Winemaker Notes
Aromas of bright red fruit, light spice, flowers. Juicy and lively, wonderful balance; tannins soft, refined.
Pair with grilled chicken, air-dried salami or wild mushroom risotto.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A fantastic Rosso, the 2021 Rosso Di Montalcino pours a concentrated ruby with a youthful purple tinge and is fresh with ripe plum, black cherry, purple flowers, and wet stone. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it reveals supple ripe, black cherry fruit, soft, ripe tannins, and a hint of turned earth. It has a youthful plushness that will benefit from a few more months in bottle, but this is a wonderful and charming wine with a friendly and generous mouthfeel and a warming finish.
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Wine & Spirits
Smoky notes and hints of vine-ripened tomato balance this wine’s rich dark-cherry flavors. It feels firm and fresh, with scents of rose petal and brushy herbs adding a touch of delicacy to the savory tones.
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.