Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
If Montosoli is Montalcino's great cru of the north, then the area of Sesta between Castelnuovo dell'Abate and Sant’Angelo in Colle is its southern counterpart. This is where Lisini's vineyards are located. The Riserva is crafted from the finest bunches throughout their holdings, so the selection depends on vintage conditions. A true Riserva, this will take time to fully reveal its charms and has a long life ahead. The palate is compact yet beautifully fluid in texture, with an underlying freshness and tanginess of acidity. Red cherry, citrus blossom and fragrant incense flavours slowly come into focus while minerality drives the whole.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva hails from a classic vintage and reveals a carefully measured and complex set of aromas that grows and changes with fluidity the longer the wine stays in the glass. At its core, you get black fruit and plum with some spice, tar and licorice that comes thanks to the extra years this wine has aged in bottle. The intensity of the primary fruit has dimmed, but the wine is very much in play because it so accurately portrays Sangiovese during its long aging process. With this wine, you catch a pretty moment in time.
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Wine Spectator
Though lean in profile, this red features plenty of ripe strawberry, cherry, rose and sweet spice aromas and flavors. Shows tremendous energy, along with a well-integrated structure and a mouthwatering aftertaste. Best from 2021 through 2040.
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.