San Carlo Brunello di Montalcino 2017
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Dunnuck
Jeb
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Intense ruby red with youthful hints. Fresh, ample and rewarding, characterized by spicy aromas, jammy berries, marked notes of tobacco, with pleasant hints of vanilla. Great structure. The full body embraces a noteworthy quantity of mature tannins that gradually mature in the bottle over time. Good length and finish.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine & Spirits
This small estate near Tavarnelle in Montalcino’s southwestern sector seems to fly under the radar, perhaps because the Marcucci family farms just seven acres and makes only a few thousand bottles each year. Their 2017 Brunello is a wine to track down if you can. Its fresh floral scents and bright red-cherry flavors defy the hot and dry conditions of the vintage, the wine gaining depth with air as it takes on layers of tobacco and spice. The wine’s powerful, leathery tannins will support aging, but the flavors are so lifted and graceful that it’s impossible to resist now.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Characteristically for the vintage, with no dried out or overripe qualities, the 2017 Brunello Di Montalcino pours a deeper ruby, with aromas of sun-ripened cherry, rosemary, and fresh pine. It has a full structure, with fresh ripe fruit of red plum, turned earth, and cedar. This exceptional wine handled the heat of the vintage gracefully and delivers brilliant freshness. Drink 2025-2040.
Other Vintages
2018-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spirits
Wine &
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.