Winemaker Notes
Opens with a beautiful core of fruit, offering notes of black cherries, tobacco leaf, and underbrush, all with a violet-tinged edge. On the palate, a distinct minerality shines through, leaving the impression of a long, savory finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Bright and packed with black cherry, blackberry, cassis, iron, tobacco and blood orange flavors, this red is ripe and well-built for the long haul. Dense, refined tannins and electric acidity keep this alive and crackling, while the fruit lingers on the extended aftertaste.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a deep red/garnet hue, the 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva is ripe and generous on the nose, with blackberries, balsamic, crushed flowers, and tarry earth. The palate is full-bodied and tightly wound, with ripe tannins, bright acidity, and orange citrus notes that drive through the long finish and keep it energetic. It should drink well with some patience. Drink 2027-2041.
-
Vinous
Depths of sour cherry blend with shavings of blood orange, minty herbs and autumnal spice as the dramatic 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva comes to life in the glass. It is nearly fleshy in feel, with bright acidity and steely mineral tones propelling its ripe wild berry fruits across the palate. This finishes with extreme length and a mentholated freshness, leaving a tart wild blueberry saturation that adds chewy depth. Despite the vintage, the 2020 comes across as classic to its core.
-
James Suckling
Cedar with red cherries, dried herbs and subtle black pepper. Medium- to full-bodied with red-fruit, cedar and dried-herb flavors. Silky tannins lead to a clean, substantial finish. Drink or hold.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Lisini 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva clearly expresses its status through greater concentration and richness. The aromatic profile leans toward black and purple fruits, with oak spice playing a more prominent role in this wine, which sees an extra year of aging. While the Ugolaia selection emphasizes brightness, this Riserva turns toward the broader, more powerful style traditionally associated with the category, closing with fresh acidity that keeps it in balance. Representing a selection of the estate’s best fruit from across its holdings, this wine was produced in just 4,000 bottles.
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.