Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Brick and dried-cherry aromas with some mushroom and earth. It’s full-bodied with layers of tannins. Bark and ripe berries, but fresh and in-check.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Only made in the best years, the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva PS is a phenomenal achievement. The wine was produced in 2006, 2007, 2010 and will also be released in 2012 and 2015. Fruit is sourced from across a five-hectare vineyard in the northern part of the appellation, but only 1,500 bottles are made using the very best fruit. This is an incredible wine that shows a promising evolution in the glass. The bouquet is fluid and graceful with a very precise and focused delivery. Dark fruit is contrasted against pressed rose, smoked spice and crushed graphite. The finish is silky and very long. Attractive tones of savory smoked meat appear at the very end.
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Wine Spectator
Linear in profile, but also dense and focused, with black cherry, black currant, tobacco, licorice and leather flavors permeating the structure. Muscular tannins and leafy eucalyptus notes ride the finish hard, but this red shows balance overall. Best from 2018 through 2035.
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.