Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Dark berry and bark aromas with hints of dark chocolate. Full body, soft and silky with juicy fruit and a savory finish. I love the mouthfeel and length of this wine. Drink in 2019.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made in a traditional manner with three years of aging in large Slavonian oak casks, the 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Campogiovanni is a beautifully polished and delicate wine. This vintage is also very accessible, meaning you also will be able to enjoy it in the near and medium-term. Its appearance is dark and velvety, and the bouquet opens to bold aromas of cherry and black currant. This wine also had a firmer sense of structure and texture compared to many of its peers from the vintage. This wine gives you an authentic taste of Tuscany.
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Wine Spectator
A fruity style, boasting plum, cherry and spice aromas and flavors. Well-rounded tannins provide support and accents of iron and tobacco chime in on the long finish. Shows fine overall harmony. Best from 2021 through 2035. 7,000 cases made.
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Wine Enthusiast
Earthy aromas suggesting leafy underbrush, porcini mushroom, pressed violet and charcuterie lead the nose. The full-bodied palate delivers dried Morello cherry, prune, star anise, leather and game alongside taut fine-grained tannins. Best to drink after 2023.
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.