Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Lots of smoke, ash and dried-flower aromas to the ripe fruit and richness that follow through to a full body, intense and richly ripe tannins and a long, flavorful finish. A wine with lots of tannins and fruit to age for a long time. Try in 2021.
-
Wine Spectator
A lush, velvety texture signals this fruity red, featuring compelling cherry, strawberry and violet flavors. Lively and fresh, with dusty tannins melding with the vivid acidity and rich fruit on the lingering aftertaste. Very pure and alluring, this is enjoyable now with decanting. Drink now through 2038.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is a beautiful wine that is endowed with an impressive sense of depth and solid inner power or momentum. The 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva le Lucére takes a few minutes longer to open in the glass, but once it does it puts on quite a display. This is a darkly saturated expression with a full-bodied approach that displays both rich textural fiber and integrated tannic structure. Aromas include black cherry, plum, spice and tar. There is a point of fruity sweetness in the mouth that only adds to an overall impression of volume and power.
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.