Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The estate began making Pelagrilli in 2006, so this was its predecessor as a classic expression from them. The 2006 Brunello Di Montalcino is a bright red/garnet color, and the nose shows maturity but maintains elegance and purity, with notes of fresh fig, dried cherries, graham cracker, brown sugar, and fresh leather. The palate is fresh and showing very well today, with refined, velvety, focused tannins, refreshing acidity, and fabulous length.
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James Suckling
Aromas of cherries, mushrooms, bark and grilled cherries follow through to a full body with velvety tannins and a juicy finish. Layered and savory. Shows the ripeness of the vintage.
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Wine Spectator
An iron streak runs through the middle of this firmly structured Brunello, leading to core flavors of black cherry, tobacco and wild herbs. This stays taut and racy through the finish, but needs time to soften its tannins. Best from 2013 through 2025. 2,500 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
At this moment in its evolution, the 2006 Brunello di Montalcino is a little closed in terms of aromas. The wine shows restraint on the bouquet, but with a little coxing you can suss out notes of black fruit, plum, tar, licorice and spice. There's a petrol or resin-like note buried within. The tannins show full integration, now tasted 13 years later, but the fruity integrity and core of the wine is well-preserved, almost too well I would say at this point. It's sealed tight. Let's come back to this wine in another five to ten years.
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.