Winemaker Notes
#66 Jeb Dunnuck Top 100 of 2025
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a bright red color, the 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino Casanovina Montosoli shows off a very pretty side of this vintage, with notes of wild strawberries, chili flake, dried earth, orange peel, and thyme. Medium-bodied, it's elegant and mineral-driven, with angular tannins, the most linear feel in the range, and an evenly tapering finish. It is not the most obvious wine in the range, but it may very well prove to be one of the best wines from Montosoli in 2020. Drink over 2027-2047.
Rating: 97+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Le Ragnaie 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Casanovina Montosoli (with 4,400 bottles created) comes from a celebrated site on the north side of the appellation at 300 meters in elevation. Montosoli is characterized by very special shale galestro clay soils that are brittle and friable. These conditions result in extremely focused aromatic characteristics of wet stone, blue flower and blood orange. That note of violet or lavender is exceptional. The wine finishes with a salty note, and don't underestimate that firm tannic bite. Only eight Montalcino estates have access to fruit from Montosoli.
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Wine Spectator
There's density to this red, which lends a feeling of weight and power matched to lively acidity, providing tension and length. The combination is effective, leaving room for cherry, strawberry, blood orange and hibiscus flavors. Ends with sapidity and pliable tannins.
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.