Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of plum, dried meat, flower and figs. Full body, velvety and chewy tannins. So much fruit and intensity. I love the generous fruit and form to this wine. Drink in 2021.
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Wine Enthusiast
Woodland berry, forest floor, exotic spice and tobacco aromas escape the glass. It's bright and loaded with finesse, delivering crushed red cherry, juicy cranberry, cinnamon and clove framed in taut fine-grained tannins. Vibrant acidity lends exquisite balance while a star anise note closes the lingering finish. I love the classic vibe on this—it's the best offering I've had to date from this dynamic estate. Drink 2021–2038.
Cellar Selection -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Poggio San Polo 2013 Brunello di Montalcino offers bright and sweet cherry fruit that pops out with pretty intensity as soon as you lift the glass to your nose. This wine offers beautiful fruit definition and a snappy personality that sings loud and clear. So many Brunellos can taste flat and evolved, but this wine is jazzy and very lively instead. The wine is fermented in cement vats and later aged in large oak casks and tonneaux for two years. Some 50,000 bottles were made.
Rating: 93+ -
Wine & Spirits
A long, moderate growing season yielded this fresh and lively 2013. The tannins are bold and meaty, the plum and cherry flavors accented by notes of sweet spice from two years in French oak tonneaux.
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Wine Spectator
This verges on cherry liqueur flavors, along with plum, spice and chocolate notes. Modern in feel, with a direct approach, yet has a firm, dense undertow and a lingering finish. Best from 2020 through 2032.
In an effort to employ environmentally sound and sustainable agriculture, natural compost and nitrogen-rich plants have replaced the chemical treatments in the San Polo vineyards. Picturesque olive groves and a magnificent farmhouse enrich the property with genuine Tuscan charm, while the modern, underground winery and cellar provide the best environment and technology for state-of-the-art winemaking. San Polo is a beautiful estate located in the southeastern part of Montalcino at 1,300 feet above sea level overlooking the Sant’Antimo Valley and Mount Amiata. It comprises 52 acres, 40 of which are dedicated to vines. Twenty acres are currently producing Brunello di Montalcino, while the rest are dedicated to Rosso di Montalcino and IGT wines. The vineyards at San Polo were planted between 1990 and 2000 and the first wines were produced in 1997. All vineyards have been planted at high density and are sustainably farmed. Winemaking at San Polo takes a comprehensive approach of quality and sustainability. In place of chemical fertilizers, nitrogen rich cover crops are used to improve the soil. Additionally, careful bud selection and canopy management aim to reduce the incidence of molds and mildews in the vineyards. The wine cellar follows the principles of integration with the natural landscape by harnessing renewable resources to power the winery. Winemaker, Luca d'Attoma, meticulously manages the estate grown fruit and strives to keep energy consumption to a minimum during the winemaking process. The ultimate goal at San Polo is to maximize the expression of the unique hilltop terrior of Montalcino, while preserving it for future generations.
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.