Winemaker Notes
Bright ruby red, tending to garnet with aging. Bouquets of cherry, plum and spices. Full bodied , lively acidity with flavors of red fruits. Fresh and long aftertaste. Long aging potential wine.
An ideal match with grilled or stewed red meat and seasoned cheeses
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Martoccia's 2015 Brunello di Montalcino brings forth some of the warmer characteristics of the vintage, thanks to its earthy and spicy aromas that lift gently from the bouquet. A second wave of plummy dark fruit and dried cherry is quick to follow. This wine would be a pleasant pairing with venison sausages now, but it's probably better to wait: This edition offers a good balance between fruit and oak, and although the tannins are tight, they should carry the wine forward over the next five years of aging.
-
James Suckling
Rich and layered with ripe tannins and chocolate and walnut character. Full body and layers of fruit. Lots of fruit and structure.
-
Wine Spectator
Black cherry, black currant, earth and forest floor aromas and flavors mark this brooding red. A dense swath of tannins joins the fray on the finish, leaving a pleasantly astringent feel.
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.