Winemaker Notes
Even in Brunello, whose terroir can yield the most powerful expression of the variety, Sangiovese’s savory depths are best delivered via a shining beam of acidity, only dark and burly when bullied into such a state. Luigi Anania's wines embody the grace Sangiovese can carry when treated with respect, particularly when grown in vineyards of notable altitude like La Torre’s. The cellar methods here are tried-and-true: hand-harvested grapes ferment spontaneously in steel without temperature regulation, with pump-overs employed rather than punch-downs to ensure a gentler extraction; and the wines spend four full years in large, well-worn Slavonian oak casks with minimal racking. It’s a simple formula that yields wines of great complexity.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The organic La Torre 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is a wine of depth and dimension with plenty of red and purple berry fruits. La Torre makes Sangiovese that is aged for five years, as per the appellation guidelines, but it graciously does not have the heavy load of oak that you feel in many of its peers. The grapes ferment on the skins for up to 20 days, and the wine ages in traditional Slavonian casks. Fruit is selected from across a 4.9-hectare parcel at a cool 420 meters in elevation. A tiny 3% addition of 2021 fruit is allowed in the final blend. Production in 2020 is 15,000 bottles. I love the balance and freshness of this release. Luigi Antonio Ananìa only makes a Riserva in special years, and he might produce one in 2021.
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Vinous
The 2020 Brunello di Montalcino mixes dried black cherries and cloves with underbrush and hints of foreign spice. It splashes across the palate, juicy and lifted in style with fresh wild berry fruits and mineral tones. There's a touch of bitter clove, adding contrast as it finishes quite fresh and with admirable length. The finish reveals a bed of edgy tannins and tart blackberry that fade slowly.
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.