Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a jeweled ruby color, the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino benefits from a little air on opening and reveals a layered yet pure bouquet of raspberry liqueur, mocha, candied violets, and anise. Medium to full-bodied, it’s light on its feet while having outstanding concentration and length, with refined tannins and an even a spine of energetic acidity to keep it driving through the palate. A stunning vintage for Le Chiuse, this is going to have a very wide drinking window over the coming two decades.
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James Suckling
Black cherries with slate and orange peel as well as flowers on the nose. Full-bodied with very well integrated tannins that show serious structure and power. Impressive length and focus. Need three to four years to come out of its tightly wound state. From organically grown grapes. One of the best from here. Try after 2027.
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Wine Spectator
A racy, penetrating red, evoking cherry, strawberry, rose hip, orange peel, wild herb and mineral flavors, driven by bracing acidity and underscored by firm, linear tannins, showing excellent balance and length. Complex and energetic, this should develop well.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The organic Le Chiuse 2019 Brunello di Montalcino is shy to open and will require more time in your cellar before it hits its optimal drinking window. In its current stage, it shows dark fruit, smoky asphalt and wet stone. The initial impact is one of soothing darkness and aromatic concentration; however, the wine lightens up considerably on the palate with fresh acidity and fine tannins. This is a classic case of a Brunello that just needs more time to flesh out. Given its traditional and elegant personality today, it will improve tomorrow.
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Wine Enthusiast
The nose is warm, saline and metallic, with aromas of mixed soil and herbs, clay pot, red plum skin and bergamot. The palate is laden with wild cherries, while a generous dusting of salt and pepper adds a lively tension.
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.