Winemaker Notes
Iron fist in the velvet glove… packed with complexity, cherry, tobacco, roses, and mineral, yet smooth tannins undermine the ageworthy potential of this Brunello. A rising star in the region.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Pouring a pure ruby hue, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino offers up a musky cologne of wildflowers, raspberry liqueur, baby powder, polished leather, and wet stone. It is medium-bodied, with good concentration that gives way to a soft stony texture, fine-grained tannins, and fresh acidity. Notes of blood orange, red cherry, boysenberry, and crushed rocks are followed by a delicate and pleasant saline note that lingers with a mouthwatering effect. This elegantly balanced wine is drinking well in its youth and will deliver over the coming 15-20 years.
-
James Suckling
Aromas of raspberries, peach pits, hazelnuts, white truffles and some praline. It’s full-bodied with very fine, creamy tannins that caress the fruit. Beautifully integrated with fantastic drinkability and a long, silky finish. Drink or hold.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made with certified organic fruit, the Salicutti 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Piaggione opens to a light ruby color with pretty color saturation and an elegantly lean appearance. This is exactly what you want to see in a vibrant, young Brunello. I would say that the aromas are textbook as well, in a very positive manner. The bouquet opens to fragrant rose and wild cherry. You get so much varietal character here with background tones of licorice, crushed stone and candied orange peel. There is some tannic firmness, but this will soften with time. This beautiful wine should fully embrace more cellar aging. The Piaggione site is characterized by rocky schistous galestro soils. This is a production of 6,450 bottles and 100 magnums.
-
Wine Spectator
An elegant red hallmarked by rose hip, strawberry, cherry and mineral flavors, with a bracing structure that sets the pace and drives the long, resonant finish. Overall, this is balanced, complex and long, with fine potential for aging. Best from 2025 through 2045.
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.