Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Complex aromas of rose, blackberry, blueberry and dark chocolate. Full-bodied, with wonderfully velvety tannins and focused, juicy, rich fruit. Long and intense. The finish shows berry, tobacco, toasty oak, berry and chocolate. Goes on and on. One of the wines of the vintage. Best after 2011. 1,890 cases made.
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James Suckling
Aromas of beef stock and hung meat with dried tomato, balsamic, earth and an overall, very savory attitude. Some dried plums here, too. This is very complex. The palate has a succulent and fresh core of black cherries and plums, framed in layers of savory earth and meat flavors. The tannins unfurl majestically into the finish. Drink this now and for a decade, without question.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino is simply gorgeous in the way all of its elements come together. It’s hard to know where to start with this wine. Smoke, scorched earth, black cherries and wild herbs are all melded seamlessly in a Brunello loaded with flavor, personality and sheer character. The wine possesses formidable concentration and phenomenal length, with lingering notes of sweetness that round out the close. Uccelliera’s Brunello was impressive from cask, and it is just as impressive now that it is in bottle. Readers who have the opportunity to taste the wine at this young stage should not hesitate although a few years are needed before it blossoms fully. Simply put, this is the finest wine I have tasted from Andrea Cortonesi. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2024.
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Wine Enthusiast
This is among our favorite 2004 Brunellos. Winemaker Andrea Cortonesi who once said, "the best irrigation is sweat," has worked hard to craft this plush, modern and penetrating wine. It boasts a deep, dark concentration and a very beautiful bouquet of luscious blackberries, spice, black mineral and cola. It’s round and supple and shines simpatico.
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.