Winemaker Notes
Ruby red in appearance. A fine and intense bouquet, with very marked notes of red fruit that blend with floral nuances. Very full body accompanied by tannins of great elegance that favor a long persistence on the palate and long aging.
Pair this wine alongside grilled meats, game meats, aged cheeses, and truffles.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Black cherries and flowers, such as lavender and violets on the nose. Full-bodied with firm, velvety tannins that frame the rich fruit nicely with chocolate and walnut highlights. It’s opulent for the vintage. Best for years from here.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of rose and red berry gain complexity thanks to dark-spice and leather notes. The firmly structured, linear palate features dried cherry, star anise and tobacco framed in assertive, fine-grained tannins. It's still youthfully austere, with bright acidity. Give it time to fully develop. Cellar Selection
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Jeb Dunnuck
The nose of the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino has polish, with pristine ripe cherry fruit, soft lavender perfume, and fresh earth. A more classic profile presents itself on the palate, with savory tomato leaf and orange peel, and where tannin and acidity intensify on the finish.
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.