Winemaker Notes
Aromas of raspberry and cherry, backed up by notes of mint, earthy spice, and chocolate. Medium-bodied on the palate with the perfect mix of sweet fruit notes and ripe tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Mocali 2015 Brunello di Montalcino offers a robust and dark profile that is loaded tight with black cherry and plummy fruit with spice and tilled earth. Some pretty balsam herb appears as a light accent adding brightness and intensity. The tannins are tucked in there at the back, showing silky texture over a medium-weight finish.
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James Suckling
This is a ripe, decadent Brunello with dried blackberries, ash and vanilla. Full-bodied and dense with extracted tannins and tarry accents. A plush style that will soften, given time. Drink from 2026.
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Wine Spectator
Concentrated and dense, delivering black cherry, blackberry, tar and iron flavors, backed by massive tannins that leave a dusty impression on the finish. Best from 2024 through 2038.
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.