Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Bright and vivid with crushed raspberries and orange peel on the nose. Full body, tight and solid tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Pretty austerity. Better in 2019 when the tannins soften.
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Wine Spectator
Rose, strawberry, cherry and black pepper aromas and flavors are the highlights of this red. The unyielding structure provides support, surrounded by a lush texture. Fine length. Best from 2020 through 2033.
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Decanter
Appealing nose with red cherry and floral notes; perhaps a little less imposing on the palate, but this is a charming, easy-going style, without the intensity and power of some.
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Wine Enthusiast
Red berry, toast and black spice aromas lead the nose, accented by whiffs of espresso. The palate offers licorice, clove, dried cherry and vanilla notes, while a backbone of fine-grained tannins provides support.
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.