Winemaker Notes
Ruby red in color with a nose of fruits and spices. Robust and persistent flavor on the palate.
Pair with red meats, game, roasts, salumi and aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Cocoa, walnuts, dark berries and ripe, spiced cherries on the nose. It’s full-bodied and delicious, with a rich and deep core of dark, ripe fruit accompanied by velvety tannins. Chocolaty finish. Drink after 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The certified organic La Rasina 2018 Brunello di Montalcino reveals a syrupy rich consistency with ripe fruit, crème de cassis and blackberry syrup. The wine feels heavy and thick to the palate, although Sangiovese's natural acidity pulls through at the end with a pinch of dry bitterness. This mid-weight wine is aged in a combination of barrique and botte, and fruit is sourced from across five hectares of vines.
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.