Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Amazing aromas of crushed berries, cherries, flowers, black truffles and wet earth, turning to violets and black tea. Extremely aromatic. Full-bodied, deep and profound with fantastically strong tannins that just melt into the wine. Fantastic length and intensity. Truly great. Drinkable, but better in 2024 and onwards.
-
Decanter
Luce is the second estate (and winery) in Montalcino by the Frescobaldi family who also owns Castelgiocondo. The 2015 vintage registered weather conditions characterised by a crisp and rainy spring that provided the grapevines with the right stimuli and to develop significant water reserves in the subsoil. The excellent temperature ranges in September contributed to the perfect phenolic ripening of the grapes in this warm yet balanced vintage who gave small and sparse clusters. The wine is full of solarity with clear raspberry if not darker wild fruits, with tobacco and roasted nuts aroma and flavors. Firm acidity and grainy, velvety tannins build the full body of the wine with its great suppleness, showing only a bit warming finish.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is one of the icon bottles within the greater portfolio of Frescobaldi wines from Tuscany. The Luce della Vite 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Luce moves over the palate with power and determination (with 15.5% alcohol), imparting ripe fruit flavors of blackberry and candied cherry along the way. This wine shows deep dimension and fiber with a solid core of dark fruit. It lightens up on the palate thanks to that bright acidity and the general quality of the primary fruit flavors obtained in this happy vintage. The tannins are neatly woven into the wine's full-bodied density. This estate farms 11 hectares of Sangiovese grapes, and production in this vintage is 30,600 bottles strong.
-
Wine Spectator
Big and rich, featuring plum, black cherry, leather and earth aromas and flavors. Ripe and fruity, with dense tannins buried in the flesh. A bit monolithic, yet also fresh and long. All the components are in the right proportions. Best from 2023 through 2040.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Brunello from Tenuta Luce is ripe with aromas of black cherry, tobacco, and sweet herbs. The palate mirrors the sunny Mediterranean character of the vintage and is full-bodied, with notes of cola, cherry fruit, and dried tomato leaf. It was aged for two years in Slavonian oak barrels. The 2015 Brunello is juicy and approachable and ready to drink now or hold from 2021-2031.
The history of tenuta Luce starts in the early Nieneties when Vittorio Frescobaldi and Robert mondavi chose Montalcino, a land known for its vocation for viticulture, and decided to join their experiences and start a visionary project: to make a wine that would go beyond the borders of tradition, but without denying it. Right from the start, they were supported by their respective sons, Lamberto and Tim, both young oenologists.
The experience acquired since the Seventies with the vineyards of Merlot planted in these plots, and the knowledge of their expressive uniqueness proved to be essential. Luce, the wine from which it all began, was concieved as the harmonious meeting point between the elegance and the structure of Sangiovese, the local native varietal, and the roundness of Merlot.
Luce’s first harversts, in 1993 and 1994, were presented together in 1997, immediately stimulating curiosity and interest.
The project continued to grow, developing over the years: two acquisitions between 2001 and 2016, new vineyards, new challenges. In 2005, when the join venture with Mondavi ended, Lamberto Frescobaldi took the helm, directing the production.Other wines, over the years, joined Luce: in 1998 Lucente was presented, the second wine of Tenuta Luce. In 2003 Luce Brunello was born. Finally, with the 2015 harvest, Lux Vitis came to life.
At the core of Tenuta Luce's philosophy is the idea that wine should be the most natural expression of the lands where it is produced and the grapes from which it is obtained: the result of a perfect balance between grape variety and territory. Each human intervention takes place in a minimal and non-invasive form, with the main objective of protecting this harmony.
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.