Winemaker Notes
Ruby red color with garnet notes. Intense, concentrated nose of black cherries, wild berries and vanilla. On the palate it is rich, full bodied, quite tannic in youth, soft and persistent.
Perfect with roasted white or red meat, poultry, game and aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Dark red/magenta-hued, the 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino is deep with aromas of kirsch, cedar, polished leather, and toasted sage. Full-bodied and approachable, it's warming with ripe, plush tannins and retains very good freshness that holds it together. It's a very successful vintage for this wine, which should drink well over the coming 10-12 years.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Showing a velvety dark and enriched appearance, the La Poderina 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is packed tight with dark fruits, baked blackberry and sweet tobacco. The bouquet delivers a lot of intensity. Indeed, the wine is rather streamlined in terms of texture, with medium length that is pushed along nicely thanks to the natural freshness of the Sangiovese grape. That acidity is key in a wine such as this; it carries a little extra concentration and oak spice.
-
James Suckling
Candied-cherry and orange aromas with a hint of cedar follow through to a medium body with tight and lightly chewy tannins and a citrusy finish. Tight at the end. Needs to open and soften. Try after 2027.
-
Vinous
A cascade of violets and lavender give way to stone dust, crushed chalk and blackberries as the 2020 Brunello di Montalcino blossoms in the glass. Cool-toned, soft and plain, this displays sleek red and black fruits, guided by brisk acidity, yet I find myself craving more complexity. The 2020 finishes with medium length, leaving a framework of fine tannins and the resonance of sour cherry.
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.