Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wonderful aromas of salt, savory dried meat and red fruits. Bacon too. This is full body, with chewy tannins and a long and intense finish. It's like a tightly knit ball of cashmere thread. Superb. Made from four hectares of vineyards. Better in 2018.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and juicy, boasting flavors of cherry, raspberry, spice and tobacco, accented by an iron note. This stays taut and focused on the finish. Racy and balanced. Best from 2019 through 2035.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino opens to savory tones of dark spice, dried cherry, grilled herb and cola. The wine sees 36 months in oak and although you feel the toast and the savory spice, the wood feels well integrated even at this young stage in the wine's life. Tight tannins, bright acidity, generous fruit flavors and youthful astringency characterize the mouthfeel. This Brunello needs a few more years of steady cellar aging in order to find its footing. The 2010 vintage delivers both power and elegance.
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.