Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby red color. Intense, complex nose with notes of dark berries, licorice and tobacco, together with ethereal, smoky sensations. On the palate it is smooth, with a great structure and balance, full of flavors, especially savory herbs and licorice. Firm tannins and a long powerful finish.
Pairs with steak, pork chops and sausages.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Dense, chewy and chocolaty with aromas of praline, hot chocolate, espresso bean, prunes, blue plums and balsamic. Full-bodied with plenty of toasty chocolate and fruit accompanied by firm, muscular tannins. This doesn’t hold back. Should calm down in a couple of years. Try after 2024.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva Poggio Abate turns things up a notch even further with amaro-like aromas of medicinal herbs, pine sap, tarry earth, and dried black cherry. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with fine tannins, and continues with more eucalyptus and plummy fruit, fine tannins, and bitter herbs. This is an intense and powerful red to drink over the next 10 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sold in a very heavy glass bottle, the La Poderina 2017 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio Abate (with 6,600 bottles made) is a chunky and dense wine with lots of dry fruit and oak. This Riserva ages barrel for 24 months, followed by another 20 months in stainless steel, so the oak has actually been dialed back a bit. However, hot-vintage flavors contribute to the spice and tobacco notes found here. The tannins are dusty and brittle.
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.