Winemaker Notes
Produced with grapes grown in three different sectors of the appellation (northeast, southeast and southwest), with specific pedoclimatic features, it accurately and faithfully illustrates the classic style of Val di Suga. The different geographical locations of the vineyards make for Sangiovese grapes that complement each other, as well as managing to sketch a traditional profile. This wine holds the uncommon ability to combine expressivity, grip, generous fruit and rigour, without losing elegance. The nose is complex, with notes of crisp ripe red fruit, orange, bitter orange and slightly balsamic overtones. The well-structured palate features excellent tannic and acid definition, with a lingering, uplifting finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino is gorgeous and distinctive in its style, with a smoky perfume of incense, rose petal, tarragon, and vibrant red cherry or red raspberry. On the palate, it is medium-bodied, with refined tannins, fresh acidity, and a saline, stony mouthfeel. A lovely wine just full of graceful elegance and polish, its notes of cedar, orange zest, and fresh soil all come together seamlessly. This is an absolutely gorgeous wine for readers seeking a Burgundian aesthetic. Drink 2025-2040.
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Wine Enthusiast
The nose is a well-stocked kitchen, with coffee always ready, a decadent spice drawer and expensive balsamic, and the aromas of cherries and soil wafting in from the garden. On the palate, notes of vanilla and candied orange underscore the cherries’ juicy sweetness, while the savory notes linger as undertones, before lithe tannins and hot acid usher in a long finish.
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James Suckling
Savory cinnamon spices, cooked oranges and berries follow through to a medium- to full-bodied palate with some firm, lightly grainy tannins. Juicy and savory finish.
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Wine Spectator
A lacy red, showing aromas and flavors of sweet red berry fruit, rose, truffle, game and mineral backed by firm yet refined tannins, with a lingering finish. Approachable now with food, but will be better in a year or two. Best from 2024 through 2039.
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Decanter
For the 2018 vintage, Val di Suga has come out with a rebranding of its labels to reflect the updated approach in the vineyard and cellar. This includes a less oxidative style of Brunello that sees less time in wood and more time in bottle. The estate’s classic Brunello is, nevertheless, still a blend of its three diverse vineyard sites within Montalcino. The smoky, autumnal nose exhibits scents of rooibos tea with touches of cranberry and rosehip. Slender in shape, it's bracing in its acidity and offers a lovely sweetness of red berry fruit and florals, while light tannins provide a dainty frame. Ready to drink.
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.