Winemaker Notes
Ugolforte is grown in the highest vineyard parcel on the San Giorgio estate, where the quality characteristics are at their most pronounced. Abundant pebble content and iron-rich minerals predominate in nutrient-poor soils, yielding wines with decisive, intense personalities, easily perceivable right from the first impressions of the bouquet. Maceration on the skins lasts more than 40 days, followed by nearly four years’ of maturation in large 30hl oak ovals. The acidity, classic to the area’s soils, bolsters the palate through its entire length, complemented by a dense, well-balanced suite of tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Stitched with cherry, strawberry, iron and tobacco flavors, this round red is intense and elegant, with a dense matrix of tannins and vibrant acidity lending support as this cruises to a long, detailed aftertaste. A harmonious wine that should develop well. Best from 2026 through 2043.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Displaying a bright youthful red color, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva is open and pure with ripe aromas of candied strawberries, pressed roses, sweet licorice, and pine. Approachable and medium-bodied, it’s ripe through the palate without being weighted, with sweet tannins, and it retains lovely freshness, floating off the palate with a tapered finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
A lively, verdant nose of Mission fig, rose petals, tea leaf, blood orange peel and herbs sets up well a palate that opens with raspberries, more figs and candied orange peel, but finishes with dark chocolate, mint and espresso. Tannins are polished and round.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I'm pretty sure this is my first encounter with a Riserva from Tenuta San Giorgio. The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Ugolforte Riserva shows a whole different level of intensity with dried cherry, raspberry jam, redcurrant and Red Delicious apple. The wine is very generous and packed tight in terms of flavors. The tannins are fine and chalky but definitely on the more accessible side of the spectrum for a Brunello Riserva. The acidity is not especially racy, and I suggest a medium-term drinking window as a result.
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.