and raspberry aromas and flavors are expressive in this complex, ripe Brunello. Hints of leather, tobacco, mineral and spice lay in wait, but this is all about the fresh fruit at this stage. Very harmonious, yet with plenty of structure. Long on the finish. Best from 2017 through 2032.
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Wine Enthusiast
Rose, iris, perfumed berry, tilled soil and a whiff of menthol are just some of the aromas you'll find on this elegantly structured red. The full-bodied palate offers ripe black cherry, crushed raspberry, clove, anise and dried herb alongside youthfully austere but refined tannins. Hold for more complexity. Drink 2025–2035.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Gli Angeli shows a plump and round side to the often austere 2010 vintage. This wine is slightly more influenced by baking spice and sweet oak. It is more approachable as a result. It will appeal to those looking for a Brunello Riserva from this celebrated vintage to drink in the medium or long term. The wine is generously redolent of dark cherry, tobacco and spice. It shows yielding textural richness and a generous, opulent personality.
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.