Winemaker Notes
This wine pairs well with beef and lamb, venison, boar, game birds and hard aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A beautiful nose of dried berries and milk chocolate follow through to a full body, with velvety tannins and a chewy finish. I would leave it for two or three years still. Beautiful balance.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino flows with the essence of black cherries, smoke, tar, licorice, French oak and violets. This dark, sensual Brunello possesses gorgeous inner perfume and an open, textured personality that makes it quite enjoyable even at this early stage. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2022.
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Wine Enthusiast
Jammy, mature notes of dark cherry and blackberry preserves open the nose of this richly opulent Brunello. Background tones include polished mineral and sweet Christmas spice with lingering accents of black pepper and crushed clove.
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Wine Spectator
This rich, spicy red delivers cherry, plum, tobacco and woodsy underbrush notes on a grainy base of tannins. Round and approachable, despite the firm structure. Best from 2014 through 2030.
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.