Winemaker Notes
The Riserva is produced only in vintages when certain plots show exceptional energy—greater concentration, firm acidity, and structured tannins. The selection focuses on parcels that give more structure and aging potential, making for a wine that takes longer to open but rewards patience.
Unlike Vigna i Poggi, the Riserva doesn’t aim to reflect a single place, but rather the expressive strength of the vintage. It often comes from a single vineyard in practice, but the guiding principle is selection, not origin. The result is a deeper, more austere Brunello, built to evolve over decades.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The nose is deeply umami with damp soil, underbrush, sour cherry, and balsamic vinegar drizzled over wild strawberries. Sweet wild cherries and wild strawberries on the palate get a squeeze of Cara Cara orange, then that depth that the umami delivers comes out, adding an abyss of complexity. Intense, pure fruit against grippy, forceful tannins and bright acid. There’s a lot of time left on this wine.
Cellar Selection -
Jeb Dunnuck
A deep ruby red color, the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva spent 31 months in large French oak barrels and is aromatic of kirsch, toasted baking spice, violets, anise, and sappy earth. Polished and inviting, with velvety tannins, it's a seamless and very impressive Riserva offering a long window for enjoyment, but it deserves cellaring. Bravo.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
In the bottle with the black label, the Poggio Antico 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is visibly concentrated and shows an inky dark appearance. The bouquet is also quite complex with dried spice, cinnamon and clover backed by sweet fruit and blackberry. The quality of the mouthfeel is tightly knit and intense. Make sure you choose a food pairing that can stand up to a wine with greater fruit weight such as this. Meats and dishes with truffle could work.
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Wine Spectator
Shows black currant and violet -- not your typical Brunello flavors, yet this exhibits fine harmony and drive. Iron, earth, eucalyptus and orange peel notes add detail as this glides to the lingering aftertaste. Beautifully balanced and supple. Best from 2027 through 2045.
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James Suckling
A quite overt nose with blood oranges, smashed violets and macerated raspberries. The supple palate has medium body, crisp acidity and velvety tannins wrapped in lots of fruit. Pretty volume in the finish.
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.