Winemaker Notes
The color is ruby red with a slight tendency to garnet. The perfume is intense and complex, spicy, with dominant notes of Amarena cherry. The olfactory phase continues on the palate. The flavor is full, harmonious and persistent, with dense and silky tannins.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Captivating aromas of licorice, plums and cherries follow through to a medium to full body with fine, creamy tannins and a refined, textured finish. So beautiful and enjoyable now, but will age beautifully. Drink or hold.
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Decanter
Distinguishing itself from San Filippo’s Le Lucère bottling, Comunali comes from the estate’s lower plots. It brings together 50-year-old vines with newer plantings established in 2012 and 2016 to take advantage of the gentle northeast exposure. A vibrant, rather fruity nose of strawberry is accented by liquorice and spicy green peppercorn. Tannins are suede-like from the start. Purple, almost grapey fruit sports a glossy, candied sheen. Hefty but lightened by fresh acidity, while this might seem a bit naive at the moment, age could lend some wisdom.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A bit shy initially, the San Filippo 2021 Brunello di Montalcino Comunali is crisp and bright, showing a simple, transparent Sangiovese character underlined by wild berry fruit and vibrant acidity. Medium- to full-bodied in texture with greater power expressed through length rather than weight, the wine settles into elegant aromas of crushed stone, white pepper and wild rose. It feels light and streamlined on the palate with drying tannins, again driven by the lift of that bright acidity. The Comunali name reflects a blend of estate parcels across Montalcino.
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Wine Spectator
A bit shy in aromas, this red reveals savory notes of tomato leaf and juniper, along with macerated cherry, plum, iron and earth flavors. Harmonious and lingers nicely. Salty finish. Best from 2028 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.