Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Scents of leather, truffle, ripe berry and a note of crushed blue flower slowly take shape on this full-bodied red. The firmly structured palate delivers ripe black cherry, crushed raspberry, star anise, clove, tobacco and a note of grilled herb. Youthfully austere tannins provide the framework. Drink 2019–2029. Editors' Choice
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James Suckling
A structured and linear Brunello with sliced mushroom, cedar and mahogany aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, chewy and long. Powerful and dusty. Muscular style. Better in 2016.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Molino di Sant'Antimo produced an impressive Brunello Annata Paolus in 2010, but this Riserva edition doesn't deliver the same level of clarity. The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Paolus takes a little time to get its aromatic cards in order once the bottle is open. Once it finds focus, the wine offers dark fruit aromas with plum, blackberry and dark currant. Beyond the fruit are more substantial aromas of spice and leather. The wine takes a while to rev up, but once it does it makes a lasting impression.
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.