Winemaker Notes
Ruby red, the nose opens with strong balsamic notes, followed by clear red fruit notes (fresh cherry, wild strawberries and chinotto). The elegance on the nose is accompanied by a very precise tannic texture and freshness that gives agility to the sip which makes the wine long and persistent. The end taste has sage notes and it closes with a beautiful note of mint that makes this Brunello incredibly energetic, fine and elegant.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2015 Vigna del Lago is lifted with ripe red cherry fruit, clove, and dried roses. The palate has the most lift of the Vigna wines in this vintage, with tart red fruits, orange zest, and tomato leaf. It offers elegant and fine tannins, with vibrant acidity for the vintage.
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James Suckling
This shows focus and balance, compared to some of the other Brunellos here in this year. Full body, creamy and ripe tannins with roundness and beauty. Lovely already. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Val di Suga 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna del Lago draws its fruit from a low-lying vineyard site (at 300 meters in elevation) next to a big water reservoir. The heat of the summer sun permeates these vines, and you can feel that intensity in the wine's medium-dark appearance and its ripe fruit flavors. This release of 8,000 bottles offers an attractive level of ripeness and balanced dark fruit.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of black-skinned berry, charred earth and new leather lift out of the glass. The concentrated medium-bodied palate offers dried black cherry, tobacco, star anise and orange zest alongside austere fine-grained tannins and firm acidity.
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Wine Spectator
This succulent red combines strawberry and cherry fruit, with earth, iron and tobacco flavors. Elegant and detailed, unfolding to reveal a lingering aftertaste of red fruit, mineral and earth elements. Best from 2023 through 2038.
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Decanter
The talented Andrea Lonardi established Val di Suga's single-vineyard project in 2012. He adapts the winemaking for each in order to best express the individual terroirs. In the cool, northern reaches of Montalcino, Vigna del Lago is typically the last to ripen and lightest in body. It ages exclusively in large 50-hectolitre casks. All red fruit, floral and citrus nuances, this is buoyant, bright and exuberant and the soft tannins are seductively textured.
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.