Winemaker Notes
#3 Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2020
The color on the 2015 San Filippo Brunello di Montalcino Le Lucere is a ruby red with reflexes verging on garnet. The perfume is intense, fine and elegant, with notes of cherries preserved in alcohol, enriched with spices redolent of cinnamon and cloves. On the palate it explodes in all its fineness and elegance thanks to the dense and silky tannins. Excellent body that renders the flavor harmonious and persistent. Excellent nose-mouth correspondence.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Decadent aromas of ripe fruit, such as plums and peaches with black truffles and porcini mushrooms. Full body, with layers of ripe fruit and round and chewy tannins. Lots of chocolate and fresh mushroom at the finish. A thoroughly terroir-driven red.
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Wine Spectator
Effusive aromas of black currant, blueberry, violet and iron mark this expressive red. Supple and harmonious, with a firm backbone of tannins that are refined and integrated. Shows terrific length and complexity. Best from 2023 through 2043.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
San Filippo's 2015 Brunello di Montalcino le Lucére is a denser and richer wine compared to the estate's classic Brunello from the same vintage. You get a higher caliber of black fruit and rich flavors with layers of smoke, tar and sweet tobacco at the back. Most of that extra intensity is played forward to the bouquet, however, as the mouthfeel is relatively lean and snappy. This is one of the leading characteristics of Brunello. You get a medium-weight approach with the firm structure and bright acidity to make the wine feel larger and deeper than it actually is.
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.