Winemaker Notes
Brunello di Montalcino represents the heart of Poggio Antico’s production. It's the result of a balanced blend of different vineyard plots, each with its own personality. Not just a wine, but a synthesis—of altitude, exposure, soil composition, and production philosophy.
Its character stands out for solidity, depth, and integrity. It doesn't seek flamboyance, but consistency. This wine shows what it means to make Brunello at Poggio Antico, with precision, discipline, and deep respect for each vintage.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Sour cherry, rose hip, sanguine and iron aromas and flavors are the hallmarks of this ripe, energetic red. Its texture borders on viscous, buffering the pointed tannins, while the layers of flavor build to the long, flinty and stony aftertaste, which completes the profile. Best from 2027 through 2045.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Poggio Antico 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is a carefully assembled expression of Sangiovese with balanced freshness, bright fruit and big power. The wine shows a slightly austere personality with tight aromas of spice and tar that still need to soften. This is a nicely executed Brunello with silky and accessible tannins.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The high-class 2020 Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino is—true to form—a commanding showstopper. It marries finely etched garden herbs with a core of bold, dark fruit, all delivered with precision, poise, and unmistakable aristocratic grace. This is a wine that deserves a dish of equal stature: think a rosemary-crusted rack of lamb, roasted to a perfect blush and finished with a black truffle jus, accompanied by a silky parsnip purée. The dish mirrors the wine’s refinement while its earthy, savory layers echo and elevate the Brunello’s noble depth. (Tasted: February 23, 2026, San Francisco, CA))
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Decanter
An elegantly fashioned and fluid Brunello, this kicks off with scents of winter mint and tarragon. Midweight with a sour red cherry core, it expands with medicinal herbs and spice. I love the crispness of acidity and the subtle grip of velvety tannins. While Poggio Antico celebrates its first vintage with organic certification in 2020, the estate was also significantly hit by frost, which reduced yields by approximately 40%.
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James Suckling
Candied-orange, mineral, cherry and some watermelon aromas follow through to a medium body with crunchy fruit and fine tannins. Blood-orange, too. Very crisp acidity to this. A little more at the finish would take it to the next level. Attractive now and will age nicely. Drink or hold.
Nestled on the highest vineyard hill south of Montalcino, Poggio Antico spans 91 acres at an average altitude of 1,804 feet. The estate predominantly cultivates Sangiovese, with smaller plots of Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The unique calcareous and Galestro soils enhance the Sangiovese grapes, producing the complex and elegant Brunello.
Founded in 1976, Poggio is divided into four main areas, is fully certified organic, focusing on sustainable practices like green manure and permanent grassing to nurture soil health and biodiversity. Poggio Antico's vineyards, managed with meticulous care, have been divided into 15 Units of soil. These precise agricultural practices ensure each vine's optimal expression, with plot-by-plot winemaking and aging to preserve the unique characteristics of each soil unit and express the real identity.
The diversity of soils, different but always high altitudes (1,640–2,034 feet asl), different exposures, Sangiovese biotypes, separated cultivation, harvest, vinification, and aging, create a symphony that is carefully directed by a specific winemaking style where elegance, freshness, and identity of the terroir are the principles of the winery. Poggio Antico’s commitment to quality is evident in their selective harvesting and organic cultivation, aiming to create wines that truly embody the essence of the terroir.
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.