Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Extremely perfumed with rose petal, blueberry, fresh mushroom and plum character. Full body, super silky tannins and a dried, slightly raisiny finish, but this is delicious and luscious. Fruit cake center palate. Immediate impact here. Drink or hold.
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Wine Enthusiast
Here's a soulful red with earthy aromas wet soil, underbrush, ripe, violet, berry, leather and a funky whiff of game. The palate presents juicy wild cherry, crushed black raspberry, white pepper, cinnamon and grilled herb alongside firm, refined tannins and bright acidity. A tobacco note closes the finish. It's already accessible but also shows staying power. Drink 2018–2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is a magnificent wine. The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is a plump and generous wine that peels off with thick aromatic layers. It offers dark cherry and blackberry with spice, leather and tobacco. There is a lot of meat on these bones. The approach is soft, enduring and immediate. I loved the 2010 Brunello Annata from this producer and the Riserva lives up to my expectations (although I did like the Annata a bit more). The mouthfeel is velvety, smooth and long. Pretty mineral notes make for a dry and elegant finish.
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Wine Spectator
A rich, round red, sporting plum, cherry, rose hip tea and tobacco flavors. Fresh, featuring a salty, minerally element that builds to a long finish. Offers fine balance, expression and complexity. Best from 2018 through 2032.
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.