Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This wine usually shows a more relaxed character compared to the other bottles in this series of single-vineyard wines from Le Ragnaie. The 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Fornace draws its fruit from a vineyard located at 380 meters in elevation not too far from Mastrojanni. The site was once at the bottom of an ancient seabed, and there are round limestone rocks as a result. That theme of "roundness" is transferred to the palate, where the wine offers layers of plush and supple fruit. Like the others, it ages in large oak casks for 3.5 years and is bottled directly from the botte. Only 3,000 bottles were created. In a tasting of his cru wines, Riccardo Campinoti serves this wine last because it delivers a bigger sense of concentration and textural density (while remaining within the transparency of the house style).
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Wine Spectator
Sour cherry, strawberry and vegetal flavors ply the linear profile, with a supple texture and firm tannins underneath. This red feels balanced and should drink well over the near to medium term. Best from 2027 through 2038. 250 cases made, 50 cases imported.
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.