Winemaker Notes
Limpid color, ruby red with garnet highlights; intense aromas, persistent, notes of undergrowth and small red fruits, light vanilla and jam; on the palate elegant and well-orchestrated body with long finish; tannins are sof and ripe.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
An engaging bouquet of red fruit, followed by floral and spicy notes. The dense texture with unintrusive tannins is captivatingly dynamic on the palate. Generous pulp provides a sense of enjoyment through to the long finish. Gianni Pignattai's six hectares, divided into five plots at altitudes of 350 to 550 metres above sea level, have different and complementary soils covering every cardinal point of the denomination.
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Wine Enthusiast
The spicy, peppery, lively nose pops with citrus, salt, and just barely ripe blackberries. On the palate, that blackberry element is framed by blood orange, salt, and mocha, but the foundation is crafted of damp earth. Towering tannins stand strong in the face of electric acid, like trees in a thunderstorm, for a remarkably athletic, lively expression of Brunello.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Brunello Di Montalcino is a youthful, saturated red color and packs in layered complexity with pure notes of black cherries, scorched earth, rosemary, sage, menthol, and crushed flowers. Full-bodied, it expands with plush tannins, balanced underlying acidity, and sustained length. It’s got a lot of underlying power and should only improve with another few years in bottle if stored properly.
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James Suckling
Aromatic profile of raspberries, cranberries, cedar and forest floor. Medium- to full-bodied with powdery tannins and lively acidity. It’s firm, almost chewy, yet full of fleshy fruit, finishing with mineral tension. Better after 2027.
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.