Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is a soft, delicate and succulent red with dried strawberry, walnut and light cream aromas and flavors. Full body, polished tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Subtle and gorgeous. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Here's a pretty, ruby-colored Sangiovese from the heart of southern Tuscany. The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino shows a lot of purity and red fruit intensity with wild berry and dried cherries in pole position. The wine offers a good sense of depth and balance thanks to those warmer notes of light tobacco and spice that add complexity in a subtle and lasting way. This Brunello is also distinguished by the mouthfeel that is tonic and bright without feeling too ripe or thick. This is a silky and elegant wine with a medium finish.
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.