Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Dark-skinned berry, forest floor, pipe tobacco, new leather and balsamic notes float out of the glass. On the elegantly structured palate, taut, polished tannins and vibrant acidity frame ripe red cherry, exotic spice and aromatic herb flavors. A lingering star anise note announces the close. Impeccably balanced and loaded with class, it's still young and needs time to fully develop. Drink 2022–2037.Cellar Selection
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Wine Spectator
Charming and open, this red exudes cherry, strawberry and rose aromas and flavors. Remains elegant overall despite the firm, ripe tannins underneath. Approachable now, yet this should develop well over the next decade. Best from 2019 through 2032.
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James Suckling
Aromas of dried berries, hints of dried mushrooms and spices follow through to a medium body, ultra-fine tannins and a lovely balance and depth of fruit. Finesse here. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Simonetta Valiani's Le Chiuse shows very nice results in this vintage. The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino opens relatively quickly after being poured into the glass. It opens to soft aromas of ripe cherry and dark fruit with leather, tobacco and spice at the back. The wine is shapely, supple and shows soft contours. This is an approachable Brunello that can easily be consumed in the near term with local Tuscan dishes or oven-roasted pasta. You could wait to cellar age this wine, but why bother? It drinks very nicely just out of the gate.
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.