Winemaker Notes
Intense and deep ruby red. On the nose, the wine is ehereal, deep, well balanced, and persistent with fruity and spicy notes. Elegant, soft, round and velvety in the mouth.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Lots of dried fruits here, almost raisins, with hints of flowers. Full body, with chewy and round tannins and juicy fruit. Intense finish. Muscular. Need two or three years for the tannins to soften. Made from biodynamic grapes.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Brunello di Montalcino is beautiful. A large-scaled, opulent wine, the 2007 captures the personality of the vintage while retaining fabulous balance and proportion. Layers of dark fruit, mocha, spices and new leather build effortlessly to the huge, palate staining finish. This is a fabulous showing. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025.
Rating: 94+ -
Wine Enthusiast
Smoky overtones of barbecue and pipe tobacco fill in the background and provide a platform for all the busy cherry and ripe berry notes presented at the front of the nose. Dark, thick, inky concentration. It’s a big, bold style with loads of savory spice, black pepper and smoked bacon. Drink after 2015.
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.