Montalcino Previews 2025: Brunello 2021, Brunello Riserva 2020, Rosso and older vintages

Montalcino morning

Thirty-eight years after first visiting Montalcino it was a phrase articulated by Canalicchio di Sopra’s Francesco Ripaccioli that helped to explain the true essence of the place. “Born here by chance, growing here by choice” were words to truth spoken for anyone who has vested a resolute interest in Tuscany’s most talked about hilltop village. For Capaccioli, consciousness is not something that happens incidentally or by accident, intention determines outcome and making wine in Montalcino has never been a pursuit for the timorous. Capaccioli’s ideology is expressive of his deep sense of belonging to a place and in his endeavours he is far from acting alone. The modern day story of Montalcino may only officially date back just shy of 60 years but roots run centuries deep and the current generation’s commitment to quality and community is taking the Brunello and Rosso (with smatterings of Sant’Antimo and Moscadello) to another level. Three examples amongst many can be found through the work of Tommaso Squarcia at Castello Tricerchi, Valeria Vittori at Il Molino di Sant’Antimo and Ilaria Martini with her partner Michael Peter Motiu at San Guglielmo. This group of young next generation producers have chosen to activate the living embodiment of the phrase voiced by their passionate peer. Nato qui per caso, cresciuto qui per scelta does well to define all that Montalcino was yesterday, continues to be today and surely will become tomorrow.

Francesco Ripaccioli, Canalicchio di Sopra

Annual visits to Montalcino are filled with vintage intelligence and journalists scoop up this information, Godello included. Vintage matters are no doubt important and yet each year the word Vigna seems to increasingly dominate the word count. Just 10 years ago the mix and juxtaposition of Brunello and Riserva was the thing – Today Vigna is the great foil for the classic Brunello bottling and it sure feels like Riserva’s status is decreasing, or perhaps altering in meaning. For more and more producers making a wine of place now comes before thoughts of producing wines of a vintage. “The wine of the vintage has to be a message to the market,” explains Ripaccioli, “and that is the Riserva – After 20 years a consumer will recognize it as a wine from the vintage it came from.” At the peak of Cupano’s elevation is the Cardetta Camigliano, “the road to the sea,” running through the vineyard. The road was the shore of the ancient river and thus the rocky disposition. Beginning with the 2022 vintage Cupano winemaker Andrea Polidoro decided to eliminate Riserva and instead made the choice to begin producing a new sangiovese from the rockiest vineyard. “I think it (Riserva) is a useless category,” insists Polidoro. “Just an excuse to take a Brunello and double the price.” What will this new wine be called? No answer as of yet, but Cupano di Cupano does have a nice ring to it.

The AIS Siena Sommeliers

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

So what about 2021? Perhaps a season of many characteristics shared with that of 2015. That said it was 2001 the last time there was a vintage with this combination of April frost, high quality fruit and ultimately balance. At Camigliano, lower production was the result of, if not quite a catastrophe due to the April frost. “A natural selection” says winemaker Sergio Cantini, with full yields in the upper blocks and 90 percent loss down below. In the end total production was 170,000 bottles as compared to a normal amount of 200,000. For Valeria Vittori at Il Molino di Sant’Antimo, the loss was 40 percent.

More of a “balanced vintage,” says Frescobaldi agronomist and winemaker Davide Bozzon, with a longer harvest from mid-September through to the early days of October. You might be tempted to compare 2021 with 2001 though they are assuredly different eras and it’s worth mentioning that Camigliano did away with barriques between 2005 and 2010. Since then the medium of choice has been 60 hL casks of mixed origin and so wines today are vastly different to those made in the early 2000s. At Argiano it was 2015 when the barriques were out and the large Botti in. La Fortuna lost nearly 40 percent of production to the ’21 frost, a bit less at the estate vineyard to the northeast while the 1997 planted Castelnouvo dell’Abate vineyard suffered a harsher fate. Similarly in 2020 though not quite to the same extent and from which Angelo Zannoni made the unique decision to de-classify some Brunello and create a “Late-Release” Rosso di Montalcino. “For terroir (nerds) and the Montréal market.” As for barrels, Zannoni makes use of his 27 hL casks for 10-15 years. Asked what he does with them after that he says “break then down, make a fire and cook a bistecca.”

With AIS Siena Sommelier Angela de Nardis and Le Chiuse

Banfi’s Chief Agronomist Gianni Savelli, Winemaker Matteo Bagnoli and Director Ridolfo Maralli explain the course of weather and action for the 2021 season. The frost of April 7th and 8th affected the lowest vineyards below 100m of elevation but most of the vines are above the frost line and so overall the yields were reduced by a mere 15-20 percent. The end of July and beginning of August saw heat spikes to peaks of more than 40 degrees and irrigation was used, then stopped after Ferragosto to avoid problems that might occur during veraison. Water does not reopen the vines from their shutdown because when temps are high the plants “valves” are closed and they will not absorb moisture because the water evaporates before that can happen.

Only short rains came in September, typical for Tuscany. To slow down sugar maturation the first thing was irrigation and the second a removal of the apical leaves. The bunches take 120 days but the leaves can be as short as 60 days to develop sugars so you do what you can to reduce the photosynthesis of the plants. Also to reduce alcohol by as much as one percent, though the colour stability becomes questionable. The team has figured out that reducing the yields to three or four tonnes per hectare brought lots of sugars, but not necessarily the best quality. In the end sangiovese is the most resilient variety and they are no longer looking for concentration, muscle and colour. Better to think in terms of say nebbiolo and not cabernet sauvignon. Banfi’s first selection goes to Col di Sasso, the second to Rosso di Montalcino. The third gets sorted in the winery, also using an optical sorter for Brunello di Montalcino.

Montalcino, September 2025

A look at vintages from current Rosso to future Brunello

Harvest 2023 intel from Biondi-Santi informs that here was 420 mm rain from October 22nd through February 23rd, most of it in the early winter, including snowfall. Frost came on April 6th, along with 32 rainy days out of 45 from May 3rd to June 14th, including a hail event on May 25th. The amount was 235 mm of total rain. More than 5mm on average every day, or an actual average of eight mm each day it rained, with the highest concentration right at full flowering. “In 25 years this is something I’ve never seen,” tells Biondi-Santi Director of Winemaking Federico Radi, but as they say, “quando piove sotto gli alberi non piove,” when it rains it doesn’t rain under the trees, or use an umbrella. Another hailstorm occurred on August 17th and 88 mm of rain fell in August. Harvest lasted 21 days, from September 13th to October 10th, with rainy days on September 14th, and the 21st to the 23rd. Harvest was longer than normal, with relatively stable weather during picking days.

There is no easy way to spell or say it but 2023 will always be known as the Peronospora vintage. The rainfall in mid-May through mid-June wreaked havoc on the vines through an unprecedented attack by the genus of oomycete plant pathogens, often called “water molds” that cause severe downy mildew diseases. The May-June deluge fostered the pathogens, often bypassing the leaves, heading straight to the budding fruit, in many cases attacking both simultaneously. In 2023 Canalicchio di Sopra blended the fruit from all three single vineyards into the Brunello. The loss was 65 percent and as a result no Cru, Vigna or Riserva were made. For more on the vintage read Godello’s Benvenuto Brunello report from the 2023 edition.

Masterclass with Gabriele Goreli MW

As for 2024, it was as challenging a vintage as they come, first from a rainy Spring, followed by a dry summer and into September with eight days of rain. Was hard to choose when to harvest and the overall weather posed a credible threat to organic agriculture. Stringent selection of grapes was necessary with variable ripenesses all over the vineyard map. The most variability came from fruit in the youngest vineyards and also those vines growing in the sandiest soils. Fourth generation Capanna winemaker Amedeo Cencioni explains that neither 2023 nor 2024 were vintages to put sangiovese into any new wood. For the most part the ’24s will be lighter wines, that much we know and barrel tastings at more than 20 estates confirm this prospect. That said the average alcohol will be in and around 13.5 percent and the most drinkable of all Montalcino wines will be beautiful.

At Cupano Andrea Polidoro speaks to their location as “the most Mediterranean part of Montalcino. For me it looks like Ireland – Compared to the Maremma.” Many agronomists are converting their vineyards from Cordone Speronato to Guyot and Polidoro has well considered his own responses to climate change, including ceasing the practice of vine topping in 2022. The change was nearly immediate with less alcohol development being the noted result. After a 2022 experiment Andrea did indeed convert the 2013 planted vineyard in 2023. “The bottom line is Guyot produces the most consistent yields from year to year.”

Garbriele Gorelli MW

The outlook for 2025 is arguably the most promising since 2021 and without there having been any significant frost events. The overall consensus is one of extreme positivity and that includes a high quantity of fruit. A rainy Spring beget a fresh July, followed by not just a warm but caldissimo days beginning in mid-August. Also some rain and therefore humidity but nothing overly detrimental to the plants and ripeness continued along a measured path. Sugars developed into moderately elevated ripeness at the end of the month, comfortably controlled by day for night temperature excursions well into September. The expansion and contraction of the skins created the requiem for gentle extractions and carefully executed pumpovers to nurture ’25’s tender sangiovese fruit.

At Capanna an experimental technique began in 2016 to be employed during fruit set whereby some basal leaves are removed, resulting in important actions for the fruit and vine. First to encourage a toughness in the developing skins, second to promote self-fortification during a stressful moment and third to elevate the poly-phenolic properties, acidity and also to promote a looser or less tight structure in the bunches. Ultimately to avoid disease pressure and equip the bunches for the rest of the growing season.

More harvest intel for the 2019 and 2020 vintages

Weather station data and interpretation reminds of higher rainfall in the 2019 Spring with a few further spikes in August and September. A total average of 400 mm across Biondi-Santi’s vineyards fell from April through September. After the rains of August 31 through to September 2nd the balancing of atmospheric conditions during a dry two weeks created ideal ripening conditions between September 10th and 15th. Harvest of 15 days lasted between the 14th and October 1st, save for a pause between the 22nd and 24th because of 50 mm of rain.

Harvest 2020 saw a 91 percent higher monthly minimum February average temperature than the norm from 1981-2010 and a monthly maximum February average temperature 26 percent higher than that of the same 30 year period. On the 26th of March a snowfall caused some damage to young buds in the vineyard. Average rainfall of 280 mm from April through September (230-320), the most at Greppo, least at Pievecchia. “A vintage of climate delicantenza,” is how it is described by Federico Radi, slowly, incrementally getting warmer, an indication of relative similar maximum average temperatures as compared to the previous 40 years. Then rains in August worked towards rebalancing the physiological state of the vines after a stressful Summer. Harvest was 10-plus days, from the 9th to the 21st of September, with rains at the end after picking was finished, including 68 mm on the 25th. “Easier than 2021,” tells Podere Brizio’s agronomist Lorenzo Bernini, “and more difficult than 2019. The most normal vintage in recent memory.” In other words, somewhere between moderate and difficult.

September 2025 Masterclass with Gabriele Gorelli MW: Brunello di Montalcino 2020

Montalcino is essentially a 17 km square, actually 17 x 18 and a terroir of great natural drainage. One of the region’s healthiest constants is its 44 percent of woodlands and 4,400 ha of vineyards are planted within the total surface area of 24,000. Rosso di Montalcino has increased from 510 to 860 hectares with 271 estates having been assigned a total of 352 hectares, in effect from the 2024 vintage, all from existing plantings that would have been Toscana IGT to eventually become Brunello. This raises the total production potential of four million to now five and a half million bottles. The thinking is ultimately to help producers adapt to different seasons, moving the needle in one way or another, to Rosso or Brunello. The destination of fruit per appellation is therefore fluid and producer defined. All this makes for a new dynamism in producing sangiovese in Montalcino. Age of the vines for Brunello must be 10 years and yet the average is actually more like 30.

From 2020 onwards the new way to approach and categorize Montalcino vintages is through the Brunello Forma. The new system replaces the old star ratings with three descriptive words to sketch each vintage. For 2025 the rubric is composed of “Captivating. Bright. Succulent.” Forma refers to the shape or fitness of a vintage, formulated through various studies, including weather data elaboration, bottle samples analyses and tastings by eight international MWs one month ahead of Benvenuto Brunello. The workgroup is led by Italian Masters of Wine Gabriele Gorelli and Andrea Lonardi. There have been 39 weather stations, owned or shared by wineries installed since 2019. Data from each individual weather station are correlated to a portion of territory, homogeneous in terms of altitude and slope exposure, occupied by a certain area of vineyards. Each single control unit is representative of a certain vineyard surface. The percentage of the surface represented, compared to the total vineyards of the denomination, is the weight that the weather station unit obtains in calculating the average of the values. In 2020, high temperatures in and around 35 degrees happened from July 20th through August 20th, followed by late August rainfall. In a nutshell, a tight window of harvest for 2020 occurred between September 12th and 20th, with worsening weather at the end of September. Here are the eight 2020 Brunello poured and tasted.

Brunello Masterclass

Aminta Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Southeast sector of Montalcino, in and around 400m of elevation, near to Castelnuovo dell’Abate off of Pietraforte with sand, silt and calcium carbonate. Also Formazione Silano, of schist, very stony and the presence of Galestro. The name Aminta is of Greek origin and means “defender” or “vindicator.” Derived from the ancient Greek word amyntor, it is also a classic name used in Italian culture and featured in the 16th-century pastoral drama Aminta by Torquato Tasso. Owned by the Cecchi family (of Chianti Classico) and this being their first Brunello vintage. Rough and tumble, chunky tannin, wood clanking through and time necessary to smooth out the details. Drink 2027-2029. Tasted September 2025

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A 50th anniversary vintage of Brunello that represents all four defined sectors of the region, with a minimum 25 plots contributing to the whole. Cutting edge technology eliminates unripe seeds in the sorting process during the first two days of fermentation. Good quality skins means 17-22 days of contact with them. Quite a savoury and crunchy time for Caparzo 2020, quick note of clove, wood still very much a factor but accessibility really beginning to take shape. Last tasted September 2025

Deeper now, into the 2020 well of fruit that feels layered and compact like compressed Galestro, held together by acidity and tannin. Truth for the interim but with time, say two, three or even four years that schist and clay will rise to the surface and begin to flake, to manifest as a Brunello that speaks in a clear vernacular for the vintage. Of the vintage, open and getable, willing to please with ultra correct style and proper generosity, though always on its own terms. Submit to its will, accept and appreciate the sentiment, await the reward. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2024

Collemattoni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Area of Sant’Angelo in Colle with some fruit also sourced in the southeast closer to Casetlnuovo dell’Abate, località Sesta. Small production, darker fruit with a sweetness of fruit doubled down by the impact of the wood. That would be 30 months in 32 hL Slavonian cask. Ready to be enjoyed by any measure. Last tasted September 2025

Should it be a surprise to find this 2020 to be as full, concentrated and appetizing as it quickly announces to be? Certainly not because fruit breadth is measurable and acidity marches along stride for stride. These are the effects of Botti aging in the most correct and commendable way, of spice and with a fine-grained tannic gait to add weight by way of freight. Solid conditioning which means longevity with very few pauses, certainly no dumb phases to await, not now, nor tomorrow and any stops along the way. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

Il Poggione Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Aged in 30 and 50 hL botti with as much dynamic fruit ability to mix and match from dozens of sangiovese blocks. Little movement in year two after release with a sweet Balsamico indicative of the vineyards’ south-central location and all the macchia that grows in the area. Distinct personality for a large production Brunello. On brand for the 2020 vintage. Last tasted September 2025

The summer was about as warm at they come but early September rains cooled the vineyards down and so a delay created an allowance to harvest at “normal” times. The Brunello comes from vines aged to a minimum of 25 years and up to 60 from across 140 hectares of estate vineyards around the hill and village of Sant’Angelo in Colle. The vineyards range in elevation from 140 to 400-plus meters and it is this mix that allows for what is arguably Montalcino’s most consistent Annata Brunello to be made, vintage in and vintage out. A season that gifts purity of red fruit with a decided pomegranate-citrus zesty character, a brightness that is a mix of estate style and the year’s input, an aromatic wave that oscillates upon a line created and always connected to the base. Finely chalky and expressive, open and a mid-term ager available to a wide range of palates. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Lambardi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

From the area of Canalicchio (di Sopra), almost a one man winery with a vineyard on the highest amount of clay (and tufo) leading to a chalky profile. Classic Brunello spiciness and a piquancy with amazing tension because of the push-pull posit tug between impressive fruit weight and the austerity of tannin. Fierce and in control, near-searing, with importance of intensity. Consistent with the 2018 by Lombardi which means for 2020 it’s a bit atypical. An emotive wine. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted September 2025

San Polo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Aging is done in 10,20 and 40 hL cask for 30 months. Showing its silken and polished style with mahogany red fruit and the scents of caramel and soy. More like caramelized plums and citrus with a mild bitterness at the finish. Hard to argue against the style being just a bit Venetian. Last tasted September 2025

A blend of the estate’s vineyards and without a doubt one of the first Brunello ‘20s you should consider getting to know. As with Rubio, Rosso and Vignamasso this is another imminently drinkable wine, an ideal sangiovese for the table without a worry that austere tannins are going to get in the way. Full and substantial with great acids and that iron meets Galestro mineral swath that runs through most of San Polo’s wines. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2024

Talenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Showing some reduction 10 months later and also an herbaceous character with the presence of essential oils. Gabriele Gorelli M.W. describes this as a “noisy” wine, translation “in a current state of unsettled behaviour,” with blood orange and ultimately umami running through. There is an unbridled sense of intensity and passion going on here. Last tasted September 2025

Reserved and rather quiet for a Talenti Annata to speak of a timely and exacting harvest pick, fruit caught right at the moment the grapes might have chosen to part from their spurs, were you to ask them when that should be. The restraint and also ideally captured acidity put this 2020 Brunello in the zone where tannic freight can rumble comfortably through and the sangiovese is therefore carried forward with a great fission of energy yet to be released. Not sure many will understand this wine in its first three years but there should be little doubt that it will age with the best of the vintage. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2024

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Oliveto P.56 2020

Marginal place at the southeast border of the appellation, few vineyards nearby and abutting Maremma across the Orcia River. Nearly a year strengthens the leathery character of the wine with liquid chalky texture, ever so slightly coarse and so very real. Only Slavonian wood used, 20 and 35 hL, with some whole bunch fermentation making for a small amount of stemminess. Truthful example off Brunello di Montalcino. Last tasted September 2025

A fine and structured Brunello from 2020, bones solid, skeletally upright and with some flesh hanging taut for longevity to exceed some previous vintages. Tart and edgy at times, dusty and fresh, sweetly volatile, a cracker sangiovese that so properly represents the southerly reaches from a less than compact, dense and concentrated vintage. A proper wine made with care, ultra correct and one to pour, teach and explain what 2020 Montalcino truly is. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Northeast Montalcino at Canalicchio

In September of 2025 Godello was joined by best travel mate Michaela Morris, Brad Royale, Julie Garton and Igor Ryjenkov MW for a Squadra Canadese journey through Montalcino. Visits were made at Camigliano, Castelgiocondo, Villa Le Prata, La Fortuna, Patrizia Cencioni, Tenute Silvio Nardi, Ruffino Greppone Mazzi, Banfi and Canalicchio di Sopra. Miha and Mihe continued with calls at L’Aietta, Argiano and Gorelli. Finally Godello made a Sunday morning drop-in with le donne at Le Potazzine. In November of 2025 Miha and Mihe resumed their check-ins at Castello Tricerchi, Podere Brizio, Capanna, Il Marroneto, Biondi-Santi, Aminta, Molino di Sant’Antimo and Franco Pacenti. Godello’s last two visits were with Poggio Landi and Giodo. Benvenuto Brunello 2025 was without question another smashing success, with thanks as always to director Andrea Machetti, Marketing and Communication Manager Carlotta Salvini, the Consorzio’s new President Giacomo Bartolommei and the sommeliers from AIS Siena. The breakdown of the 285 wines tasted and reviewed in September and November is as follows: Rosso di Montalcino DOC (45); Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021 (125); Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020 (33); Older Brunello di Montalcino (and Riserva) DOCG (71); Toscana IGT and other wines (11).

Southwest Montalcino at Argiano

Rosso di Montalcino DOC

Aminta Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2024

The 2024 vintage marks a 180 degree turn from 2023 and the challenge could not have been greater for a team still in the throes of earliest stages about learning their three distinct vineyards. The purity, vision and intonement are much clearer for a Rosso that brings the elevations of Pian Bossolino and Cantina vineyards together. More Pietraforte stoniness, less dusty character and more clarity to speak for the duality of fruit. Acidity has heightened through the positivity of its natural sweetness and 2024 will almost certainly mark the beginning of deeper understanding just six years after the purchase of the estate. Will be released sometime in 2026. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025

Argiano Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2024

The most new and unusual vintage, hot in August and rainy through September for an aromatically perfumed vintage with low alcohol at 13 point something percent. Bernardino believes it is truly a reflection of climate change, coming from the seas and their effect on storms and unusual weather patterns. He also believes Montalcino may be benefiting from this, especially if you are an estate that has the means to combat climate extremes. Argiano is blessed to have some control and so a vintage like 2024 comes out singing with fruit freshness, bright shine and exuberance. Then again there is a sneaky acid-tannin chain working as one that will se some longevity for a Rosso most people won’t imagine that to be possible. Drink 2025-2029.Tasted September 2025

Camigliano Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2024

As challenging a vintage as they come, a rainy spring, dry summer and in September eight to the days of rain. Hard to choose when to harvest and a threat to organic agriculture. Stringent selection of grapes from a harvest with variable ripenesses. Mainly and usually fruit from the youngest vineyards and also those vines growing in the sandiest soils. Easy-drinking Rosso in any case, youthful and fresh, void of tannin, dare it be said…gamay like. Fruity, pretty and with a gentle carbonic pulse. Drink this bowl of fresh cherries early and often. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted September 2025

Caparzo Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2024

Stony Rosso di Montalcino, clearly conceived for Rosso’s sake and marked by elastic tension. Early drinking proposition, as it should be, all the crisp notes played in fine tuning. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted November 2025

Caprili Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2024

Unique Rosso di Montalcino and if produced for easy drinking available to all, think again because there’s more to this 2024. Reflections of the vintage are clear and transparent but underneath there is some grip, phenolic presence and executive function by design. Feels like the extra stuffing is a matter of purpose. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted November 2025

Carpineto Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2024

Very pretty Rosso di Montalcino that when tasted in the midst of many Brunello truly stands out alone to express its appellative character. Freshness and lightness with some olive oil pastry on the palate and fine if not aggressive tannin. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted November 2025

Castello Tricerchi Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2024

Freshest of vintages for sangiovese and the most refreshing change for Montalcino, exemplified in this wide open Rosso. Like a cool and windy blue sky November day in Montalcino. Just enough chalky liquid limestone underlay below the sweetness of a natural wine’s beautiful fruit. Do not come looking for spice, by wood or otherwise, nor body neither. Piedmontazine macerating transmogrifying into aging methodology might lead you to think Langhe Nebbiolo, but sangiovese from Montalcino is the measure, truth and the performance. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2025

Fattoria dei Barbi Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2024

Youthful yet approachable Rosso di Montalcino with the stamp of 2024 and its lighter disposition. Then again there is consistently some weight and also wood to this, no different here, no matter the season. Drink 2026-2027. Tasted November 2025

Gianni Brunelli – Le Chiuse di Sotto Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2024

Rich and to be honest luxurious Rosso di Montalcino, extraordinary really for the 2024 vintage. So much for all the wines being light as a feather. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2025

Francesco Mulinari, L’Aietta

L’Aietta Rosso di Montalcino DOC Atia 2024

“Making a Rosso di Montalcino in amphora is romantic for me,” explains Francesco Mulinari, “because it comes from the land.” An amphora from the producer Tava cooked at 1200 degrees celsius, as opposed to many cured at 800, or qvevri at 600. Makes it less porous and more suitable for sangiovese and Rosso di Montalcino. Born in amphora and put straight to bottle, after six months of skin contact and maybe just 12 hours in stainless to clean and stabilize. Natural, pure, tannins extracted low and slow, verdant but not wooden and the chains are just the same. The flavour is purely and distinctly sangiovese, the wine called Atia, an Etruscan name for the god of the afterlife. A correct Rosso that both pushes the boundaries and connects the dots. Tannins dry in the end, unlike the smooth kind by wood and textural complexity is the bonus feature. Drink 2025-2028.Tasted September 2025

Patrizia Cencioni Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2024

Spices on the nose, rising tones, a struck tuning fork of red fruit reverberating until it fades out. Viscous mouthfeel and plummy with the red fruit tang. Neither high in acid nor phenolic of grip but somewhere comfortably in between. Correct, proper and solid Rosso for vintage and place. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted November 2025

Pietroso Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2024

One of the bigger and yet not more powerful of the Rosso di Montalcino while there are few that find this level of harmony and balance. Fantastic and inviting fruit profile, as Brunello or here as it is Rosso, if for the estate not the same level of structure or age-ability. That is the crux of their situation and so two things or truths are here. Drink now with pleasure and feel confident to age five years. Maybe more. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2025

Talenti Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2024

The Rosso bodes well for 2024 with its clarity, transparency and brightness. The truth spoken and delivered without pause or distraction, ready to please right now. Looking forward to the coming Brunello experience three years further down the road. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted November 2025

Aminta Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Of the six hectares planted to sangiovese at Aminta, two point seven are classified as and dedicated to Rosso di Montalcino. The ’23 yields were clearly lower because of the Peronospora vintage but what remains is fresh, ripe, well-seasoned and macchia-dusty sangiovese. Rosso is a mix of Pian Bossolino plus Cantina (at Aminta) vineyard fruit and as a factor it is the Pietraforte that gives this wine a two-thirds sandy-stony feel. No worry about pushed extraction and instead come for a restrained, respectful, stony and as it is said, proprio Rosso. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2025

Biondi-Santi Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

The hardest working Montalcino team making use of the most empirical data is sure to deliver a Rosso so distinctly Biondi-Santi, torch in hand abiding to all that has come before. The perfumes are the proof, namely of agriculture and because of the most difficult vintage in surely 25 years. A melting pot of aromas and flavours, gastronomical soup of seasoning, dashes of this and that, salt and pepper, aromatics pulled from so many places. Runs through the middle of 100 years of ripenesses, body, textures, acidities and overall structure, finishing with the best harmony achievable for the vintage. Never to forget the rains, Peronospora, frost and hail events, summer temperature spikes and all that kept a team on their toes for five consecutive months. The 2023 Biondi-Santi Rosso di Montalcino has weathered the storm to come away beautiful. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2025

Canalicchio di Sopra Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Not a Rosso vintage because of the Peronospora challenge but those who made any quantity did so as a choice to abide by always producing Rosso. As here and never taken for granted but instead with great focus and precision. Like finding a friend and sharing a bottle, here Rosso is joyous and comforting, there for a good laugh, full of energy. Pour for those who love Montalcino and they will feel like Brunello is in their glass. Pour for others who do not know or understand sangiovese and they will never go back. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2025

Capanna Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Self-prescribed and professed traditional Rosso and structurally that would be accurate, however the sleek mouthfeel would suggest a more modern approach. There are 12 hectares of (classified) Brunello and 4.5 of Rosso, with some of the Brunello fruit joining the Rosso ranks. This is a matter of selection and also a necessity to provide the substance for a Capanna Rosso to handle oak aging. Acidity is particularly special for 2023 and the liquid chalky character suggests a run forward, potentially six years further. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2025

Castello Tricerchi Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

The tragedy of 2023, a vintage of Peronospora and hail, resulting in 60-plus percent loss for Tommaso Squarcia. Deeper richness and concentration from 2023 without any quanity unfortunately but fruit quality and compaction of tannin are strong. The Piedmontazine maceration into aging style brings the sleek mouthfeel and length. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted November 2025

Col d’Orcia Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Ultra engaging and appealing Rosso di Montalcino from a master of the appellative craft, not only for drinking with immediate gratification but also to lay away and know that ten years (or more) will surely work to its benefit. The quality of the fruit, temperate ability of acidity and overall emotion are all as fine and prepared as ever. Blue chip Rosso di Montalcino stock. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2025

Col di Lamo Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Unmistakable estate sangiovese, Brunello or Rosso, here the latter and with thanks to the house for making any at all. Rosso as Rosso for Monday though Friday, weekends too. Red fruit in flight, high in tone, warm of colour, easy on the palate. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted November 2025

Collemattoni Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

One of the more perfumed Rosso di Montalcino for the vintage and that is saying something because there are many. A season of challenge and this feels to have met the issues and played the cards dealt, to come away more than relatively unscathed. A pure and decoded sangiovese in the Rosso idiom that speaks in a clear language for all to understand. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2025

With Donatella Cinelli Colombini and Violante Gardini

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Delectability in Rosso di Montalcino from the lowest quantity vintage and for the house a consistency of quality across the board. An appellative paradox but accepted in this world of farming and producing wine. This 2023 is made by a pioneer in summarily ways with a result as democratic as it is a leading example for Montalcino. Drink anytime or hold for up to five years. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2025

Elia Palazzesi Rosso di Montalcino DOC Collelceto 2023

Now that is a bloody delicious Rosso di Montalcino – Both times tasted. Sharp and juicy, fruit forward yet undercut by a lightning strike of mineral presence. Purposed and persistent. Top echelon sangiovese food wine. Go to town. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted November 2025

Fanti Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Darker fruit for Rosso di Montalcino and all the better for it in this 2023 vintage. Concentrated beyond the pale and the norm, but again the inner workings of this example demand the material. Drink early and preferably with ragù, even better if made with cinghiale. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted November 2025

Franco Pacenti Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

A short stay in wood, quite significantly less than that of the grippy 2022 and that hot vintage. Makes for a more elegant Rosso and Lorenzo Pacenti says “it’s important for Rosso to not be too concentrated a wine,” which this is certainly not. Understated power and concentration actually, an aromatic stunner of floral perfumes, red roses and a distillate of the flowers so glycerol in texture. Stylish for Rosso, seductive and finishing with some palate coating warmth. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2025

Il Poggione Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Perfect everyday Rosso di Montalcino predicated on red fruit at the height of availability and without the encumbrance of overwrought pressing, wood or structure. Comes at the palate in manageable and controllable ways, then leaves nothing but sangiovese footprints. Ideal for all. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted November 2025

L’Aietta Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Only stainless for the fermentation process, 70 percent goes to Slavonian cask (for a guarantee of aging), 30 percent in steel for freshness and in the end the wine is re-blended after aging. Plenty of tension and intensity, especially considering the fruit all comes from Castelnuovo dell’Abate. With thanks to the schistous marl soil manifested as Galestro, creating notable but not austere or drying tannins. This is in fact a Rosso to age. Average production is 2,500-3,000 bottles but in 2023 only 800 due to August 17th golf balls sized hail in Castelnuovo dell’Abate and also cinghiale at L’Aietta in Montalcino. Drink 2026-2030.Tasted September 2025

La Fortuna Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Not an easy vintage because of so much Spring rain with (Peronospora) disease pressure, vine leaves always wet day and night. Many treatments, “24, mama mia,” says Angelo and it was impossible to consistently get through all 18 hectares as necessary. There was loss (30 percent) but not a disaster compared to many neighbours. The Rosso ages 12 months and yes the wood is felt as far as Rosso goes, however those who like the style and especially ready to drink Brunello will adore this firm and traditional character. Overall the ’23 is a seriously competent and proper Rosso with side accents of macchia and Balsamico. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted September 2025

Le Chiuse Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Memory traces back to first tasting this Rosso di Montalcino nine months ago and that recall is like looking in a mirror. This ’23 moment is an exact reflection of the first, uncanny and wonderment asks what wizardry could this be? How can fruit caught at optimum phenolic ripeness be unchanged with so much time having passed? How can the pitch perfect acidity react with the fruit and come away as accurate in this moment? How is any of this possible? “Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to taste and try.” Last tasted November 2025

“Another unique aspect of ’23 was the colour of the skin – black, not blue, like pinot noir. It usually looks like the colour of the blue ocean and in 2023 it was darker.” The words of Lorenzo Magnelli. Aromatic and fruity, like raspberry and currant but really floral, right form the very beginning.” Truth spoken and persistent from a vigorous season and Magnelli always picks at sunset when the temperatures are lowest. A unique Rosso for Le Chiuse and by extrapolation also the vintage, drinking dutifully and beautifully right away and while it may not seem so structured these tannins are quite sneaky. “A Rosso di Montalcino that goes straight to the point.” You get exactly what it and Lorenzo are saying. You listen and you like the story. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2025

Le Potazzine Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Rosso 2023 is still very young, the aromatics still demure with the knowable perfumes waiting because they take a minimum two years to come out. The scents are certainly pretty, floral and like the flowers of herbs and aromatic brush in late Spring. Palate tells another story (for Rosso) with darker red fruit, firm grip, tight acidity and implosive intensity. Having tasted this previously there is a confirmation of 2023 being a longer to live and persist kind of vintage. A reminder 39 days of maceration with three pumpovers per day. All of the fruit is certified as Brunello, save for what goes into the IGT. Approximately 20-25 less production from 2023. Last tasted September 2025

The sangiovese on Le Potazzine’s property desires the botti for structure and complexity, especially because the average alcoholic fermentation is 40-50 days, longer than just about any in all of Montalcino. Freshness incarnate with a great focus on and of focused acidity, blessed with all the energy of Gigliola, Viola and Sofia combined. The winemaking team of three, mother and two daughters, makers of sangiovese unlike the rest. Of elevation and revelation for Rosso. No diss to 2022 but ’23 is out of this world. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Molino di Sant’Antimo Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

One of the most floral Rosso di Montalcino, purest of red berries, nary a moment of earthy or dusty character. Kind of salty when you consider the mineral elements that clearly come from the vineyard. “Sometimes vintages are salty and others not so much,” says Valeria Vittori. ‘This one is salissimo.” She’s right – this is truly salty. The finish exhibits a bit of a kick so let this sit until the Spring and drink comfortably for four years more. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2025

Patrizia Cencioni Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Organic in the vineyard but not certified. Due to extreme rains in May and June eighteen treatments were used in 2023, as compared to the average of 10. Made using fruit from the youngest vineyards, aged in the largest casks in the winery, French and Slavonian, 26 and 42 hL sizes. A Rosso of extreme perfumes, fresh roses, fennel, liquorice and spices in an aromatic concentration aided by much of the fruit either dropped or made into 5,000 bottles of Rosato. Crunchy and sneaky structured with some elements that just feel like Brunello, namely depth and structure. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted September 2025

Podere Brizio Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

The Brizio Rosso is clearly in the same family as the Landi in terms of richness and concentration but what elevates are in added complexities, namely from location and experience. Vine age, southwest Montalcino geology and climate bring layers and different quality of tannin, also for Rosso. This ’23 has already come to a drinkable place and will pair dutifully with all the antipasti and primi piatti you might wish to bring to the table. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted November 2025

Poggio Landi Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Ripe and fine-grained textural Rosso, wood factoring in spice and mouthfeel. Vinification in steel, 12 months in several sizes of botti. No concrete talks like in Dievole though that may change for the future. A real red citrus mixed with cherry stone bitters feel to ’23, specific to vintage meeting the north by northeast Montalcino location. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted November 2025

San Guglielmo Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Notably sweet acidity is the catalyst to elevate grip for this proper and bountiful Rosso. Shows the human side of the appellation with a producer’s unselfish approach to delivering great quality no matter the challenges or circumstances. Their gift is our fortune and 2023 is what we want to drink. Guessing it’s also their’s. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted November 2025

Uccelliera Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Still such a strong effort for Rosso 2023, fruit quite ripe, deftly extracted and macerated for an example with sweetness and a walk through the sottobosco. The mixing in of earthy character sets this above so many that only bring fruit and not much else. Proper does not of enough to explain the top quality Rosso coming from this estate. Last tasted November 2025

Sister property Voliero opens with easy access, as does Uccelliera but there is more structure in this 2023 Rosso. Was not fully expected but there it is as verticality and while not exactly closed – it’s not an open book by any stretch. Use your imagination to look ahead and be prepared for a sangiovese equipped to unravel over a long and slow period of time. Masterful example for the vintage. “The starting point for the territory and the wine that proves the ability of Montalcino is Rosso.” His explanation and Andrea Cortonesi will never take this wine for granted. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted February 2025

Gorelli Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

The ’22 Rosso has now been in bottle two years following one year in barrel and that after fermentation in wood. Rich layering of red berries and local tree fruit for a most enjoyable Rosso you just want to drink. Then there are the sneaky moments of structure and grip to see the ‘22 Rosso age slowly for a good five-plus year run. Good and crunchy, herbal and tight at the finish. Yet another Gorelli sangiovese of clarity and promise. Drink 2026-2029. Last tasted September 2025

Il Marroneto Rosso di Montalcino DOC Iacopo 2022

The 2022 represents the latest Rosso vintage and the one that will remain for a spell because there was none made in 2023, only Brunello. Obviously well structured to be a Rosso from vineyards classified as Brunello. Not to mention a vintage were the barrels all exhibited more structure than usual. There are Rosso di Rosso, Rosso and this as Rosso by Rosso. Hard to fathom tannins could be this ripe and ripped for a sangiovese of appellate depth. “I like this Rosso, otherwise I wouldn’t put my name on it” says Iacopo Mori. He’s drinking this vintage right now, “but not everyday” he laughs. Same. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2025

Poggio di Sotto Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

A few years of aging is so righteous for this Rosso, taking it out of a vertical climb and into a place where the fruit stretches elastic out and back. A Rosso now ready for the market, though honestly it would already have been there some time ago. Soft and generous, a pulpy flesh of stone fruit from the tree into the hand even before it falls from the stem. Kind of the point don’t you think? Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2025

Val di Suga Rosso di Montalcino DOC Vigna Spuntali 2022

Vigna for Rosso di Montalcino and also age, up to two years longer than the 2024s that will come to market starting in January 2026. Implosive red citrus, zesty in a grippy and structured example of the Rosso. No need to request more spirit with all the pent up energy to make one forget about things like concentration and texture. Sangiovese is want to pop on the palate and this 2022 is relentless in that pursuit. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2025

Argiano Rosso di Montalcino DOC Sella del Leccio 2021

Technically a Rosso di Montalcino though the vineyard could very well be given over to Brunello with soils similar to those in Vigna del Suolo. Made since 2019, organic since the beginning and 15 months of aging in barrel before bottling 1,500 total bottles. Bernardino Sani loves this vineyard, Vigna del Leccio, a place that delivers more form grip and concentration for Rosso. A saltiness runs through with a proper sourness and the intention is not just real, but realized. Seriously grippy Rosso with great potential for aging. Drink 2026-2030.Tasted September 2025

Canalicchio di Sopra Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

Just 10 months forward and still freshness with not a single moment of oxidation defining the 2021 Rosso. Again, Francesco makes a Rosso that will not make a Brunello, if mainly because two more years in wood will oxidize the wine. Best young but there are easily five to seven years left in terms of potential for this wine . Last tasted September 2025

What is Rosso di Montalcino for Francesco Ripaccioli? “Put the wine in a reduction tank, a.k.a. the bottle,” he says with utmost seriousness. Here is how his Rosso is made, by tasting through barrels and finding wines that will only have the structure to become a “base” Brunello and Ripaccioli does not make that kind of wine. That may sound a bit elitist but it’s not – and also true. Selling less expensive Brunello may be attractive to the market and easier but Francesco will not take these kinds of short cuts. So now you know what a Canalicchio di Sopra Rosso really is. As for 2021 the concentration is at the peak for the DOC and if you slipped this blind into a Brunello tasting not a single taster would pull this as the ringer. But it is a different wine and needs to be treated and respected that way, to think of its potential as that of its character. Still the extract, pH, structure and even acidity are at levels that will see this travel across decades. Oxidation? Not a chance. This could stay in bottle before releasing it until 2025 but it was released in January 2023. For the market. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

Gorelli Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

Warm and dry summer months followed the spring frost for smaller berries, lower yields and concentrated wines, including at the Rosso appellative level. Similar if just slightly less glycerol to 2020 but surely more spice and exuberance. Really full and promising Rosso that just seems to express the best of all worlds for this style of sangiovese. This is the vintage with balance and sapidity, Tuscan style, with a longer finish. Last tasted September 2025

Sweet fruit and availability with an underbelly of sweeter tannin. Chocolate and plums, flavourful and drying at the finish. Good acidity to be sure will help age this a few years . Tasted November 2024

That rare and favourable combination of rich and drinkable, a Rosso certifiably composed or Rosso sake. Perfectly ripened, fruit and acidity, classic if modern and clean, pure and reputable Rosso style. A mix of spice and sweetness so that all falls into place, especially for the palate. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2023

Gorelli Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2020

The 2020 remains in a perfectly fresh state, especially on the palate. That and a full red glycerol fruit vintage with a really seductive personality. Tasting at peak right here and now. Tasting side by side with the 2022 Rosso makes you realize just how tight that vintage is today. Then again the ’20 has just that small amount of tautness in tannin still to resolve. Drink 2025-2027. Last tasted September 2025

La Fortuna Rosso di Montalcino DOC Special Late Release 2019

A selection of the (27 Hl) Slavonian Botte Grande and aged six months longer than the “normal” Rosso, released the following year for specific markets, in this case Montréal. The purpose is to position the wine somewhere between the Rosso and the Brunello and in fact the fruit comes from Brunello classified vineyards. Quasi de-classified in that sense but the concept is determined by export and wholesale price. First vintage was 2016 and while this really does fit the middle bill, there is more substance, grip and elasticity than Rosso. The acidity is quite elevated, though without any noticeable volatility and the wine speaks of the zone more than anything. The fruit only comes from the homefront to explain this extraordinary acidity translating as freshness, intensity, excitement, energy and finally the inducement of salivation. Rosso “Riserva” of seduction. Drink 2025-2030.Tasted September 2025

With Michaela Morris and Giulia Cecchi at Aminta

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Aminta – Famiglia Cecchi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

The label design for the coming January release of Aminta’s 2021 Brunello di Montalcino is inspired by a modern abstract painting by Giulia Cecchi’s grandmother Anita Sardelli, her given name combined with Monte Amiata as the handle for the newest Montalcino estate. The final kicker that encouraged the family to choose this name was the pastoral Torquato Tasso opera that finishes at a natural hot spring, which Aminta incidentally happens to have right next to the Cantina vineyard. Aging in French and Austrian tonneaux supplies plenty of wood seasoning though the fruit is able to climb through. That said another year is needed to see that to fruition and then we might see the clarity of winemaker Alessandra’s clean and precise style. The mix of the three Brunello vineyards, Cantina, Caselle and Pian Bossolino are all appropriately represented with Caselle more in control in the earlier stages of evolution. This is the beginning of something worth staying in full contact with, of a Cecchi family Brunello putting in the time, thought, energy and passion to create something new, worthy and proper for Montalcino. 6,200 bottles produced. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025

Aminta – Famiglia Cecchi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Gli Amici 2021

Friendly sangiovese from these early days of Cecchi’s foray into Montalcino at Aminta with fruit sourcing threefold. Meanwhile the team digs sample pits in the vineyards, tests soils and figures out which block determines as the most singular for Etichetta and soon to be Vigna Brunello. For now there are Cantina, Bossolino and Cassele for Gli Amici and this most nurturing 2021. There is some dusty macchia and very noticeable local Balsamico to meet the stylish plum fruit in a Brunello that should rightly be predicated on its acidity. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted November 2025

Argiano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Fermentation part in stainless and part in concrete, malo in cement and then racked to casks, from 15 to 50 hL sizes. More or less 30 months, a blend of different blocks, a passage in cement and bottled in June. Noted firmness and grip straight from the nose with a purity of red fruit in the most tangible Brunello di Montalcino way. You can’t deny the cherry quality, nor will any taster ignore the genius of a masterful acumen in blending many blocks and barrels into a sophisticated sangiovese. Acidity is the driver as always, travelling, unraveling, rewinding and repeating the processes forever on the palate. Long for a Brunello Classico, normal for an Argiano Annata. Drink 2026-2031.Tasted September 2025

Argiano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna del Suolo 2021

The mix of one year in (12 hL) Taransaud and two further in (15 hL) Garbellotto botti are the impetus, catalysts and ideal vessel voyage for Argiano’s out important sangiovese, here from a top ranking vintage with a moderate and accepted 30 percent loss to the April frost. Most important is to walk the spongy clay soils of the six hectare vineyard with a limestone content in the marl that rivals any in the whole of Montalcino. Also to witness the enormity of fossil shells in Francesco’s office to understand the history of geology and the ocean that once covered the land. Don’t forget the two streams that contain the long Suolo blocks, once bigger rushing rivers and now the silty alluvial deposits they have left behind. If the Classico Brunello holds an impressive level of grip then bear witness to Vigna del Suolo with its impressive and authoritative level of control, stoicism and restraint. Bottle aging is essential because well, sangiovese, although one would have to be without working senses to not see the beauty right here, right now. Once the wine has aged a further XTC years the purity, acidity and faultless tannin will find the senses working overtime. “Trying to take this all in. I’ve got one, two, three, four, five.” Or twenty years to enjoy the results. Drink 2028-2040.Tasted September 2025

Armilla Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Sangiovese in all its obvious and proprietary glory comes from a restrained and correct 2021 Brunello. A crunchy and as they say croccante 2021 with savoury herbaceous bits and juicy proverbial bleed of Jove to cast and cake the palate while never allowing the brain to forget that this is the real sanguis Jovis sangiovese from Montalcino. Could never deny the importance of that kind of thought, or sensation. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025

La Famiglia Camigliano

Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Not only recently bottled (in May) but also more quantity of bottles as we speak and taste the youthful exuberance of this 2021 Brunello. Consistently and already at this stage one of the more silken and glycerol inflected sangiovese, here from a significant (94 hectares and fourth largest) production in the southwest of Montalcino. A selection (separating Rosso from Brunello) for which choices are made from year to year. A pure sangiovese syrup defining the mix of vintage and style, refined and perhaps many characteristics shared with that of 2015. That said it was 2001 the last time there was a vintage with this combination of April frost, high quality fruit and ultimately balance. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted September 2025

Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Paesaggio Inatesso 2021

Lower production due to the April frost, “a natural selection” says winemaker Sergio Cantini, with full yields in the upper blocks and 90 percent loss down below. In the end full production was 170,000 bottles as compared to a normal amount of 200,000, a 30 percent drop overall. The Etichetta label is a selection of quality and still made with the extra layer of concentration duty noted. A more structured sangiovese, less forthright and not yet giving itself away. Stylistically consistent but there is no doubt this selezione will be the more attractive wine. Ages in the Grandi Botti, new to four years old for a production of 30,000-40,000 bottles, on the lower side for 2021. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted September 2025

Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Stellar vintage with just over 10 percent loss in the Brunello Classico because of the April frost, though in the end the balance on the vines created the end game result. “We can’t talk about the balance of 2021 without the frost,” says Francesco Ripaccioli. “That is the paradox of the vintage.” You note, consider and feel the harmony from the first, through a continuance, in perpetuity, until the glass and bottle are done. A saline streak runs through, owing to schistous rocks manifested as Galestro interacting with calcium carbonate and Canalicchio’s various types of vineyard clays. There have been elegant Brunello is this estate’s tenure but the initial response from 2021 considers that adjective like never before. The highest dry extract ever matched by top ranking acidity is surely the reason, explained in a most simplified form. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted September 2025

Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna La Casaccia 2021

You might want to think about what a single vineyard of cru Brunello means to you before tasting a sangiovese like Vigna La Casaccia. Why? Because this may not be what you expected, a serious wine without heft or the type of concentration you may think fulfills that definition. Instead there is freshness and restraint, of sweet clay and more alcohol (at 15 percent) because when phenolic maturity arrives the sugars have already climbed to that level. This is Casaccia and yet acidity does the yeoman work to elicit that vineyard’s magic and be sure to deliver its pleasure. A wine made exactly as the vineyard demands while that freshness shows strong four years after vintage is the catalyst to drive the point across. Bigger in a way, but all in balance. Drink 2028-2037. Tasted September 2025

Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Montosoli 2021

The aromatic profile is simply different to that of La Casaccia with location and soil composition being the reasons why. Less clay, more schistous stone come up to the surface as Galestro to see a change in structure, both of fruit and also tannin. More power, grip and trenchant intendment from Montosoli. All this and low lying greenery in the macchia spectrum, verdancy matched by a subtle natural sweetness though the brushy biodiversity surrounding the Montosoli hill can’t help but determine the aromatic course of this sangiovese. Again, bigger in a way, like Casaccia, not as obviously generous but frankly more complex. Drink 2028-2039. Tasted September 2025

Capanna Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

No major frost issue for Capanna, with thanks to late pruning well into March and the end result for harvest was not considered a loss, but one of medium production. Not to mention this being an absolute classic Brunello di Montalcino and also one that represents the traditional yet luxe character of one from Capanna. Spot on, focused, precise and correct. The spirit of the north. Bottled approximately one year ago for 40,000 bottles produced, on average from vintage to vintage. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

Capanna Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Nicco 2021

An experimental technique began in 2016 (first year of Nicco) to be employed during fruit set whereby some basal leaves are removed, resulting in important actions for the fruit and vine. First to encourage a toughness in the developing skins, second to promote self-fortification during a stressful moment and third to elevate the poly-phenolic properties, acidity and also to promote a looser or less tight structure in the bunches. Ultimately to avoid disease pressure and equip the bunches for the rest of the growing season. All this for a 2021 Nicco single vineyard sangiovese that may just be the finest Brunello ever made at Capanna. Glorious fruit, high acid sweetness, fineness of sleek tannin and harmonious every moment you spend with this Brunello. Poly-phenolic properties exude from a non-plussed sangiovese that went through its suffering long before ripeness ever began to set in. Sound from vision and humility by way of soul. There are 7,000-8,000 bottles of Nicco produced, on average. Drink 2028-2039. Tasted November 2025

Capanne Ricci Tenimenti Ricci Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Higher tonality for 2021, acidities manifold to direct the destiny of a dusty, racy and rising sangiovese. Settle into itself on the palate with juicy fruit and that feeling of land able to store and reserve water to survive drought, ever so slowly releasing to itself. Here a Brunello refusing to let the tannins dry out on the palate. Successful vintage for this estate. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025

Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Take what you know or think you know about 2021 Brunello di Montalcino and do two things. First consider the vineyard, keep the rocks and stones in mind, the sandy clay and how they all might influence a vine and its fruit. Second exaggerate what you think that effect might be and concentrate these thoughts. It is then that you will see how the declarative hue and aromatic intensity of this Montalcino sangiovese are the product of place. Then it becomes all to clear what that means for 2021, closed in this earliest stage, potentially explosive and ready to burst. For Caparzo the time will come soon enough. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG La Casa 2021

Curious to note the reactive and still reductive state of the 2020 Caparzo (Riserva) and the lack thereof in this 2021 Vigna. La Casa is an entity unto itself, layered of the schist-strewn Galestro vineyard’s elemental gifts while not compact or mired in mitre or weight. Notably stoic, confident and organized for a slow, incremental and step-by-step approach to maturity. Hard to imagine there will be any change at all in the next few, perhaps even five years. A recognizable cru wine for northerly Montalcino, regardless of vintage. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2025

Caprili Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Another shade of richer fruit than sister property Armilla, lower in tone and bigger of flesh, ripeness at next level and intensity to match the elevated qualities that ultimately result in big time complexity. Serious sangiovese for the 2021 vintage. Drink 2028-2034. Tasted November 2025

Carpineto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Quiet and demure aromas for the house, a sweet rose floral note and red berry inclusive of leafy verdancy carrying over to the palate. Mouthfeel is silky for the vintage and the way these wines are usually perceived, as is the natural sweetness with only vague hints of macchia. Simplicity of pleasure gifted and received. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted November 2025

La Squadra Canadese at Banfi

Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Red fruit multifold, berries mostly and that rare sangiovese with a wild strawberry note. Glycerol, an oiliness and liquid chalky mouthfeel for a polished and satiny Brunello. You can still feel the presence of barriques though a few years forward that element will begin to fade from the profile. Still a bit of a flavouring agent though the vintage’s quality provides this large quantity Brunello with a core of fruit freshness. Production is 480,000-540,000 cases from a section chosen out of 173 hectares of vineyards. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2025

Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Marrucheto 2021

The single Vigna Marrucheto takes up where Brunello leaves and exaggerates the riches of that large production wine. Produced since 2016, significantly smaller amount, a selection from three plots in 10 hectares for around 8,000 bottles. Vines are uniquely trained in this vineyard to a mix of Cordone Speronato and “Alberello Banfi.” The result is a full ripeness of plummy red fruit, a more soil and micro-climate derived macchia and mid-palate substance. Crunchy for Brunello with savour and linearity. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted September 2025

Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Poggio alle Mura 2021

Though Poggio all Mura may have originally been conceived to make a wine of colour, muscles and especially wood, those days are in the past. No more bleeding off juice to increase colour and chance the loss of aromas. Gone are the comparisons or turns taken with Don Melchor at the top of 100 best lists and now this Brunello serves a new purpose. More about clonal selection and zonation, to express Banfi’s sector of Montalcino with sangiovese character and flavour. Medium-sized berries, middle of the road structure and Brunello di Montalcino identity. Approximately 38,000 bottles. Drink 2026-2030.Tasted September 2025

Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Behold the sweetest vintage fruit captured at absolute peak ripeness, yet more than that the essentials encapsulate to regulate and dictate a northwestern Brunello di Montalcino’s future. A sangiovese of slow release, for qualities that will compound and gift new moments of higher truth with each passing month on the calendar for 15 years. Possibly even more because structure and what should be described as supple character can only develop a sangiovese this way. As fine as some vintages past have recently been, it is this 2021 that expresses essential ideals at the classic appellate level. Drink 2028-2038. Tasted November 2025

Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Filo di Seta 2021

Massive aromatic attack, assault on the senses, classical movement rising to a crescendo. Fruit, spice and a toasted nuttiness unique to this and only this sangiovese. A perspective like no other, mimic of the vistas from the perch of the place, not to be fully grasped understood less you stand and look out with wonder from where the wines are raised. The 2021 runs like a stream through an untouched virgin forest, silken texture phantom threaded with the invisible filaments of finest tannin. The delicacy and subtlety of this wine will surely be the impetus to see it live 20-25 years, most of them in this original state. Drink 2028-2043. Tasted November 2025

Castello Tricerchi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

For Tommaso Squarcia the 2021 is more balanced than either 2019 or 2020 and in his mind, in a word, “perfect.” Picked in the first week of September, fermented in tonneaux, sent to tank under a submerged cap (Piedmontazine style) for six months and then finished in botti. Yes, six months. All the work that Tommaso has put in in his first seven years have come to this moment in his classic Brunello of northern Montalcino perfumes and mouthfeel of a kind and level never experienced before. Not from his sangiovese and not from 99 percent of Brunello made in the territory. Sleek and silken yes but more than that – something elastic, stretched and pliant, nimble and agile. The tannins follow suit and you can imagine their ebb, sway and flow for many years to come. “It’s not a legend of a vintage,” says Tommaso. “It’s very good and more personal.” The humility (e la vita) are beautiful. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2025

Castello Tricerchi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG A.D. 1441 2021

“This label was born with the submerged cap (Piedmontazine method of maceration into aging), but now it is everywhere in this winery.” Not 45 or 60 days but six months of cappella sommerso to add the sleekest mouthfeel an an already perfumed Brunello di Montalcino. The single vineyard is the saltiest of the Tricerchi Brunello, drawn from mid-slope where the most limestone filters through the soil. Tommaso Squarcia is preoccupied with pH and this is the lowest for these vineyards. Could this be a Riserva were it aged a year longer? Sure, but why and then no, because there is no tradition at Tricerchi and the A.D. 1441 carries more profound meaning as a Vigna wine. Drink 2028-2039. Tasted November 2025

Castiglion del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Highly perfumed sangiovese here for 2021, spices run amok as they season every moment spent with this unique Brunello. Exotics from spice island across several seas, a Zanzibar biriyani, a Madagascar pepper, Indian masala and Indonesian kretek. Imagine cumin, coriander, cinnamon, allspice and more, from all over the world to make sangiovese feel gastronomical, developed of flavours and alive. With thanks to fine acidity and underlay of horizontal tannin, there should be even more to come. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025

Castiglion del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Campo del Drago 2021

Some Etichetta and Vigna Brunello are quite similar to and really just extensions of their Classico kin but in this situation Campo del Drago is really different to the Castiglion del Bosco Brunello. Well to be fair the wild spice notes are here, but other elements command attention, steal hearts and the show. Perfumes go floral and the gentle way they nurture the senses shows just how special this vintage is for the estate. There are but a few in their northwesterly location but 2021 succeeds up there with the best of the denomination. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

More than flesh here with a full and substantial syrup of sangiovese in the clearest vernacular spoken by a house that knows its way around modern Brunello di Montalcino. Richness incarnate, sleek and smooth, wood judiciously employed and the sort of sangiovese to woo just about anyone who looks to be impressed by Brunello. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025

Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna di Pianrosso 2021

Imagine the sleek and silky way a classico by Ciacci Piccolomini will seduce palates and then multiply that notion for an experience on an entirely different and higher level. Vigna di Pianrosso is the highest quality of ripening in fruit of experience in a single vineyard that has shown to develop quantifiable character on the estate. That and a quality or rather quantity of tannic freight that makes this Etichetta label exist someplace grand. There are a number of 2021 Brunello with a similar profile, rich and stony, grippy and forceful, time the operative to shed some of the rigidity and stress. A vertical sangiovese of a tall order will take some tome to soften and see to its fruition. Impressive 2021s for this historic estate in the southern reaches of the denomination. Drink 2028-2036. Tasted November 2025

Col di Lamo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Sleek, smooth and palate caressing 2021 Brunello di Montalcino with a feeling of calm and tranquility. A second sip brings the spice by cask and a drying tannic feeling to speak for a requiem of aging further in bottle before the best moments are to be experienced. Would suggest two years to allow the kind of integration that will open arms wide open and encourage top hospitality from this sangiovese of truly fine potential. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2025

Col di Lamo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG A Diletta 2021

Wealth of fruit fills a Vigna/Etichetta cup runneth over for a Brunello of elegance and grace. Then comes the structure to equip this sangiovese with all the necessary elements for aging, likely to extend well into the next decade. The fineness of texture and architecture could very well put this in any Montalcino category, but simply put it’s made for a daughter. Drink 2028-2034. Tasted November 2025

Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

For 2021 a sangiovese of impressive perfume, a deep inhalant for the vintage, aromatically sweet and quite singular in that regard. A rich proposition, inviting, enticing and frankly seductive, classic for house and yet so forward thinking but also acting. No missing the tannic profile and ability to also command a structural proposition to see this travel long, and well. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2025

Collemattoni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

There are not many Brunello that show cards or wear hearts on sleeves this early in their tenure and then there are those that almost feel dangerous, with lurking character in shadows and fog. This is one such sangiovese, deep and mysterious, an opaque and beautifully swarthy example, clean yet composite, clear though currently complex. All sangiovese needs the bottle and this will require ample time, likely more than most out of 2021. Drink 2028-2034. Tasted November 2025

Corte dei Venti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

High toned and rising still, perfumed to the maximum and yet taut, caught in a stiff, wind, yet to glide free. No crust or crispy texture but surely layers of skin to peel away, years required to get at the flesh of this sangiovese. Impressive variegation and stature, not to mention stature for 2021 Brunello. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

Corte Pavone – Loacker Wine Estates Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Quite the pure sangiovese yet singular, different, aromatic and textured of its own design. Accord as well, between various blocks where serious investigations attempt to disseminate what’s what, which is which and also what for. There is a sweet swarthy quality to 2021, clean and correct, acidity just about as fierce as the fruit and structured like the tannin. In a word, fine. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

Corte Pavone – Loacker Wine Estates Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Poggio Molino al Vento 2021

Would wager a guess that this 2021 is the ripest of the four Vigna Brunello produced at this estate. Perhaps not the most structured in the squadra di quattro and yet there is plenty of stuffing to keep maturity far away while cask, fruit and tannic goods work forward together. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025

Corte Pavone – Loacker Wine Estates Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Fiore del Vento 2021

Tasting Fior di Vento side bye each with Vigna Poggio Molino al Vento makes one realize that the latter is tighter and delivers less immediate gratification. The floral perfume and pulchritude of pulpy red fruit is extraordinary in this sangiovese child of the wind. There is no mistaking its generosity and willingness to please. Some sneaky structure will aid and abet, but the best years will be early for this 2021. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted November 2025

Corte Pavone – Loacker Wine Estates Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Fior di Meliloto 2021

Deeper and to a degree more brooding with the fab four Vigna Brunello is Fior di Meliloto, the rhythm section, keeper of four-four time and the beat. The backbone behind the band, a star and unsung hero that makes sure everything else not only functions but delivers magic at the highest level. The fruit quality is impeccable in this flower child of a sangiovese, the timing sound and the vision unsung. Will age longer than anyone expects and probably look the same for as long as its parts each take care of their own abilities. Drink 2027-2034. Tasted November 2025

Corte Pavone – Loacker Wine Estates Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Campo Marzio 2021

The most expressive, effusive and excitable of the fab four would be the Campo Marzio, balladeer when the notes require passivity and screamer when necessary to get the message out, loud and clear. A sangiovese of dichotomy, giver of wisdom and beauty, fruit of the highest quality matched to backbone, but also greatest confidence that says take it or leave it. A 2021 Brunello that encourages a flexible and adaptable approach which means you should never feel obligated to agree, but are free to make a choice. Submits to nothing and creates art of the highest degree. Drink now or wait 20 years. Take what you want and leave the rest. Drink 2028-2037. Tasted November 2025

Cortonesi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG La Mannella 2021

If 2016 was the most democratic of Brunello di Montalcino vintages then from 2021 this may well be the most democratic and classic for sangiovese. This you feel from the very beginning, in aromas that invite yet do so of an gushing nature. They are floral and hint at something stony but do not commit one way or another. The palate presents a similar situation, beguiling though surely not gratuitous nor overarching of hastily remitted flavour. There is a subtlety about this 2021 and still nothing is taken for granted. The clarity and purity are both exemplary and aging potential will be long. Democratic speaker of sangiovese truth. Drink 2027-2034. Tasted November 2025

Cortonesi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Poggiarelli 2021

Yes another democratic vintage Brunello if also delivered in deeper tone and understanding. More aromatic layers to shed, repeal and unfold, a greater set of complex tones and also for what comes after. From nose through palate, a pool of flavours resting in a deep well, warm as they are, fruit almost as syrup and still so properly elastic to say they will expand, contract and ever so slowly come closer and closer together. Terrific Vigna Brunello for 2021 with great potential. Drink 2028-2037. Tasted November 2025

Godello at Cupano

Cupano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

The yields of 2021 were reduced by 60 percent because of the frosts on the nights of April 6th and 7th, yet thankfully Winemaker Andrea Polidoro pruned as late as possible, in early March. That saved the 40 percent result for a vintage which was his first as a solo artist. The temps reached 29 degrees in March and the frost nights as low as minus seven. Dio mio, man, porca miseria. Phenolic ripeness meets the natural sweetness of sugar ripe fruit with an underlay of red clay and silty chalkiness that speaks to the type of tannins come from a reduced number of bunches come to their fruition in a hot year. A chewiness to the texture, a longer maceration (28 days on skins) that may just be the last Cupano vintage to express itself this way. A unique perspective that may not deliver the same vantage point again. The finish feels almost citrusy, like blood orange, akin to 2013 yet here in a more classic stylistic, layering and effect. Keep 2021 in your hlass for 20 minutes and the structure will only intensify. Drink 2027-2034. Tasted November 2025

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Cleanest, purest and topmost definitive Brunello recognized through a scan of Donatella’s tenure at Casato Prime Donne in northern Montalcino. Intoxicating perfume for a production totalling 40,000 bottles, spicy aromas, specific and deliberate, wildflowers and the full cupboard for all savoury, sweet and umami needs. Full and developed flavours, ever so slightly liquid chalky and of an early maturity for sangiovese that will stay in a holding pattern for five-plus years. Longevity is guaranteed for five-plus more. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted September 2025

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Progetto Prime Donne 2021

Prime Donne is the selection, of barrels chosen by a group of women in wine, annually and for a special production of maximum 10,000 bottles. Concentration and barrel impact run deeper with the French wood enacting in greater charge. A plethora of spices amuse in a caraway and fenugreek exotic way. Again there is an early feeling of maturity, come togetherness and accessibility as noted in the 2021 Brunello. And again the sangiovese will await further instructions before setting about to change. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted September 2025

Elia Palazzesi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Great aromatic warmth, a peppery rise and spicy start. Crispy, herbal, crunchy and with drying tannic elements. Nothing particularly phenolic and so not a matter of finishing jitters. though needles are there on the back palate. Will benefit from time in bottle. Drink 2028-2031. Tasted November 2025

Fanti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Oh the humanity and generosity of this sangiovese, giver of life, blood of Montalcino. Consistency with the finest and most erudite of them all, always liquid in its viscosity, no matter the season, of heat or drought and also non-plussed. The 2021 shows this ability at the top, reproduces the natural character of its actions with just enough energy an drive. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

Fanti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vallocchio 2021

Move across and upslope for a block of sangiovese fruit that grows and matures for something special to deliver a Vigna Brunello with the best of its vintage. To be fair the botti on this particular wine feels furtive, not heavy but surely stuck to the fruit in layers and weighty as a result. Pools upon and collects on the palate with warmth and this will take time to channel, outflow and ultimately subside. Would lay these down for two years. Drink 2028-2033. Tasted November 2025

Fattoi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

So much perfume, so little time. Red roses and spices, a liquid white peppery infiltrate into the distillate and all this even before taking a sip. More of the same to be honest, with drips of extract, from edible petals, rose and nasturtium, far from candied, herbs and cracked spice aromatics. Tannic to a pretty impressive degree and perhaps the most structure ever noted from this sangiovese. Drink 2028-2033. Tasted November 2025

Fattoria dei Barbi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Looking back to the most democratic vintage of the last 10-plus years there feels to be at least some semblance of similarity to that 2016 vintage Brunello. Here 2021 abides by the season, obliges with harmony of its parts and reminds just how important an appellate wine it truly is. Approachable and instructive, ultra correct and with just that right amount of backbone for 10 years of positive aging. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted November 2025

Fattoria dei Barbi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna del Fiore 2021

Consistency thy name is Barbi, Fattoria in delivery of expectation and dreams founded in history and tradition. Steadfast at every level of production, the classic Brunello unfailing and the Vigna unwavering in its determination to abide, but also oblige. We are the benefactors and proud to partake, always, hopefully without disruption. That is the hope. From 2021 Vigna Del Fiore is generous and structured, Full stop. Drink 2028-2036. Tasted November 2025

Fuligni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Sometimes there arrives a Brunello di Montalcino in the glass that feels next level, on another plain, of knowledge and determination. This would be a prime example of next level at the classic, traditional and to stay current, also most modern level. This 2021 screams Brunello di Montalcino. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2025

Gianni Brunelli – Le Chiuse di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Aromatic volume but most noticeable and frankly notable for flavour depth, of red fruits with just a hint of blue. No missing the restrained power and surely the singularity of sangiovese, a matter of the soil and estate heart that all should know about in Montalcino. These sangiovese are snowflakes, like all sangiovese and 2021 separates them as distinctly as any vintage. Save a few of these for a rainy day. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2025

Franco Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

All of the vineyards are planted to Grosso clones of sangiovese, of looser bunches and small berries for distinctive France Pacenti Brunello in the località of Canalicchio. The winemaking is attentive and classic, no tricks, experimentations or magic, simply the Montalcino facts transmitted direct from respectful agriculture. The consistency of Pacenti’s sangiovese is second to none, clean and pure as any, chic and stylish, generous and beautiful from the moment each vintage is released. Better after two to three years for sure but simply a prime example of Montalcino that does not need time to show the proof of great fruit that results in top tier modernist Brunello. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted November 2025

Franco Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Rosildo 2021

There are vintages when Rosildo and Brunello may seem similar, an extension from one to the next without great difference but the very fact certifies the Cru’s ability to simultaneously express concentration and elegance in a way the Brunello does not. No matter the vintage and the variation in the clay soils is the impetus to make that happen. Rosildo in 2021 speaks in eloquence and performs a delicate dance upon the palate, as if it hovers just a millimetre above every nerve and pore, with sweetness of fruit and acidity bound as one in a structural tiptoe across, with agility and poise. What a palate caress from the Grosso clone of sangiovese this ’21 truly performs, generously and without pause. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2025

Giodo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Giodo escaped the frost of April of 2021 after a long and cold winter that lingered well into late March/early April. Bud break and flowering was late and so production was not compromised after a high level summer season. After selection from barrel the best of the best find their streamlined way into this “Grand Vin” from which the most suave and finessed tannins wrap up the fruit in a tight flannel blanket. What matters most is that finesse and the way a carefully considered sip is hypnotic, inducing a sense of calm that ever so slowly and intentionally courses through the body. The length is endless and each successive sip just adds to the feeling. Sangiovese into the mystic. Drink 2027-2037. Tasted November 2025

Giodo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Prètto 2021

Prètto is not a cru Brunello but in fact the new label, more approachable and drinkable a sangiovese as compared to the Giodo. Think of it like Bordeaux where the name of the estate is the top wine and if a bottle is written to another label then it is a second wine. The distinction is made in the cellar after tasting through barrels with the first selections ending up in the Giodo. This being the first and the idea was born two years ago with the production being higher than the Giodo. Bright like La Quinta yet deeper and more profound like Giodo, not in between but expressive of elements with connection to both. Much closer to the Giodo of course but you can drink this anytime. You open the bottle and you finish it. Opens the door to the Giodo. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2025

Godello at Il Marroneto

Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

The Brunello is found to be in the middle between the powerful 2020 and 2022 vintages, yet the weather was basically the same as in 2020. The frost may have done damage for others but Il Marroneto’s vines showed neither stress nor damage. Nor was there any delay in the process of the plants. If anything the plants were helped by a product called Protect, an enzyme from nettles that helps keep the leaves closed and also safe from excessive summer heat. Look here another Marroneto Brunello super charged with local knowledge, confidence, bones and ability. There was stress from heat and thankfully early September brought rain so that the fruit could swell, hang on and wait for the harvest on September 27th. Fruit is developed, rippling with poly-phenolic grip and ripped with musculature. 31,000 bottles. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Madonna delle Grazie 2021

A vintage sandwiched between two of established structure at harvest time and described by Jacopo Mori as one of finesse and equilibrium. The Madonna delle Grazie selection has so much in common with the Brunello but what separates this wine is more than just a matter of concentration and mouthfeel. Usually power extends from finesse and elegance but in 2021 all the fruit and then everything in barrel was very close in character. Quality too and so the grape selection was made easier, resulting in a Selezione the team held with full confidence in their choices. The 2021 delivers fruit with many levels of violet perfumes of multifarious quality as a by product of small berries with higher ratio of skins.“ A distinction that makes this wine different” explains Jacopo Mori. Purity incarnate and from the protégé and next generation, absolute truth spoken. 9,500 bottles. Drink 2028-2036. Tasted November 2025

Il Palazzone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Must say the aromatic presence of this 2021 sangiovese feels so familiar, sweetly herbal, comfortable and recognizable. The style expresses a consistency of the house, a sticking to choices for making wines in a very specific way. A sap of sangiovese blood run through with mineral and wood, looking to come together though that has not yet happened. A year should do the trick. Drink 2027-2030. Tasted November 2025

Il Palazzone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Le Due Porte 2021

Recognizable moment here from the Vigna 2021 to connect with the classic Brunello label in a clear and present consistency of style. Exaggeration of sappy fruit, sweet herbals and liquified minerals all in one flavourful pool. Less anticipated structure than what might be necessary to live a really long life. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025

Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Very sangjovese, truly Il Poggione, verifiably vintage 2021. A most aromatic display, perfumes of red fruits and flowers, replays in flavours that only serve to accentuate the dream. Chewy and pulpy fruit make for an accessible, amenable and most well-rounded Brunello. No real reason to wait on these – Pour them in restaurants and dining rooms while other more austere 2021s work through their issues. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2025

L’Aietta Brunello di Montalcino DOC 2021

Campione: A 2021 Brunello that Francesco Mulinari will bottle two days from now and so it’s really quite a finished wine. Aged in Slavonian cask of 5.5, 10 and 11.5 hL with the oldest being 23 years of age. More fruit because of the prominence of vintage and no problems with the April frost because of elevation at 400m in Castelnuovo dell’Abate and nearly 500m at L’Aietta. Then again 10 percent was pulled away from the home vineyard for a selection called Selezione Alberelli. Drier season and hotter than 2019 but acidity is equal and the structure more powerful. This is a fabulous wine, already showing some experience and maturity yet protected and surely built to last in this state for seven-plus years. Zero marmalata, aged for 45 months and of an architectural soundness to equip this sangiovese for a long life to live. 14 percent alcohol and 1,392 bottles made. Drink 2027-2035.Tasted September 2025

La Fortuna Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

The Brunello is essentially a 50-50 split between La Fortuna and Castelnuovo dell’Abate fruit through the 30 percent loss to April frost in ’21 means less quantity from the southern vineyards. Still the balance is struck between the two with acidity rising and striking like the Rosso and so the northeast makes a strong statement for the vintage. The signature of La Fortuna and a personality so inviting with each sip induing saliva to wish for another. This is sangiovese that travels up the sides of the plate and back on repeat. Wood is a factor, from Slavonian (27 hL) cask while notes are also floral from a Brunello unrequitedly clean and precise. Amazing balance for 15 percent alcohol. Drink 2027-2033.Tasted September 2025

La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

At first recognizable as an existing link to many other Brunello di Montalcino but then distinctive, unique to house and location, but also vintage. More open and generous in perfume before retreating and tightening on the palate. Tannins are firm, a bit austere and also drying in a most traditional way. Drink 2028-2032. Tasted November 2025

La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino DOCG La Pieve 2021

Quite a taut and for the vintage high acid example of 2021 Brunello. Ultra sangiovese, verifiable and true, a just and righteous way to express the variety in all its ancient Tuscan wisdom and high toned splendour. Cracker ’21, scintillant of lightning sangiovese strike, crisp and ready for food. Ragù or ragù? Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

La Lecciaia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

High acid launch for sangiovese to jump with excitability and attract immediate attention. This from a 2021 of syrup and sap, like many but it is the acidity that helps fruit proceed with great determination. Settles in nicely and precisely for pleasure and attraction of flavours before drying with some tannic austerity. A wine in three parts needing a few years to come together. Drink 2028-2032. Tasted November 2025

La Lecciaia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Manapetra 2021

A much deeper and darker fruit expression of 2021 Brunello, rich in poly-phenolic properties, extract up there with the top end examples and fruit reaching away from the reds and into blacks and blues. Not as tannic as expected, nor does austerity make itself known. The extra substance will work to see this Vigna Brunello age for just about the same timeframe as the Brunello. Drink 2028-2032. Tasted November 2025

La Magia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Certifiably La Magia, verifiably without a doubt and would wager a guess that scientific analysis should prove the specs on this 2021 Brunello to come from no place else. Scents and tastes like the house, the vines and fruit with unequivocal characteristic style. Crunchy and laden with the localized macchia, sweetened of its own volition and vertical as it always must be. As clean and clear as ever, a trusted sangiovese complete and poised at this appellative level. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2025

La Magia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Ciliegio 2021

Ciliegio is connected like a fraternal twin to La Magia’s classic Brunello, more than acting as an extension from one to another. Not so much a matter of style but instead intendment and pretty much the most matter of fact Etichetta Brunello in the whole of the territory. What happens in the vineyard and the cellar is obvious to its maker, unavoidable and so the wine is the vintage, and vice versa. Quality without compromise, no matter the yield. Drink 2028-2035. Tasted November 2025

Le Chiuse Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Then there is this. Come with its fruit identified and recognized from place and size to match A Lorenzo Magnelli concept and method to create Brunello di Montalcino. Makes for a compact yet far from densely layered sangiovese of fruit so red you gotta wear shades. A rare Brunello of depth without weight and steadfastness and backbone without compaction or compression. There is elastic tension mind you and that is the crux of the vintage situation for a wine needing time to reach its intended and desired destination. Enduring yet inviting, supremely confident, exacting and finally promising. Drink 2029-2042. Tasted November 2025

Le Macioche – Famiglia Cotarella Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Dark fruit and enthusiastic perfume, yet in a way still closed while knowing so much lays in waiting. Richness incarnate with Balsamico and then a serious swath of tannic freight spreading across the palate. Strong mocker for 2021 Brunello, more than many and needing time. Drink 2028-2032. Tasted November 2025

Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino DOC 2021

Very little stress at Le Potazzine despite frost issues in the lower parts of Montalcino, heat and no rain through to August and hail on August 17th. Nothing at 500m in the west at Le Potazzine. Lucky, fortunate and blessed, which means Riserva could also be made. Picking began on September 26th – completely normal, whatever that is. Not a heavy crop, regular alcohol at 14 percent and very minimal sorting required. Ok the fruit is exemplary but the tannins – these are the quality you look for in sangiovese. Very youthful, reductive at this early stage and wound really tight, like a producer at midnight wondering if its will rain the night before the start of harvest. You can cut the tension with a Bistecca Fiorentina knife and so attention, attenzione, come back and try again in November. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted September 2025

Lisini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Ultra red fruit led sangiovese, pressed to express all availability from the ’21 vintage, including acidities soft and hard, making for a variegated affair. Tannins come up and break a bit with brittle tension. Time will help though this is not the estate’s most sound wine ever made. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted November 2025

Marchesi Frescobaldi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Castelgiocondo 2021

More of a “balanced vintage,” says winemaker Davide Bozzon, with a longer harvest from mid-September through to the early days of October. Comes from 20-30 blocks within the Castelgiocondo estate. There was a frost on the 8th-9th of April but the damage was minimal with thanks to vines at elevation above the frost line. Richness incarnate, as always these days with a red to black cherry set of notes from aromas through flavours and finishing with that knowable bitter pit note. Good acidity however with a low-ish pH in 2021, though always at Castelgiocondo where temperature excursions are greater than some other sectors of Montalcino. Average production is 350,000 bottles per year. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted September 2025

Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Aromas and mouthfeel pack a stronger punch and the sangiovese shows firmer grip than many from 2021, leading this Classic Brunello label in two directions. The first with volumetric fruit blessed with nature’s sweets and the second by structural presence to take over in the interim years. After three or four the two will come together and then three or four more will be the best. Be patient and allow for this to come about. Drink 2028-2032. Tasted November 2025

Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Loreto 2021

Further along and out there in aromatic presence but also volume than the classic Brunello label which means the Loreto speaks truth to the Etichetta and Vigna ideal. Here a sangiovese exaggerative of riches, stronger mocker and more pressed fruit for success come from higher quality grapes. Chosen ones, layered with their supportive acidifies and a manifest to elevate the game. The mid point for the house and the one to serve as one decade turns over to the next. Drink 2028-2033. Tasted November 2025

Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Schiena d’Asino 2021

A clear and present message is delivered by this top echelon Brunello with the most amusing Etichetta name in Montalcino. The donkey’s butt (or maybe saddle) is the most luxe and chic sangiovese of the three, each incrementally more suave than the last and the promise delivered this time is special indeed. Fruit is glorious, acidity sweet, sultry even and tannins are so bloody fine. Drink 2028-2035. Tasted November 2025

Máté Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

The sort off red fruit that splits a mind between vintage and house, reminiscent or rather exemplary of both, one layered or stitched through the other. Also savoury, like two-tone liquorice, of waxy paraffin crayon and a sharp tang. Feels like having been here before, comfortable and yet keenly aware of the vivid style. Drink 2027-2030. Tasted November 2025

Máté Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Veltha 2021

The Vigna Veltha label takes refinement to another level, noted immediately in aromas gentle and inviting. A swirl of vintage fruit allowed to settle and fill up the palate with only what’s correct and without extraneous additives. The herbs, savoury bites, wood seasoning, tartaric acids and qualitative tannin are all there by association and for great purpose. The Brunello does what needs and delivers what wants. It works very well. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2025

Molino di Sant’Antimo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Paolus 2021

Ever so noticeably reductive sangiovese, surely owing to its youth as a Brunello having been recently put to bottle. Challenging season for Molino di Sant’Antimo with 40 percent loss to the April frost and what was left was ripe red fruit with kicks of tang and super energy. Moderate alcohol, definite soil-driven chalkiness, salt and white pepper seasoning, harmonious and two years away from integrating. Don’t really notice the wood at all, save for another layer on the structure of the wine. No doubt sangiovese for sangiovese’s sake, a sense of Molino’s southeastern Montalcino location at the vortices where the Orcia and Ombrone rivers meet, just above them with a backdrop of forest, exposed soft tufo cliffs and the hill of Poggio di Sotto. Valeria is happy in the end because the vintage brought all of this diversity together. Potential is really promising and there is a moment when a Costanti Brunello is invoked, if only in the blink of an eye. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2025

With Annalisa and Patrizia Cencioni

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Patrizia Cencioni calls her 2021 a sample but it’s not a true campione because it was bottled in May and has settled more than three months. Therefore a finished wine and the same wine that will be released to the market. The frost vintage did not affect this sector because bud break is later and pruning can still take place just after Christmas. In any case there is a sense of wonder in this ’21 Brunello, of sangiovese seduction however demure that may be and a magical energy transmitted to the senses. Something stirs and in turn turns the screws of emotion, even if we can’t put a finger on exactly what that is. And it does not matter. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted September 2025

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Ofelio 2021

As with the Classico Brunello the Selezione is named a “sample” by Patrizia Cencioni even though it is a bottled and finished wine. Ofelio is named for the only Montalcinese who was there to help 20 year-old Patrizia Cencioni get things started back in 1987 and mainly comes from the three oldest vineyards, planted from 1987-1989. In the early days Paolo Vaggagini was the oenologist – Since 2018 it has been Valentino Chiarla. The first vintage of the label was 2018 and yet the Selezione produced in 2015 and 2016 (in the same way) were called 30 and 31, in honour of anniversary vintages. Next level richness, ripeness and concentration, also structural elements with a truly chalky, northeastern Montalcino elemental style. There is some leathery fruit with depth and breadth, vertically and horizontally, meeting at a shared axis. Surely a more traditional Brunello, aged only in 15 and 16 hL Slavonian cask. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted September 2025

Pian delle Vigne Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

When dusty is cool and liquid savoury elements pool, the result is a sangiovese just like this. Somewhere between crunch and chew, a middle ground food where correct and without risk is the order of the day. Delivers a vintage message if without exclamation and certainly without question. Perfectly fine. Drink 2027-2029. Tasted November 2025

Pietroso Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Either the vintage made for a sangiovese lower in alcohol than usual or the house adjusted picking and winemaking ever so slightly to make that happen. Or perhaps the work put in has offered up the perception of less boozy power. Either way the 2021 drinks with gentle distinction and who would not be seduced by this power of restraint and nurturing grip? A winner and still champion sangiovese for a place on the hill falling steeply to the south west where the sun falls with declension on vines as the warmth of the days descends. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2025

Pinino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Good chew of sangiovese fruit in a way that most 2021 do not is the way of this fresh pressed fruit leather of a Brunello. Quick to make its point, also to finish and so drink this early. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted November 2025

Podere Brizio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

The first thing you notice about southwesterly Brizio Brunello is the aromatic exoticism as compared to northerly Poggio Landi. The third is the difference in tannins, more plush, layered and mouth-filling. In between there is the seamlessness of transition from Mediterranean macchia perfumes to the silken texture. A youthful exuberance defines the character, wood needs to integrate in bottle and the future looks very promising. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2025

Podere Le Ripi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Amore e Magia 2021

Devilishly perfumed by way of dangerously decadent aromas launch the theatrics that are this 2021 Brunello. A sangiovese risk taken and reward gifted to those who want natural but also territorial. The exciting nature of this ’21 brings more than simply grape and place to the glass – It represents possibility and promise, two things some traditional houses are consistent to provide while many others will be hit or miss. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025

Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Similar exoticism and sweetness of fruit though a clearer picture is painted with the classico Brunello label. Does not flirt with swarthy danger nor does there seem to be the same kind of risks involved. At the price it commands these are good things to please the buyer who wants a correct and elevated sangiovese experience. There is a fineness to this 2021 and a type of acidity second to none that serves to express for the kind of consumer buyer hooked on a feeling. Poggio Antico “you got me thirsty for another cup of wine.” Drink 2028-2033. Tasted November 2025

Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna I Poggi 2021

Aromatic depth is paramount to drawing one in for a magical, impressionable and experiential sangiovese ride. Expectation from a cru vineyard as important as I Poggi must not only be respected but also elevated – This has been accomplished and the result in 2021 is simply extraordinary. What isn’t seductive and rewarding about this sangiovese? Everything melts on the palate, all aspects coming aboard later are woven seamlessly together and the palate embrace does wonders for morale and well being. A spiritual retreat as Brunelo di Montalcino. Drink 2028-2035. Tasted November 2025

Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

To be honest this 2021 is extremely young and not nearly as forthright or giving to fully inuit what it will become. Then again the exemplary fruit in all its ripe and fleshy beauty knows to act submissive to backbone in a composition as upright and vertical as any. There is the temptation to see this ’21 as sublime but at this stage that would be saying or giving away far too much. For now there is plenty to appreciate and know that the finest days lay well ahead. Drink 2028-2038. Tasted November 2025

Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

The 2021 Brunello reminds of the 2023 Rosso in the citrus aspect and finishing stone fruit bitters, although the fruit is darker, texture silkier and finish smoother. Lower yields and more concentration with longer (30 months) in botti make for a more elegant sangiovese expression. Length on the ’21 Brunello is excellent. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025

Renieri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Correct, clean, well composed and structured sangiovese as 2021 Brunello. Hits essential vintage notes with a mix of the fruity and savoury, accented by sharpening acidity, salt and pepper seasoning. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted November 2025

Ruffino Greppone Mazzi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

The 2021 is really the first vintage with the finishing stamp off new winemaker Alberto Stella, 32 months in French and Slavonian botte and just recently bottled in July. Like the 2020 there is reserve and hesitation upon entry but the fruit is different from 2021, more on the red to black spectrum with an absence of the 2020 blues. The Balsamico and macchia character (derived from the land, including limestone and marl) are more like 2019 and so not only is ’21 a good combination of the two, it takes the best of each of the two previous vintages and uses their personality traits to the best advantage. Wood, inclusive of perceived sweet spices, really needs to settle and the tannins are suave. With vines now passing the 20 year mark the ceiling raises and 2021 will become a fine wine. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted September 2025

Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Silky, suave, modernized, fruit captured at peak and truly sleek sangiovese. Flirts uncompromisingly with swarthy danger and works hard to play it clean, bringing something unique and also structured to a Brunello experience. Taste this and know there are no peers, certainly nothing replicative and then come to appreciate the soul within the style. Some will embrace the low level Brettanomyces and worryingly others will not. Drink 2027-2029. Tasted November 2025

Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Piaggione 2021

The Etichetta Brunello is always a one of denominational kind, a singular experience in sangiovese and something expressive of planning, the journey and execution. The 2021 is noticeably primary to be honest and all the better for it because it means there is much to learn from many tastings over the years from a wine equipped to handle time. Loving the clarity and transparency of this anything but light ’21 instead viewed as a stealth Brunello with unlimited potential. Drink 2028-2036. Tasted November 2025

Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Sorgente 2021

Of the Salicutti Brunello portfolio in Classico, Annata or Brunello (Etichetta), or however you wish to refer to them, it is the Sorgente that speaks in the clearest, most succinct and utterly concise characterful vernacular. A dialectical Salicutti language once understood to the greatest degree allowable that will continually act in its extroverted way. The 2021 is endowed with a fine calcareous chalk swirling in centrifuge in the whirling whizz of devilishly and naturally formulated purest fruit imaginable. This is quietly and stealthily formidable as a sangiovese to represent itself. Great beauty and promise for decades to come. Bravi ragazzi di questa tenuta. Drink 2028-2044. Tasted November 2025

San Felice Campogiovanni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Just the third Brunello 2021 tasted for this first Anteprima day and already a thread is weaving through a style and effect to explain a vintage after early returns. Power and grip yes but in a controlled and vertical way, proper, correct and classic. As if this were a really warm vintage 20 or 25 years ago when not all were like that and so the celebrations came fast and with conviction. Campogiovanni does this with savour and Balsamico, but also wood spice and an early note of sottobosco. Good complexity here. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2025

San Guglielmo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

There are classic houses in Montalcino and there are newer discoveries descended down from historical properties, now in the hands of experienced youth. This is the distinction of Ilaria and Michele, hosts and messengers for 2021 sangiovese, now ten years into their journey. The 2021 marks another turning point, a move ever so forward again, with a better understanding of how care outside begets promise inside. The fruit feels like it truly belongs and the acidity is pitch perfect. Tonality glides with the treble highs and bass lows interconnected and layered as required. All in all there is balance and the proviso for backbone to carry the wine up, up and away. When will it come down? Nobody knows. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2025

Sanlorenzo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Bright and a great clarity with highest while also sweetest acidity for 2021 Brunello. Purity of sangiovese and the most croccante of all the ‘21s, never wavering or falling from its high-toned, scintillant and electric style. Exciting although there are many (Italians namely) who will question the lightness as being un-Brunello. Drink 2027-2030. Tasted November 2025

San Polino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Quiet and reticent nose, fruit lurking in shadows, not yet open for floral business. Feels like a full and substantial Brunello in waiting, glycerol and salty chalkiness run below. Needs a couple, maybe even a few years to rise. Drink 2028-2034. Tasted November 2025

San Polo Marilisa Allegrini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Bigger and broader shouldered Brunello for 2021, clear and present quality from a particular part of Montalcino above and aboard the concave bowl with valleys falling left and right below. Delivers the sensation of a muscular soil with skeletal elements breaking up the compaction to allow air and liquid nutrients into its fissures, to drink it up and fill its boots. This 2021 has bones and just needs a year or two for the fruit to flesh, rise and give. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

San Polo Marilisa Allegrini Brunello di MontalcinoDOCG Vignavecchia 2021

Intensity from the word go with old vines responsible for focus and even more evidenced by own gathering in assemblage. The aromatic presence is duly impressive, again with thanks to the experience of these plants and the matter concerns allowing them to speak without hinderance. The winemaker has succeeded in transmitting the information and emotion in a most necessary way. The finish does denote a pecorino woolliness that should subside after two or three years more time. Drink 2028-2033. Tasted November 2025

San Polo Marilisa Allegrini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Podernovi 2021

A mix of the herbal and herbaceous, an uncanny hemp note that repeats itself, followed by the original development of red cherry fruit. Together they occupy space if not in simultaneous or seamless fashion. Vignavecchia feels more in tune and attuned to its tethered parts while Podernovi is obviously a vineyard entity that needs even more settling time. Drink 2029-2034. Tasted November 2025

Sesti di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Crisp and grippy sangiovese with reddest of red citrus fruit and an aromatic waft of fresh roses. Crunchy too, tannic as well with some austerity quite proper for the style and effect. Does what needs for Brunello without overdone elements, not from maceration nor fermentation, nor by anything that has or will happen. Drink 2027-2030. Tasted November 2025

Sesti di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Magistra 2021

Magistra registers a much deeper resonance than the classic Brunello label, aromatically plush juxtaposed against a low-toned intention. Sappy and syrupy, yet to sate and unresolved at this early stage, finishing with seriously grippy tannin in relative austerity. Confounding, especially as compared to the restraint noted in the classic label. Drink 2028-2031. Tasted November 2025

Sesti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Composed, admittedly a bit closed and yet fully collected Brunello of extreme youth. Far from opening and what feels like a minimum four years necessary to see that happen. The silken fruit lays low, not as an agitated bubble but in a gentle simmer, never rolling or roiling but just a pop here and there. Purity of sangiovese incarnate comes from a classic ’21 of true learned meets modern vibes, but giving off an aura of old soul. Would choose to wait three years before seeing what is not only possible, but coming upon a place in Montalcino that will surely feel like home. Drink 2029-2040. Tasted November 2025

Talenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Quite open and immediately generous for a type of gratification you won’t need to stand in line for. Suave and sleek through light on its feet and sneaky of structure to look ahead and enjoy a solid 10 year run. Admittedly one year further in bottle will ever so slightly soften the prickling of sharp acidity and tannic austerity. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2025

Talenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Piero 40esima Vendemmia 2021

Special “40th harvest” edition for the Etichetta label as an extension of the first, connected with as much kinship as any for Brunello di Montalcino. What is noticed more readily is the backbone, verticality of structure and requiem for time to assimilate and integrate the grippy early stage events of this sangiovese. For now it remains in a moment of tension and austerity, but that will pass and what comes next will be years of primary delight. Drink 2028-2039. Tasted November 2025

Tassi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Fruit forward and open sangiovese for 2021, with soft acidity and tannin, all in synch and ready to please. A 2021 for early drinking, no hurdles or locked doors, window just about wide open. Creamy mid-palate unlike many from the vintage. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2025

Tassi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Colombaiolo 2021

Deeper aromatic inhalant of exaggerated sangiovese character to speak in a clear and forcefully prompt message. Tight winding wind of acidity around the fruit and tannins taut but also with the feeling of being tart. Unique Brunello 2021 perspective and a wine worth watching, especially through its first five years. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Hard to know just what each vintage save from the extreme ones are want to do for each and every nook of Montalcino. This however is a thought that can apply after a season like 2021 and one moment of nosing TBT’s classic label will tell you the southeast near below Castelnuovo dell’Abate has fared extremely well. As floral and mineral as any, dark fruit in the cherry spectrum pure and proper, so bloody sangiovese. Just enough glycerol to effect great mouthfeel and then backbone to extend length. Wood needs some time to melt in because the vanilla is noticeable, as are some spices, though they will all dissolve within given two years further in bottle. Drink 2027-2034. Tasted November 2025

Tenuta San Giorgio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021 Ciampoleto

Relatively speaking there is quiet and coolness in the opening aromatic salvo of Collemassari’s sister Brunello to Poggio di Sotto upwards on a semi-shared hill. Time in the glass opens the window and so that same give in bottle will do the same. There is a beautiful swirl of elements in the San Giorgio but also a getable quality just around the corner. Lovely and amenable wine with natural sweetness run all the way through. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted November 2025

Tenute Donna Olga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

From a group of Brunello labels that include Clos degli Amodeo, Poggiotondo and Pietranera, here from four hectares on the southwestern side of the Montalcino hill. A harmonic single vineyard expression of sangiovese with elevation and Mediterranean macchia running through its veins. Sweetly savoury and crispy or croccante, balance well delineated between fruit and acidity, a note of Balsamico and relatively moderate tannin. Well made, correct and purposed for early consumption. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted November 2025

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Certainly lighter and brighter than the three cru/Riserva 2021s, less wood and red fruit so kind and hospitable. Like a bowl of cherries and blood orange with top ranking acidity and intensity for a long run ahead. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted September 2025

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigneto Poggio Doria 2021

Only old casks are used, lately the wood of choice has been Pauscha (Austrian) and the vessels are acquired from other producers. First vintage of Doria was 2004, here 17 years later and mon dieu how full, substantial and concentrated this shows to be. As chewy and mouth-filling as they come from a style that suits the high quality of southeastern Montalcino fruit. Consulting oenologist is Andrea Politi. Drink 2027-2036.Tasted September 2025

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Manachiara 2021

A cru Brunello that could be a Riserva (and there was one in 2012, although it was the Poggio Doria) and while there are so many tannic moments happening in this highly macerated Brunello there is also a Bordeaux quality stemming from incredible ripeness matched by a grand style of oak aging. Not new mind you, of various sized casks between 20 and 80 hL, all working in extraction to deepen colour and give this sangiovese serious depth. There is more lift in this 2021 with big fruit and also fuel, though the wine is incredibly youthful and far from integrated. Drink 2028-2034. Tasted September 2025

Terre Nere Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Perfumed as always, wood not yet resolved, nor should that be expected from a Brunello that needs the bottle. As all sangiovese do and 2021 is no exception, not for this estate moving from strength to strength. The back palate really picks up on the pull, grip and hold of tannin built into the fabric of a finely spun textural wine. There is some austerity here, throwback in nature for a ’21 of ripeness but also presenting a risk-reward prospect. Wait three years to see the results. Drink 2028-2034. Tasted November 2025

Tiezzi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Agitative profundity of viscous swirl marks a sangiovese of ambition to be a force of reckoning for the 2021 vintage. There feels to be a whole lot of everything in this Brunello, gone for broke, pressed for success, macerated long to eek out all that is possible. Overdone is one way to look at it, playing its cards and showing the full hand another. Tough sledding and not sure there will be a great future here. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted November 2025

Tommasi Casisano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

In Italy location determines results in sangiovese for as much as any combination of grape with place to effect the character of its wines. Here the commonality with some other 2021 Brunello delivers spice, inclusive of cinnamon heart on the nose. Wood is part of this fixed and quantified matter, working with località to create the recognized consequence. A positive one in attributable personality not specific to this vintage but to wines made here as a general rule. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025.

Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

To understand this sangiovese from Andrea Cortonesi is to first recognize agriculture, followed by game. What begins in the field translates into the cantina for a consistency of style bred out of the argumentation of intention. The structural matters are always followed, as they are with 2021 and those who do not understand these Brunello are focused on the now when they should be using imagination and the powers of deduction to consider the future. Know this. There is fruit, classically attributed and only as ripe as the vintage allows. Acids are localized and the wine rises, slowly, effortlessly and without hurry. Wait for it. Drink 2028-2039. Tasted November 2025

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

There is a natural sweetness in the fruit of this 2021 Brunello standing out and seducing with its easy returns. A layered effect come from three distinct locations together interspersed and so you feel the variegation, particularly in the textural fabric. Length is impressive as the wine lingers in its palate glide. A terrific preparation for tasting the single site wines to come. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted November 2025

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna del Lago 2021

The focus on site is essential to the future of Montalcino and there is an argument to be made for single vineyard blocks located right where the cellar processes the grapes. Vigna del Lago is that place, the vineyard around the lake on the northeast side of Momntalcino’s hill. A warm grey clay place where the sangiovese is stealth, mineral and floral. This driest recent vintage with essential harvest time rain brings out the best for a Vigna sangiovese more vertical than normal. This combination of seduction and backbone raises the bar and ceiling. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2025

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Poggio al Granchio 2021

If at first the aromatics in this single vineyard Brunello may seem to have no connection to the estate’s other Vigna sangiovese, well in some sense that would be the case. The verdancy here, an evergreen note and warmer site’s feel of the land’s green pastures does define the scents. Then again from a textural angle the wines surely have much in common. The sangiovese connects with the palate and shows no hurry to depart, in fact it coats and lingers long after the liquid is gone. This is a signature of the house, a chemical process of connection that helps the taster to recall character and style. This example introduces spice and older soul identity for they who are able to intuit and feel that link to the past. Drink 2028-2036. Tasted November 2025

Villa Poggio Salvi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Spicy, cinnamon hearts aroma straight off the top. Wood at the fore and down to the sangiovese core, more spices marking territory and springing the darker cherry character. Really woody Brunello, chalky and grainy, needing time. Drink 2027-2029. Tasted November 2025

Villa Poggio Salvi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Pomona 2021

Taut as it gets for 2021 Brunello, wood spice and tannin run amok, creating a drying and austere sensation marking the second half of the experience. Old school is the understatement here. Drink 2028-2032. Tasted November 2025

Voliero Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Firm and agricultural sangiovese, a wine born of the land, of Balsamico, verdant macchia and surely from smaller, somewhat less juicy berries raised at elevation. Plenty of sun and lack of water delivers a sangiovese of austerity and tannic freight. Missing some grace and generosity although there is no denying the impressive structure and stature. Drink 2028-2033. Tasted November 2025

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Gualto 2020

Energy and exuberance from a Riserva for 2020 that raises the bar for appellative excitement. Impressive capture and preservation of acidity for the vintage, a fact of facet that many estates faced a challenge to perform and here the effort is no small feat. This without any compromise to fruit and so the composition is an impressive one. Well done team, bravissimo. Last tasted November 2025

Traditional, normal and uneventful vintage, “a wine for people to drink, easy to understand,” in the words of winemaker Sergio Cantini. Once again stylistic consistency is inherent in the character of Camigliano’s sangiovese yet here the smaller sized cask (25 and 30 hL) inject their will into Riserva. Adds to the presence of vanilla, lavender and an accentuation of red berry fruit sweetness. Silky and spiced, full of glycerol and a smoothness throughout. The wood needs two more years to fully melt in and resolve. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted September 2025

Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2021

Just amazing to taste Riserva 2021 in the same sitting as both La Casaccia and Montosoli 2021 for three Brunello bottled back in May. Normally Riserva is tasted a year later and so this is a very special opportunity, but keep in mind there was no Riserva made from 2020. From Vigna Vecchia Mercatale inclusive of original plantings from 1987 (Francesco Ripaccioli’s vintage) and the place most connected to his grandfather, the BBS 11 (Biondi-Santi) clone and plants grafted onto old rootstock. A remarkable expression from 2021 with perhaps the most exuberance from the fruit and the sheer sweetness of the acidity. “My idea for Riserva is not one extra year,” says Francesco Ripaccioli, also “it’s a matter of a different vineyard.” From 2021 Vigna Vecchia Mercatale is the stuff of dreams that will live for two decades, likely more. Drink 2029-2042. Tasted September 2025

Capanna Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

If there will be any Brunello Capanna that will benefit the most from the optical sorter introduced in 2023 by the son of Patrizio Cencioni and fourth generation winemaker Amadeo Cencioni, it will indeed be Riserva. For now the 2020 remains a sangiovese sorted and selected by Patrizio and his five decades of local experience. A vintage more than deserving and yes the qualities of concentration and poly-phenolic impression are worthy. Burnished gloss and brilliance elevate fruit on the shoulders of bountiful verticality built on acidity and backbone. Feels soft though is anything but and few Brunello are quite this seductive. There can potentially be 7,000-8,000 bottles of Riserva produced, on average, although most vintages only see three to four. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Still in a reactive state and showing minor reduction expressive of verdancy and pricks of tension. Requires movement, swirl and agitation to release the aromatic possessions ahead of a specific sangiovese’s appurtenances. This 2020 Riserva is not a big Brunello but rather a graceful example in no hurry to shed its baby fat ahead of opening the window high and wide. Take you time and settle in. Drink 2027-2034. Tasted November 2025

Caprili Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Ad Alberto 2020

Good to see the variety and diversity in Riserva 2020 with this example being a much awaited one. Slick and sleek without any gratuity or excess whatsoever. Finding this to be understated and should anyone find it light and without musculature, well good, please and thank you. Leave the other “style” to the rest. There are many who will appreciate the refinement, lack of flash or decoration. Who actually prefers massive, overly pressed or indeed, even precious? Choose wisely Brunello lovers. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2025

Carpineto Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Classic for the house in Riserva with this mix of fruit maturity, dusty macchia, effect of elevation, high acidity and syrupy texture settled upon the palate. The acids keep the energy flowing and the fruit in a paused situation so that it will not decline or descend into leathery chewiness. All is well for the time being. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2025

Corte dei Venti Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Donna Elena 2020

Maturing Riserva well ahead of schedule. Fruit passing over into secondary life from a sangiovese needing to be consumed sooner rather than later. That said there are many who will love a Brunello with the feel and eyes of age, though they might prefer it to be one with at least 10 years post vintage. Tasted November 2025

Corte Pavone Loacker Wine Estates Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Anemone al Sole 2020

An expression of aromatic volume and especially grip, notable and profound as Riserva clearly designed with exaggerated riches in fruit concentration. Must be considered in a specific to Riserva light, of deep impression and understanding. Found to be slightly more mature than expected for a not yet five year-old Brunello though the backbone is vertical and potential remains intact. The tannic thrush of truth is confirmation of that fact. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2025

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Even in Riserva the 2020s are not yet ready and still recognizably tight, with this from Donatella Cinelli Colombini being exemplary to explain the situation. Tannins persist in their pulled taut winding around original material, while texture swells with a depth composed of red ochre fruit, wood nurture and sweet acidity. The extra aging and choice of barrels has come to create true Riserva style for a wine that will join the ranks and live into Casato Prime Donne infamy. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted September 2025

Elia Palazzesi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Floral, red rose freshness and spice components in the generosity of an aromatized beginning. A sangiovese of singular persona, palate presence and an experience that shows more nature than nurture. There is a persistent grain of tannic intention to keep the wine from advancing further and fruit freshness is not put into question. There are Brunello of responsible disposition and this would that in Riserva form. Ready to drink some bottles and will hold for some time yet. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2025

Fanti Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Vigna le Macchiarelle 2020

Should be noted and put out there how the 2020 Riserva to a sangiovese are showing some maturity – It’s simply a matter of vintage. These are not Brunello of extreme freshness and immovable structure, but instead the kind to consider drinking sooner rather than later. Yes the 2020s, inclusive of this will linger gently, gliding in the gusty Tramontana for a few years, but the best days are already here and the processeses have begun. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2025

Fattoria dei Barbi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Freshest and most high toned of the Riserva tased thus far. Just picked red roses bouquet, also ranunculus and a sweet savoury element perfectly aligned. Croccante to a degree that’s not just anticipated but more so warranted to deliver an experience of excitability and longevity. Super smart and crafty Brunello Riserva of classicism and character. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted November 2025

Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Is this this first Marroneto Riserva? You better believe it and anything you thought what understood about a Brunello by Il Marroneto becomes secondary to what’s in this glass. Everything is the same except aging in botti is 54 months instead of 42 and “it’s a particular wine,” says Iacopo Mori. “It requires a little bit of passion.” The fruit darkens, the violets become candied and the tannins bear their teeth in ten times that of those from red fruited 2021. The colour is almost not to be believed and still i’s character of Il Marroneto is clearly preserved. Yes this is solo sangiovese, measuring the highest extract for the variety that has likely ever occurred at the estate. “The monster,” spoken by Alessandro Mori in 2023 when tasted from barrel and related once again by son Iacopo in 2025. There has never been anything like this and the sottobosco and concentration make one wish for fresh morels in the Spring. The tannins need four years to resolve and then those fungi will pair abidingly with this monster. Only four months in bottle, still tense and nervous and yet let the people choose what they want to do and when they want to drink. Drink 2029-2039. Tasted November 2025

Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Vigna Paganelli 2020

Richness accumulated and conclusive, of fruit at the height of a duality, 90 percent fresh and juicy, the rest concentrated and leathery. These feelings noted in aromas and also flavours, pulpy and of a stone fruit style relating to a grand collection of blocks distilled down into Riserva. Sangiovese meanders and connections with every part of the palate, missing nothing, delivering everything. Some drying tannic moments suggest waiting another year or two. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

La Magia Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

A Riserva of experience with leathery fruit aromas suggestive of fleshy if slightly dried stone (plum) fruit. A matter of vintage more than anything else, also the prune note associated with the movement of air and time. Still there is a high toned aspect in the character, along with grip in the tannic profile and so there is still some work to be done. Chewy and then crispy at the finish, a dichotomy wrapped inside a paradox. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

Le Chiuse Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2016

This singular Riserva is best tasted with the producer, perhaps in a way and for reasons that exceed any other in the whole of Montalcino. This because aging is slower, incremental and purposeful. Would not say today that the aromatics are closed, but neither are they aching to speak. Some wines do not need to shout, nor even announce their arrival and this continues to enter the world with a quiet presence. When the sangiovese takes up residence on the palate it does so with the poised demeanour of one that belongs, sharing space and creating an intimacy with its host. A remarkable connection when you consider it’s only wine but some Brunello are marked by such a mien. The Diecianni is one such near perfect bottle. Last tasted November 2025

Just beginning to shed its barrel weight, integrate that spice and see the smallest, most concentrated vineyard berries bursting of their fruit. The vintage is primed and near perfect for a Le Chiuse Riserva and who could not have a taste without thinking about the history and genetic transference of the place. Last tasted November 2024

Never overstate the Lorenzo Magnelli way of crafting Riserva, that is by aging in cask longer than not just the average, but indeed all others. His Le Chiuse Diecianni carries, drifts and gifts the most succulence whilst exhibiting a spice force to ignite the most sensation and emotion. A veritable melting pot of a sangiovese, complexities bound and wound, circulating throughout the wine’s coefficient of existential and elementary positions. These are the smallest of berries picked to forge what only Riserva can, to be cool, mineral licked, ethereal. Already exhibiting fruit purity and also density for a look at what two decades forward will come from this finest of Brunello wines. Drink 2024-2037. Tasted November 2021

Molino di Sant’Antimo Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

The vineyard where Riserva comes from is littered with marne, stones left behind by an ocean many millennia ago, bestrewing the grey clay with limestone and river stones that all combine for a seriously unique example of Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. A place where a river emptied into the sea and that alone tells so much about the nature and potential of this wine. A sangiovese of confluence, commitment and confidence, also clarity and palate response. Fruit is clearly darker than the Classico, but also more so than the coming 2021 vintage, here into a black raspberry hue, still transparent but not the red lightning of 2021. The finish moves into black cherry with a vague hint of stone and so much elemental-mineral longing that will be there on the finish for 10 years or more. Costanti and Le Chiuse would come to mind, especially in the way higher skin to juice ratio from smallest berries sees the transition from Classico to Riserva. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2025

Marchesi Frescobaldi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Castelgiocondo Ripa al Convento 2020

Single vineyard for an early, concentrated and powerful vintage because of the hot and dry summer. No small barrels, only large cask mainly used, of 90-100 hL, really large. South exposure, two separate picks to bring in this smaller amount of fruit, one of silt that brings the essential oil and the other a salty aspect that delivers the architecture. The Galestro from flysch is surely responsible for that saline streak out of a single block that’s all stones at the surface with full draining capacity no matter how much it rains. The roots will always need to burrow deep to access water and the vines respond in kind, delivering a savoury sangiovese of low ph (3.4), high acidity and salty tang. More akin to Tenuta Perano in Gaiole as compared to the larger production Castelgiocondo Brunello. Average production is 15,000-20,000 bottles, on the higher side for 2021. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted September 2025

Northeast Montalcino at Patrizia Cencioni

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 123 2020

The 2020 Riserva (along with the 2021 Brunelli) are the first wines to finish for three months in newly acquired 40 hL concrete vats. No increase in total aging time but three months less in cask. Why 123? Because on the map the vineyards are simply 1,2,3 and they are the oldest plantings, from 1988 and 1989. The stoniest places, 1.2 hectares total, high in calcareous material mixed into the base of argilla. Also higher solar radiation which makes for a quicker to ripen set of circumstances and on average 0.3 to 0.5 higher degree of alcohol. More texture and chew than any of the Classico or Selezione Brunelli, layer upon layer integrated through many layers of fruit and tannin, a mille-feuille lasagna of a sangiovese from the most delicately pressed way. Full yet airy, grippy while elegant and characteristically impressive. Production is maximum 5,000 bottles. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted September 2025

Pietroso Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Nothing mature about this 2020 Riserva but with great immediacy it does come barreling forth in aromas and across the palate. Some sangiovese are quieter and others announce their assertive arrival. Impressive fruit layers crashing like waves on a rocky shore, relentless in their pursuit for commotion. Riserva’s fullness of concentration and sturdy carriage transporting character comes to define a family and their holdings. This is admittedly a big Brunello Riserva and also one found in balance for bottls to be consumed over a lengthy and extended period of time. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted November 2025

Podere Brizio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A year will effect a marked difference for Brizio’s classic Brunello. Today running positively true from a vintage of a cool Spring, followed by a hot summer. “Easier than 2021,” tells Lorenzo Bernini, “and more difficult than 2019. The most normal vintage in recent memory.” In the end the tannins are just a bit “raw.” Last tasted November 2025

Aromatic depth for sure and some peppery warmth to that petroleum nose. Built as Brunello, that is to say with full on wood aging, backbone of structure and ample acidity necessary to see time do the right thing. Well-pressed and dressed for success with another two years needed to begin exacting the desired effect. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2024

Podere Brizio Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Bosco Alto 2020

The Bosco Alto (upper or high forest) comes from the vineyard abutting those woods and so Riserva that ages longer (48 months in Botti Grandi) is refreshed by the forest. This foils the wood with positivity and harmony developing ways, as do the inclusion of ripe stems in the fermentation process. Brings a sweetness to the profile, an encouragement of natural fruit elements to rise above the wood and the tannin, almost surprisingly so. Though longer time spent in oak could result in the requiem for more time in bottle, in this case the wine acts nearly ready and aims to deliver near immediate gratification. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2025

Podere Le Ripi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Lupi e Sirene 2020

Brash, blatant and blunt force sangiovese strike on the senses with Brunello Riserva. Volatility in its most natural, unadulterated and unkempt fashion, undisguised and unapologetic for how a Montalcino Brunello will come about. The fact here is how the tannins are intact, not brittle nor in any danger of cracking. Yet the style is ultra specific and unpolluted by public opinion. Vividly presented for all to choose. Drink 2028-2032. Tasted November 2025

Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Brighter as Riserva for 2020, beauty incarnate, of red rose hue and transparent like few others. No detectable wood on the nose and in many ways so different than the estate’s Brunello of just 10 years ago. The evolution of style but more importantly disposition is welcomed with open arms. Some may not see the shift as currently correct for the denomination, but who could or would not embrace this level of quality and elegance? Having tasted the 2001 in 2025 there is a similarity, if only in delicacy but the discernment is fodder for understanding. Drink 2028-2035. Tasted November 2025

Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

In Riserva the perforce notions of sangiovese in purezza and aromatic intensity are manifested in ways the classic Brunello is not. The extra layers, levels and manifestations are all a bit vivid when youth descries timing and temperament. Many ‘20s are already showing maturity but this, not even close and in fact the reductive and redacted elements lead fruit on the palate in a waxy and unresolved state. Would wait three or four years before opening bottles and considering passing any judgement. Drink 2028-2035. Tasted November 2025

Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Fruit comes from the northern part of Montosoli over a concave bowl of a vineyard filled with argilla, limestone and schist, manifested as Galestro. The geogolgy is Formazione Santa Fiora, the description essentially (like Mastrojanni). Increased power and depth from Riserva for 2020, aged 48 months in Botti Grandi and coming away with many layers of fruit and tannin. Five years old and still the wood is very much settling and integrating to accomplish before fruit can stand out. The uncanny note of almond comes from Riserva, unique to lands at and also near Montosoli, like cherry stone concentrated and almost becoming marzipan. Sweetly volatile right there up on the crest between beauty and danger. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025

Renieri Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Fine aromatic sangiovese swirl with red stone fruit accented by herbs, five spice and citrus. Not the most complicated or complex Riserva and yet acidity ranks high to raise the profile and put this in touch with food on the table. Crunchy 2020, ready to pour and please. Kudos to a team neither trying to overdo or ask too much of a vintage. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2025

Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Teatro 2020

The Salicutti paradox is vividly represented in the Riserva 2020, a wine closer in style and effect to the Brunello than either Piaggione or Sorgente. Here from the wild casks, of natural fruit and its volatile accents. Unbridled, non-manipulated and unadulterated, left to its own devices, wooly and unabashedly itself. Tannins are fine and important but Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2025

Sesti Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Phenomena 2020

Be in no hurry to gather thoughts on this Riserva. Take a moment, give it time and wait for the right moment to begin making comments and decisions. The aromas flow forth measured, slowly and gracefully, carefully considered from a pitch of selected red fruit seasoned with citrus zest. Just enough tart edginess to accent the bleed of sangiovese swirled into a natural pool of acidity, tannin and mood. For 2020 the effect is quietly impressive and yet could not have been easy to deliver. But it succeeds because a wine of humility can only come from out of the clutches of respect. Riserva is a mix of luminous skies and contentment. Drink 2028-2036. Tasted November 2025

Talenti Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Pian Di Conte 2020

A reductive element locks in freshness and keeps the 2020 Riserva from extending the proverbial olive branch. Not yet anyway and for the vintage there are both local and Mediterranean scents in the somewhat restrictive aromas. A Sant’Angelo in Colle herbaceous notation mixed with macchia brought in by far way winds that denote something singular. Crunchy Riserva, freschissimo, red stone fruit surrounded by tannin, dominated even and years away from settling. Drink 2028-2033. Tasted November 2025

Tenuta San Giorgio Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Ugolforte 2020

Fruit and wood are both providers of the spice in a lustrous and glossy Riserva. Of course this could only come from sangiovese, also Montalcino and to be honest the lower part of the hill occupied by Poggio di Sotto. The fruit is accepted by citrus and a red peppery spice specific to this wine. Impressive binate for the estate. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted November 2025

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

A Riserva bottled in June of 2025 with the heaviest set of fruit and fuel, not to mention the grandest wallop of tannins imaginable for a Montalcino Brunello Riserva. Biggest, of deepest depths and years from resolving structural parts keeping fruit down, hidden away, undisturbed. Three months in bottle is far from the time needed to have any real inkling what’s in this glass. Then again there is some lift and rise to the 2021, red fruit freshness and great potential laid ahead. Keep looking at 2018, allow 2019 to keep settling, (there is no 2020 Riserva) and then return for 2021 way forward in 2028. Drink 2028-2036.Tasted September 2025

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Rich in poly-phenolic presence, red citrus and glycerol for veritable and verifiable Riserva style. This 2020 has gone deep into the well to gather, accumulate and concentrate fruit, a necessity considering the verdant bites and especially tension alongside. Feels like Vigna Poggio al Granchio plays an important role in Riserva, especially in 2020. A sleek example, complex and so near to the time when it will be evident that the invitation should be opened. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2025

Argiano

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG – Older Vintages

Aminta Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Fruit mainly from vineyards planted at the turn of the (20th to 21st) century by the previous owner when the farm was called Poggio Castellare. There is no questioning the quality of the fruit and the part of Montalcino where it’s grown. 3,000 bottles produced. Last tasted November 2025

Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta “Greppo” 2020

They were very different climatic vintages but aromatically speaking there is a kinship between Rosso 2023 and Brunello 2020, which is to say a Biondi-Santi-ness that can’t be ignored, or denied. That and a physiological ripeness of heritage and tradition, as if this were made out of a vintage of a hot summer sometime 25 to 35 years ago. In other words a vintage that by let’s say 1985 standards would have been considered hot. This makes 2020 the kind of Brunello that makes one long for the past, not to return but to experience something from a time when things were more naive, less stressful and at a time when summer seemed to last forever. Not perfectly ripe or come from something easy, but relatively speaking a sangiovese of great pleasure and one that will age gracefully for potentially 30 years. An old soul sangiovese can do this. Drink 2026-2041. Tasted November 2025

With Cosimo Squarcia, Castello di Tricerchi

Castello Tricerchi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Pinch of TCA. A three parcel Brunello, contiguous with one higher in limestone and one more defined by its red soil. The picking rolls through the three from east to west, the second and third ripening later than the first. Has come to a fine place and truthfully the 2020 is now ready to drink. Last tasted November 2025. Here sangiovese takes on a unique aromatic profile as the first to exhibit this note of fresh fennel or liquorice root, along with its cool, salt-licked black cherry profile. The vintage is not necessarily one of fruit but rather in so many cases more about mineral stone. And yet Tricerchi’s delivers the fruit in waves, with fresh cut herbs that muddle into an Amaro finish. Once again place is the driver and these abiders make sure to have transmitted it into bottle. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Castello Tricerchi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG A.D. 1441 2020

Single vineyard sangiovese, a cru Brunello from Piedmontazine styling spent six months under a submerged (wet) cap. Tasted from two bottles, one opened yesterday and one this morning, the first more expressive and complex, the second fresher and feeling like a different vintage. You can choose which one you want, to drink the wine young, or at the end of the decade, as you wish, for one or another different experience altogether. Last tasted November 2025

Like son, like father, so goes Etichetta as goes Brunello, of aromas fresh and succulent with liquorice up front. Rich elixir of sangiovese through all the waves of exotically charged località aromas and flavours. A Balsamico though not a savoury one, no it’s more herbal and sweetly appetizing. Stimulates the palate to prepare for more sips and were luck be on side, a plate of carne alla griglia. No necessity to specify which protein because AD 1441 will work with all and measurably so. Terrific work from the Squarcia family. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Nastagio 2020

Travel back one year, not as 2020 Riserva tasted in 2025 but rather Vigna, a Nastagio held back as if it were a matter of the former. In a way it is exactly that, an extra year in bottle before the market can get a hold of its treasures, namely of increased aromatic volume, of perfumes specific to vintage. There are many reasons to wait on these Brunelli, especially from 2020 because the extra year of aging has done wonders to develop and even exaggerate their charms. Case in point 2020 Nastagio, a fine sangiovese with essential acids and yet wood still a prominent factor, here beginning to truly open for the first time. Drink 2027-2034. Tasted November 2025

Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG – LOT. 1 2020

Newest label in the Col d’Orca portfolio with next generation Santiago Marrone in the design mix for Lot. 1, Etichetta style. Not too dissimilar to the classic label if perhaps a bit more stoic and vertical. Higher acid profile and red citrus intensity as well – To be honest the sensation is more of a food wine that was influenced by a lover of riesling. What that has to do with sangiovese is up to you to interpret. but it is what it is. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2025

Giodo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2020

It seems like winemaker Riccardo Ferrari is extremely proud of his work with Brunello di Montalcino 2020, a very different wine from a truly apposite vintage. This when there was only one label and so all the Brunello fruit came here – This will change with a second label (Prètto) in 2021. A fast evolution happening, neither in reduction nor oxidation but in the way the fruit is showing, so floral and exotic at this stage. Tannins remain grippy and the wine finishes with a phenolic presence. Last tasted November 2025

There are profound examples of Brunello di Montalcino unique to place and more important vintage. This would be such a sangiovese because its aromas seem to be specific to the land from whence it came and flavours do the same. Or different, perhaps in deference to other wines yet apropos and consistent to itself. Dried herbs and brush, a Macchia Mediterranea ultra specific and in the end what we like to call evergreen biome. This is fascinating when you consider the oenological style of the maker but kudos to a winemaker who lets the land be the ultimate judge. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Gorelli Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Clarity, finesse, focus and transparency, all English words to describe a Gorelli sangiovese yet none exacting enough to translate in Italian to say what you want to say. In any case a Brunello from 2020 that hits the correct notes and in this vintage with a true sense of località, whether that be defined as Canalicchio or something akin to Vigna del Lago. In any case there is a northeastern sensibility and an evergreen herbal aspect with true clay soil terroir. Still young and yet to integrate all of its Slavonian botti, finishing with a ton of chocolate. Last tasted September 2025

Welcome to one of the first and only reductive Brunelli and this from a wine 50 in during Benvenuto’s annual Montalcino affair. High toned sangiovese yet still tight and yet to unwind. Not yet ready for aromas to leap and bound from the glass, hiding back the fun and the fight. Some Brunello express this kind of tension on the nose and this would be a high and mighty example of such an animal. Closed fist of sangiovese strength with a savoury masala of lentisk, myrtle, heath, broom and rockrose in ever living-loving greens that currently pique the red fruit. Quite pure and also of a tannic intensity choosing not to relent. That and Botti Grandi with a mind to make a point as well but my goodness this Brunello is equipped with fruit and acidity to guarantee the prize will last long, the road well travelled and the destination far away. How can you not be seriously impressed by the content and structure of this wine? Drink 2027-2036. Tasted twice, November 2024

Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Weather like 2022 and character like 2021 defines the dichotomy of Il Marroneto’s 2020 Brunello. Now settled one further year in bottle and frankly so much pleasure to be had at this early stage of its tenure. Purity of fruit and no walls to climb, nor hoops to jump through. “My objective is to have the same quality in every vintage,” says Iacopo. “Not the same wine, the same quality.” These are unbelievable tannins, suave yet finely grainy and working, working to develop and be ready to change when the time is right and the requiem to mature is necessary. Marroneto is a place to spend time with family and this 2020 really takes that to heart, not for the first time but in a new or rather next way. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2025

Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Madonna delle Grazie 2020

Talk about the passion and the purity but with Madonna delle Grazie also the formidable assets of structural freight that in the current state do not want to relent. Then again in 2020 the difference between Brunello and Madonna delle Grazie is the first time the quality and stage presence of the two seem to be inching closer together. Meanwhile the natural sweetness of fruit makes this feel to be an amazingly elegant wine. Could there be a worry that separating the two will get harder and harder? No because the ’23 and ’24 vintages will see a larger chasm and going forward this will simply be a good problem to have. Drink this MdG as soon as you wish. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2025

L’Aietta Brunello di Montalcino DOC 2020

Classico Brunello is 70 percent Castelnuovo dell’Abate fruit plus the total production at the Alberello L’Aietta vines. Purely and expressly sangiovese with fine, tension-filled, implosive and instructive tannin. You may consider and call it old school but that would be simplifying the existential question. L’Aietta is an old soul in modern sangiovese, classic and forward thinking, knowing, experienced and looking straight ahead. So bloody proper and the feeling just speaks to the land, maker and what must be will be. Drink 2026-2032.Tasted September 2025

L’Aietta Brunello di Montalcino DOC Alberelli 2020

Just 10 percent of the yield from L’Aietta’s Alberello vines are put into the 300 bottle production of the “Selezione Alberelli.” For Francesco Mulinari the normal Brunello sees a tartaric acidity number of 5.8 to 6.1 g/L and yet the Alberelli vines reach 6.4, with a lowest of the low Brunello pH of 3.25. Virtually unheard of and he’s certain it is the sandstone (Arenaria) soils that deliver this effect. A stoic, not yet static and surely poised sangiovese that may have no peers in the whole of Montalcino. Once again that sense of maturity and purpose, experience, acumen and reason with a look to the future. Tannic chain and freight are both serious yet inviting and coupled with the acidity the aging potential is endless. Drink 2028-2038.Tasted September 2025

La Fortuna Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A particular vintage with summer heat and harvest rain that made picking challenging and timing was everything. This fruit first came in early from Castelnuovo dell’Abate and then late post rains from that southern vineyard along with the harvest at La Fortuna. The result is elastic concentration while the overall profile maintains the presence of higher acidity. This is because the northeast can keep that aspect of structure going even while patience is exercised. The energy does not match 2019 and yet the savour in macchia and Balsamico exceeds that previous vintage. There is some liquorice and tar with a deeper resonance. Keep in mind no Riserva was made and so that fruit mixed in makes for a different expression of the Brunello. Drink 2025-2029.Tasted September 2025

Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino DOC 2020

When you put your nose into 2020 Brunello you truly do sigh and say “this smells like Le Potazzine.” Which means classic, northwestern Montalcinese, timeless, reminding of 2016 and other democratic vintages that came before. Now in a moment like a scene in movie you can never forget that will repeat in both mind and imagination forever. This is Brunello. This is Le Potazzine. No Riserva in 2020. Last tasted September 2025

Even though the style and character of Brunello di Montalcino is not officially discussed in terms of “frazione,” in this part of the territory there is just something about the sangiovese way. Northwest that is, looking east to the village, at high elevation and with an ultra specific acidity. “Potazzinese” acidity and a Balsamico noted nowhere else but only on this narrow ridge shared five producers or less. This 2020 in “particolare” matched by purple fruit, not dark but shaded above its contemporaries, described as say cherry red and it’s just so intoxicating of a sangovese. As crunchy as they come. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Molino di Sant’Antimo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Paolus 2020

Tasting Brunello 2020 and 2021 side by side reveals the polarization of two vintages, each unique and separated by their potential to transmit diversity but also because the more recent one is so youthful. You wonder if this 2020 was as tight and erudite one year ago and the answer is surely yes, but also no. The vintage is saltier, more like the Rosso 2023 and the seasoning shows less (yet still present) white pepper as compared to the Brunello 2021. You can see the appreciation for something like a Fuligni Brunello in Valeria’s classic style, abiding by her vineyard yet doing so in as clean and pure a way as could be possible. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2025

La Squadra Canadese at Patrizia Cencioni

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Patrizia Cencioni started to do spontaneous fermentations in 2020. The roses, fennel and spices perfume reminds of the 2023 Rosso di Montalcino and here there too is a sense of blood orange. This is quite a serious Brunello, layered an structured, yet to shed it’s baby fat, fully flesh out and my goodness it makes for a mouthful. Last tasted September 2025

Florally effusive as sangiovese that takes such matters to heart and here Brunello acts in exactly this way. The lithe and effortless is not always the best yet sometimes it’s just what the vintage ordered. Fineness and grace come from away with a Brunello that flies effortlessly and sweetly natural – indeed that is what this is. Bravissima. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2024

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Ofelio 2020

No shock that the Selezione 2020 is simply an exaggeration of the Classico Brunello’s riches, fruit more than anything but more than that there is texture, something you can really sit your teeth into, part rare meaty Fiorentina flesh and part plum leathery fruit. Impressive composure and architecture, strong, grippy, layered, fibrous and without pause. Easily two years away from full integration of the barrel and their effect upon the stature of the wine. Freedom will be blessed when it comes. Drink 2027-2032.Tasted September 2025

Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Just six to eight months into the opening window of opportunity and timing could not be better, especially with local salumi made in Buonconvento. Notable softening and settling, especially of tannins for a sangiovese entering a next phase. Will age as expected although in three or four years time fungi will surely become part of the profile. Last tasted November 2025

Optimum ripeness found in a sangiovese of and for the vintage, just a bit to the right of the macerated and textural centre, yet reigned in at just about the right point. What stands out most for this Brunello is its length which indicates many things were done right. Will age somewhere between mid and long term. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2024

Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Chiuso del Lupo 2020

The cru Brunello (acquired in 2016) for Poggio Landi, first vintage labeled as such and in terms aging it is made like a Riserva. The vineyard at 550m on Formazione Santa Fiora is due south of Montalcino, just south of and actually abutting Biondi-Santi. This is sangiovese so distinct, relative to location of course, far less affected by the aging in Botti Grandi to stand poised, focused and clearly finessed in its accomplished style. Very fine Brunello that is harvested later than Montosoli. “This is a soil I like,” says agronomist Lorenzo Bernini. “It took six or seven years and now the condition is great.” Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2025

Ruffino Greppone Mazzi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A variable vintage in Montalcino and so every wine will exist in a state of its own accord. In this case Ruffinos’s acts cool and reserved, aromatically quiet though there is an early sense of blue fruit to complement the classic red character of south by southeast fruit. Sweetly savoury and of a macchia that brings mint to meet what really does taste like blue fruit. Most curious and potential feels high. Last tasted September 2025

Sweet fruit and also acidity, combined, layered and working as one. Spot on correct and simplified Brunello di Montalcino that celebrates exactly what the vintage and the region need. The acidity is really the best of this sangiovese’s game, its calling card and the thing that will see longevity be added to its name. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

San Polino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Helichrysum 2020

Deeply fruited of a spectrum more than merely red. Plummy in a way with good freshness and ample energy, drive and force. A sweetness of that stone fruit, ultra ripe and acidity of a similar fashion. Quite tart and then tension sets in, on the palate and through to a drying tannic finish. Nearly a matter of black cherry stone at the finish. Last tasted November 2025

A brighter and less weightier expression as compared to the Annata and so the fruit purity is more readily apparent and visible. Gives the sangiovese its much needed crunch which means more freshness and airy quality. Still the chalky underbelly and compression from the mid-palate forward. Finishes steady and in the end the feeling gained is of a rock solid Etichetta 2020. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2024

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

When you taste 2020 Classico Brunello side by side with the lifted 2021 you see vintage variation straight away. Back a year for a dusty, Balsamico inflected and higher toned style which is surely a matter of how fruit came away and come about from 2020. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted September 2025

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigneto Poggio Doria 2020

One of two cru, both being one-plus hectare plots that make 3,000-4,000 bottles per year. “Our idea is to make traditional Brunello” says Marco Paier and only old cask are used, of 20, 50 and 80 hL, with a small amount of passage in smaller barrel. Hard to find a more modern, polished and elegant sangiovese with liquid black forest caky generosity than Poggio Doria. The nose is quiet, demure, willing to allow the flavours and textures to do the talking. Hard not to think you could drink this right away. Drink 2025-2030.Tasted September 2025

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Manachiara 2020

Silvio Nardi was a businessman from Umbria who purchased Casale del Bosco in 1950, first vintage was 1954 and Manachiara was acquired in 1962. The first vintage of this cru-designate Montalcino sangiovese was 1995. I mean if you close your eyes you might imagine Right Bank Bordeaux with high level richness and concentration. Follow that up with full wood nurturing and notes of caramel, soy and so much umami. The tannins at this stage are hard an austere so let them settle and see what will come of the composition as a whole. Plenty of patience required. Drink 2027-2032.Tasted September 2025

Villa Le Prata Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Vescovo 2020

One of four single vineyard Le Prata Brunello only made when the combination of vineyard and vintage are right or for when a distinct expression separates from the Brunello. In this case a wild character replete with a feral note that is hard not to be explained other than some Brettanomyces captured within. A second taste also reveals some TCA. Tasted September 2025

With Federico Radi and Giampiero Bertolini, Biondi-Santi

Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

The smile in winemaker Federico Radi’s eyes tells you much of what you need to know for how he feels about the 2019 vintage. Though Riserva (like the Brunello) is released a year later than almost all others in Montalcino there is a feeling about this wine that speaks to immediate gratification it is curiously capable of providing. The acidity is tops for ’19, sweet and oscillating, coming at the palate in waves, fruit surfing its crests and crashing across with maximum flavour. After the rains of August 31 through September 2 the balancing of atmospheric conditions during a dry two weeks created ideal ripening conditions between September 10th and 15th. The only part of 2019 that needs more time in bottle for integration is wood, this being the second vintage after which new casks were beginning to replace some older ones in the cellar. In that sense there is some resurfacing on this sangiovese yet also harmony and consistency from Riserva, two aspects that will guarantee not only longevity but also an abiding to what Radi, Giampiero Bertolini and their teams desire. Demand as well, to speak for the vineyards and relate the long Biondi-Santi story. Drink 2027-2045. Tasted November 2025

Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Gualto 2019

Really come together, maybe even ahead of schedule, window open, not fully though just six more months will show all the cards. A special sangiovese from Camigliano in 2019 now and for 10 more years. Last tasted September 2025

Strong perfumes, maximum. floral inhalant properly aggressive and engaging. You might expect a peppery kick to the aromas but you can take the longest breath in and the sangiovese nurtures, while opening you up for what’s to come. My goodness what a finessed and seamless experience this delivers, never too high or too low, always incisive and inviting. This house got both of its Brunello so right in 2019 and also 2020. They are not to be missed. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

La Squadra Canadese at Banfi

Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio all’Oro 2019

Not produced in every vintage, first made in 1985. Not far from the Castello Banfi, direction Montalcino, 20 hectares at 450m with the oldest part planted in the 1970s. Finest acidity of all the Banfi Brunello, fruit brighter and energy higher. A cold winter and plenty of April through May rains, followed by a dry and beautiful summer, ending with a later harvest. High quantity needed to be reduced and the final product is the most silky, glycerol sangiovese with suave tannin. The vineyard has now been re-planted with massal section of the best plants from the old vineyard. Will be released in October. Last tasted September 2025

Castello Tricerchi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Unexpected but coming at 2019 for the first time and two years after its anteprima release there is this blood orange quality that reminds of 2013. Just the first stages of maturity are showing and this from the first vintage when natural ferments and Piedmontazine techniques were introduced by a young Tommaso Squarcia into his wines. A bit more wood here, certainly as compared to what begins to change with the 2020 vintage. Nevertheless welcome to another harmonious and elegant Castello Tricerchi vintage. A few new barrels for a vintage and period of transition. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2025

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Io Sono Donatella 2019

First vintage for “I am Donatella” was 2010, of fruit well considered in the vineyard and then wines resting in barrel that show themselves to be different.” A meaning that quips I am what I am and also a joke that “says we are able to do things and this is us.” The medieval study of gold and enamels from the Middle Ages marks the label for the unique sangiovese also made in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. Two types of wood are used, medium-sized and also botte grande cask for this third Brunello aisle with the the fourth being Riserva. Sees a bit more than two years of aging before finishing in cement eggs. Exaggerated riches and Balsamico, refinement at the height of a Donatella sangiovese with more spice run through than all the other wines combined. An expression full and knowing exactly what it purports and wants to be. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted September 2025

Franco Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

The initial assessment posted two years ago for the Franco Pacenti family’s 2019 was clearly spot on – The proof lies in the state we find it residing in today, free, clear, untouched, unmoved, non-plussed and so far from exhibiting any significant change. Drink this now, as you wish and also be confident the first stage of its life still has a minimum two years left before any sense of next phase maturity will set in. Last tasted November 2025

The vintage is a generous one, also easy as they come, that much we know. Some sangiovese come away clean, fruity and free, others dense and tannic. Then come the Brunello ‘19s that combine every element, or at least a plethora of possibilities to exact Annata in ways that are full, layered and balanced. Some may say the best estates are the ones that succeed in the most challenging vintages and France Pacenti is one of those, but true excellence comes from those who achieve their goals both ways. Allow to be intrigued and introduced by a Brunello di Montalcino so very whole and built for all the ways that these sangiovese are capable of expressing their territory. The past and the future connected, forged and for all the right reasons. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted November 2023

Franco Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Rosildo 2019

Yes Brunelo 2019 persists in a primary state, as of course does Rosidlo as well but the Cru sangiovese also speaks so clearly for the Canalicchio area in northeast Montalcino. The fruit is so clearly from this place and yet not every producer who inhabits this location gets the most out of their Sangiovese like Pacenti’s success. Some press too much to turn out harder wines, others barrel up with darker expressions and at least one succeeds with similar distinction. The ’19 Rosildo provides proof of its success here in 2025. Last tasted November 2025

The Etiquetta Rosildo is an easy and understandable transference from Franco Pacenti’s Annata label in Brunello for the 2019 vintage. What separates this sangiovese more than anything are its hyperbole of perfumes, aromatic fruits and seasoning that jump from the glass so much stronger with heightened expression. Neither peppery nor spicy but more so the effect felt from smelling the roses and opening jars to see which fragrance your intuition tells to spice what dish you are preparing. And so yes what you have here is a Brunello of gastronomy, a wine the chef has prepared and it is a complex one. The tannins here are very taut and compact, the probability for ageing much higher and potential truly serious. Impressive ’19 this Rosildo, up there with the vintage’s best. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted November 2023

Franco Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

From Brunello through Rosildo to Riserva and the thread between the three is unmistakable. Similar Grosso clone of sangiovese, red fruit marked by glycerol, suave texture, sweet acidity and fullness on the palate. The first two tiers are the best wines made by France Pacenti and Riserva joins the ranks although there is more volume and density in this top echelon Brunello. A serious inhalant and a wine that grabs hold of attention, without relenting and demands that you pay it the highest possible amount of heed. Silky, sleek and seductive with a chalky underlay that speaks to needing three years to come together as one. Hard to find greater fruit or potential as compared with Rosildo and yet at the end of a night there may just be a glass to two left in the bottle while the other Brunelli are poured out. Just because of a matter of structure in economies of scale. Hard to say which of the two will live longer, the one of focus or the one of elegance. The question is, which one is which? To be fair, Riserva in 2019 shows more grip. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted November 2025

Gorelli Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

“An annata più complessa,” insists Gabriele Gorelli and it would be fruitless to argue against the sentiment. Purity and sapidity walking hand in hand, red fruit so bloody consistent with all his Rosso and Brunello starting with this vintage, running through 2022 and all the ‘23s and ‘24s tasted from barrel. The consistency of style and effect is astonishing. The harmony between mouthfeel, acidity and fine tannin confirm the position and the advantage. Last tasted September 2025

Gorelli’s 2019 is unlike any other and while that can be said about many Montalcino Brunello in this case the clarity of that comment makes great and knowable sense. The aromas are particular, high casted, tonal, lifted and akin to scraping hard red fruit skins, getting their citrus musk under your nails and staying with you as you work through your day. Long lasting aromas part agricultural and part gastronomical. The Gorelli 2019 is also economical with neither gratuitous nor wasted moments. There is no distraction save for some botti texture that needs to melt a bit and find union with the excellent perfumes. The balsamic note late confirms the circle of sangiovese life to say longevity will be the right kind. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2023

Gorelli Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

If the Classico Brunello is considered in complex terms than condor Riserva as an exaggeration of such riches. Riserva for Goreli must be taken seriously, not released just one day after the turn of the calendar and aged longer, held longer, kept through another season. This extra time helps all of us understand and comprehend what he is trying to accomplish and more importantly giving the wine its due. The tannins are still somewhat massive, certainly in control and doing what is necessary to earn their keep and fulfil their charge. Fruit can handle the naked truth and keep up with the structure. Last tasted September 2025

Not your Nonno’s Riserva, nor a clean and modern iteration, but something other. A deep well filled with serious, concentrated and even severe aromas hard to decipher. Deepest inhalant, fullest volume, as vigorously distilled and undiluted as they come. No let down on the palate and while there is a modicum of volatility its actually met, challenged and suppressed by this proper realization of reduction and never dissipating spice. Casks have much to do with all of this and the wine is far from finished, but three years should bring everything into view. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted November 2024

La Fortuna Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Riserva comes from all parts, including Le Quercia, a big oak tree marking the 40 year-old vineyard in Castelnuovo dell’Abate. A part of the steep block exposed south grows small, loose berries that serve the Riserva with a special quality. Sees three years in 27 hL Botti and one in barriques (new, 2nd and 3rd) for an old school concept made as a most modern sangiovese. Wood is a factor no doubt, as ideally is concentration. To handle that truth and the catalyst is top notch acidity, as you will find in all of La Fortuna’s wines. The first Riserva was 1999 and here 20 years later there is just something understood, experienced and mature about its ways. Drink 2025-2031.Tasted September 2025

La Fortuna Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Giobi 2019

Giobi for Gioberto, Angelo’s father’s nickname for a great man who passed away in 2023. First produced in 2010, a Selezione of just 1,500 bottles that will be carried on. Sees three years in tonneaux and en extra year in bottle before release. Now tasting the ’19 nearly two years later there is no decline of freshness, the selection was obviously prudent, cerebrally organized and the vineyards in Castelnuovo dell’Abate are the important source. Shows a father’s romantic connection to the place he obviously loved and his instincts were clearly on point. May not be the kind of Brunello now in fashion but we should all love and appreciate it just the same. Last tasted September 2025

Etichetta labeled 2019 Giobi is a fine step forward and up for La Fortuna, fruit of a similar if surely richer ilk. You can really feel the extra levels and layers of constituent parts that form, build and mold this sangiovese into the full and substantial edifice it is. Should drink well for a decade and a half from now. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2023

With le donne of Le Potazzine

Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOC 2019

Riserva must be something different. End stop. One more year in wood and one step up in concentration is still the same wine, but not at Le Potazzine. And so 2019 follows 2015, 2011, 2006 and 2004, with 2021 the next up. These are the seasons that delivered something other. All these parts are together as one but the wine has only been in bottle for nine months and the tannins are less than 2021 so there is a minimum 15 months left before the 2019 even considers becoming a Brunello. There can be little apprehension in saying 2019 will be one of the longer lived Riserva for Le Potazzine. Drink 2028-2040. Tasted September 2025

Campione: The first Riserva produced at Le Potazzine since 2015 and one of the only estates not to make one in 2016. Not the first time Gigliola Gianetti and her daughters chose to do something different than the rest. A dichotomous Riserva because the fruit is so ripe and well developed juxtaposed against that classic Potazzinese acidity raging high. This local Balsamico is uncanny, Only the third Riserva made, including ’11 and ’15. The singular Riserva, of gentle extraction, a wet submerged cap and the elegance you need to know. Drink 2028-2040. Tasted November 2024

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 123 2019

Everything that 2020 is, so too is 2019 but the vintage also brings in an extra element of seriously sweet and seductive acidity. This represents the magical addition to elevate the entire game of Brunello Riserva and shows Patrizia Cencioni’s ’19 holding a card that many others do not have. Expresses fruit in a gregarious while also haute sangiovese way for something extra and special. The cask aging plays a major role, namely in how spiced the wine has become and time will soften the edginess, however tension is something that can’t be denied, avoided or wished for this wine to be without. Last tasted September 2025

Rich Riserva with plenty of cask aging imparted into the aromas and especially the texture of the silky, glistening and chocolatey sangiovese. Terrific acids are the impetus for its structural significance and also the reason it will drink well for many years to come. The style is contemporary if not immediate and should appeal to a great many lovers of Brunello di Montalcino. Especially those who choose Riserva. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2024

Podere Brizio Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Bosco Alto 2019

With Brunello di Montalcino there is always the understood concept of sangiovese given an extra year in bottle and there then is the effect of a vintage like 2019. This to see a Brizio Brunello (Riserva or otherwise) come to its peak performance. The time is now coming upon this Riserva, to be enjoyed, prefreably with a chef’s deft touch put into a plate of Tagliatelle with a ragù of wild boar. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2025

Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Terrific moment to revisit Dievole’s 2019 in Poggio Landi, just two days after having tasted through 2021 and 2020 in Montalcino. Right in the middle of the open window right now, perfumes at peak, middle weight and structure set at the precise halfway mark of the wine’s best performance. Last tasted November 2025

A bright, airy and cool Brunello for 2019, not surprising considering the northwesterly localitá. Still there is next level richness for the estate and a sign of what the future will bring when vintages are warm and fruit achieves top phenolic ripeness. As here with a red fruit scintillant but acids so fresh and ripe they really tie the sangiovese threads together. Essential style and effect if simple but all that makes this a really fine Brunello, one to relish and really want to drink. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Chiuso del Lupo 2019

A Brunello aged 38 months with fruit from the vineyard on the road to Montalcino’s southern areas although the località is quite close to the hill. It actually lies next to Biondi-Santi on the local name for the marl and limestone geology called Formazione Santa Fiora. There is freshness in 2019, more than 2020 to come and this is the difference between the two vintages for Poggio Landi. Drink or hold five more years easy. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2025

Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Perhaps not the freshness of 2020 but in Riserva that idea is not quite as essential in defining the personality of this kind of wine. That said the acidity from 2019 is impressive, showing no signs of dissipating, nor will it as long as you keep bottles of this wine. The character feels very much in line with Brunello 2020 although the muscles flex more in Riserva 2019. Showing with poise and focus today. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2025

Ruffino Greppone Mazzi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Remarkably open and generous aromas lead into juicy, succulent and icy berry flavours like a dry sangiovese granita. There is some grip and firmness in the tannin to complement and thus complete the picture. Would not orate on this being the most complex Brunello ever made, but to say it is fitting, proper and representative of Brunello di Montalcino would be speaking the truth. Last tasted September 2025

Greppone Mazzi is in fine form from 2019 with about as much cherry red fruit capture as ever before. A haute couture of Brunello from Ruffino and their eastern Montalcino estate where warm days and nights for days on end add up to so much sun accumulation for ripe and ready Brunello. No lack of flavour and texture here, nor acidity and austere tannin neither. Needs time, food and the best situation. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2025

Ruffino Greppone Mazzi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

From a plot of 3.2 hectares called Greppone Grande, a single vineyard at 420m that makes approximately 4,000 bottles. This vintage spent 36-plus months in 25 hL cask. Recently bottled and so a full year later than most 2019 Riserva in Montalcino, settled and mature for a sangiovese pretty much ready to go. Winemaker Alberto will reduce the aging amount to 24 (in wood) starting with the 2025 vintage. Red fruit as with the Brunello, consistent from one to the next though obviously oak influence noted and while the wine is ready to drink it will be needing time to melt in. Liquid chalky, concentration to handle the wood and a creamy mid-palate. Tastes like sangiovese and Brunello though again there is a fullness of barrel dominating this wine. Drink 2025-2029.Tasted September 2025

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Riserva literally means it only qualifies for that appellation in a year deemed worthy of the esteem. “A true Riserva” says Marco Paiaer and while tasting 2021 side by side only reveals an immense set of tannin in a formidably structured Bruello – Well 2019 is no shrinking violet. Deep, dark, full, rich and layered with the most compact elements and while there is some light showing in the dark sky, there still need to be more passing of time to get to the crux of this wine. Last tasted September 2025

Quite a ripe expression for Brunello Riserva, of deeply rendered sangiovese fruit. Leads to the idea that this should be consumed on the earlier side, well ahead of some higher-toned and frantically energetic peers. The tannins are present, as is the feeling of wood and so one year forward should exact the right time for this wine. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Villa Le Prata Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

A blend of the four vineyards of a total three hectares on the four hectare Villa Le Prata estate. A full on natural sangiovese sweetness rich in everything, including macchia, Balsamico and minerals. Layered, balanced and about as substantial as you could hope for in a Brunello not qualified as anything but what it is. Silky, non-gratuitous glycerin, joyous and structured for drinking soon to slightly later on. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2025

Villa Le Prata Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Massimo 2019

Massimo as a vineyard creates sangiovese highest in poly-phenolic properties and there is no mistaking the botanical character moving into a comport of structure with some obvious and in control tannin. The layers and intersection of parts with notable verticality and backbone make for a 2019 with more grip than many a Vigna Brunello. Length is exceptional and the restraint is key to seeing a great future ahead. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted September 2025

Castello Tricerchi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Drinking at peak right in the heart of its intended and promised window, wood melted in, chocolate shed of its dark austerity and fruit persistent in its captured freshness. Three years left but the next 18 months will be this ’18’s best. Last tasted November 2025

Maturity and acumen increase, improve and travel forward from vintage to vintage for a Montalcino producer that is surely on the cusp of something special. The work put in and humility expressed will only keep the train on the track for sangiovese to occupy the minds and hearts of all who know. Within the framework of a peppery reductive 2018 the fruit here expands and oscillates in swells on repeat though each and every wave stops short of crashing upon a tannic shore. For the first time after tasting 30 Annata the sweetness of acidity really stands above and without tart edginess. Grande. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG “Late Release” 2018

A late release 2018 of 3,000 bottles “to have something special for clients” says Violante Gardini, with just a tweak on the bottom part of the label to indicate the extra aging. Born different with certain vines delivering fruit kept separate and not destined for the original 2018 Brunello, nor for Prime Donne or Riserva. In the end it is a “Selezione,” an oft used term in Italian wine and so not written on the label – but that is essentially what this is. A one-off, at least until now, more wood felt now well integrated into a softened, smooth and seductive elixir. A natural sweetness that the Brunello does not necessarily express and really quite easy to drink. Last tasted September 2025

Gorelli Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Though there was some question as to how “light” 2018 was as a vintage, Gorelli says there is a real similarity with 2024 which received a full consensus on its lightness. That said there is some grip and substance to his Brunello which only goes to show how he makes his wines and it’s a good thing he does it this way. Any more extraction and push would have resulted in a shove of jam and greenness, two aspects obviously wishing to be avoided. Instead there is charm and restraint with wood filling in any holes there might have been. Now calming and coming into a good and cool place, with ample natural sweetness. Last tasted September 2025

Serious aromatic concentration yet in a most elastic and expressive way there arrives the immediacy of Gorelli’s Annata. The reality continues on the palate for a quantifiably gregarious and rich sangiovese of layers upon layers of fruit and structure. Not a matter of acidity so much as a wine in which that integration is both gracious and invisible. What a beautiful 2018 Annata. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Edoardo Losappio, Villa Le Prata

Villa Le Prata Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Le Prata 2018

Single vineyard Brunello known as the “hare” in its first year produced by winemaker Edoardo Losappio, on the right side of the cypress tree road up to the gate planted by massal selection to sangiovese of the thinnest skinned-grapes. They must be in top condition and age to a particular profile after two years to be chosen as one to be bottled as a single vineyard wine. Most aromatic sangiovese, of local Balsamico, as in the oils expressed when you run your fingers through herbs, whether they be rosemary, thyme or sage. Also the uncanny aroma of blood orange, a sweet citrus scenting mixed with Le Prata’s herbal plenitude. Something special for the vintage. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted September 2025

Villa Le Prata Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna San Prospero 2018

One of the four single vineyard (Vigna) wines produced when the vintage and quality are right, here from the first vintage when the concept was introduced and Riserva was cast away. More red and orange citrus from Prospero, exiled rightful duke of Milan and a master magician. Not here, not exiled like Riserva but instead this perfectly liquid chalky sangiovese that has matured, settled and come ready to be beautiful. Quite fine, its tension filed away and pleasant drinking in current fine form. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted September 2025

Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Dio mio the aromatic freshness of 2016 is remarkable, of purple fruit that seems to speak to the northeast sector at Torrenieri as much as anything else. Flavours are beginning to mature though acidity keeps the energy and faith very much alive. This earlier example of a Poggio Land does well to foreshadow the future for what is possible from their combined vineyards near Montosoli, at Torrenieri and Chiuso del Lupo. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2025

Elia Palazzesi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2015

A lovely sway of spice in the perfume of a 10 year-old Brunello from a 10 ha estate, the wine macerated for 25 days in steel and aged 30 months in Botti Grandi. It’s classic and clean, traditional and pure, wood so sweet and silk threaded through fruit now passing uninterrupted past the portal to secondary life. All is settling in this elegant sangiovese that feels like it came out yesterday but is now a half generation away. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2025

La Serena Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Gemini 2015

The Gemini are off course twins, as in the winemaker and his brother, architect and designer of the cellar. This Gemini as a 10 year-old Riserva is quite fresh and spirited with truly purple fruit and for the appellative level found to be right where you would wish a maturing, but far from old Brunello to be. A treat with vibrancy, vital acidity and a cool herbal, almost dry amaro streak running through. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2025

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2012

Older vintage, now well into secondary character with ample freshness persistent in the aromas. Sweetness abounds, naturally so and while age is apparent you feel a cool vintage in the mint, sweet herbs and absence of fungi notes. An educated guess would be 2014 or 2013 for this aged Brunello. Truly elegant and stylish at this age. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted blind at Tenute Silvio Nardi, September 2025

Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2010

No doubt the child of one of Montalcino’s warmer vintages though not what should be considered or remembered as “hot.” Showing a bricking maturity for sure but the core of the wine exhibits fullness and the extraction of the day. Also the wood and ample warmth not yet fully cooled down, perhaps needing to fully but no matter because it’s all about cover weather comfort. There is a brown sugar caramelized feeling, balanced between fruit acquiring a leathery chew and tannins softening into their next position. Flavours are pure gastronomical pleasure and texture truly satisfies. Acidity as well with the finish going long and deep. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2025

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2007

Rainy spring, hot summer and 10 year-old plants at the time that could begin to show the real identity of single vineyard Brunello. A vintage that began under the guidance of Carlo Ferrini and finished by Valerie Lavigne still present and making the wines today. A sangiovese that would have shown maturity from the start and has impossibly maintained its state of being through to 18 years later. The nose is persistently fresh, with great nuance and some heat, the palate expressive of sweet volatility and a liquid confluence of soils. Far from a perfect wine but with its inherent flaws their is grace and longevity under pressure. Flawed no more because all has been resolved and forgiven. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted September 2025

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2001

Well into this Brunello’s tenure with shoe polish, soy, tiramisu, Tia Maria and caramel in a very mature Classico. Just has to be a warmest of warm vintages, perhaps younger than you think because the tannin is up front with grip and tension holding on. Likely 2007 and possibly 2004.Tasted blind at Tenute Silvio Nardi, September 2025

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 1988

Knowably older than the previous Classico Brunello tasted blind and here a more youthful expression with fresh red fruit right there on the floral front. A bit dusty with a local forest, Casale del Bosco macchia that really comes through at the 20-25 year stage. Just what you expect and wish for from a Brunello going back to another era. Really salty. The guess is 1998 or 2000.Tasted blind at Tenute Silvio Nardi, September 2025

Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 1983

Nearly 42 years after the 1983 harvest and the aromatics are not merely effusive but in a word explosive. This inclusive of a fruit freshness that by all means and matters of practicality should not be there. Every bottle of Biondi-Santi at the focal point where the crest is displayed is marked by the words Marca and Propria. Brand and trademark of propriety and when you taste something like this you simply say proper. Of heritage and character, persistence and longevity. Tannins are obviously no longer present, nor do they need to be because the acidity lingering is simply magical. As are perfumes of flowers and more notable the classic sottobosco of Montalcino. This feels like a dream and one not wished to wake from, but to let it linger, with cranberry and a feeling of blood orange spiked by spices and saffron, the finish vaguely salty, almost like caramel chocolate. This much might be said to 1983 Riserva. “I’m in so deep. You know I’m such a fool for you. You got me wrapped around your finger.” Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2025

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino DOC 1979

Wow, holy umami Batman. The aromas are so tertiary and curious it ’s almost impossible to dream just how far back this Brunello goes. Likely from the 90s and perhaps early in that decade. The guess could very well be 1975 or a vintage when it rained incessantly and there is blood orange here, even saffron, which suggest botrytis. Give it 10 more minutes and the Porcino soup begins to emerge. Tasted blind at Tenute Silvio Nardi, September 2025

Bernardino Sani, Argiano

Toscana IGT and Other Wines

Castello Tricerchi Sangiovese Luli’o 2024, Toscana IGT

First harvest of sangiovese off of the youngest vines in the lowest part of the vineyard. The grapes that would otherwise be green harvested and still are by others who “waste” fruit raised with great effort through hard-fought seasons. Simple winemaking results in 13 percent alcohol, a Rosso di Rosso di Montalcino, juicy and authentic, proper to the greatest degree. Natural and glou-glou. RdRdM. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted November 2025

Giodo La Quinta 2023, Toscana Sangiovese IGT

The Montalcinese IGT now in its sixth year aged in big cask and amphora, the twain split just above half and half. In some sense a “second wine” for Giodo with the grapes not destined to participate in the Brunello. That said they come from a classified Brunello vineyard and so La Quinta is most definitely a choice. The name is the fifth vineyard plate assigned by proprietor and oenologist Carlo Ferrini and thus the name. Clocks in at half a degree less than the Brunello (and now also the Rosso) with the light shone on reddest sangiovese imaginable for one of Montalcino’s brightest Rosso styled wines. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted November 2025

Le Potazzine Sangiovese 2024, Toscana IGT

A vintage with outlandish quantity and so first an August green harvest for dropping fruit, without making Rosé because “we have the best grapes in the world,” says Viola Gorelli. “Why would we make anything else.” Spicy nose, cinnamon stick and the juicy feeling that fresh sangiovese will give. This is what you want from a young entry into Montalcino before you consider what Rosso will bring followed by where Brunello can go. Just recently bottled for 6,200 bottles made. Perfect for a mix of the three. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted September 2025

Villa Le Prata Sangiovese Le Prata 2024, Toscana IGT

“The (sangiovese) is the more informal and easygoing wine we produce,” explains winemaker Eduardo, “made with 50 percent whole cluster on skins and carbonic maceration for one week and without sulphites,” but not so late that body and sweetness are the result. More in a Governo Toscano style, from two harvests two weeks apart with the second pick layered upon the first ferment. Aromas are just what you might expect from a sangiovese made this way; wild, woolly and dramatically fresh. Sangiovese made in the way the cool kids will want to drink at the highest level – Think Cigliano di Sopra in San Casciano. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted September 2025

Argiano Solengo 2023, Toscana Rosso IGT

“From the 2015 vintage we tried to go back to the days of Tachis for the Super Tuscan,” tells Bernardino Sani, “and to change the style.” Now 60 percent cabernet sauvignon, (20) cabernet franc and petit verdot with a small amount of sangiovese, with no merlot because it was lost to Peronospora and then the heatwave. Ages for 15 months in 50 per cent new Taransaud wood, some larger Garbellotto casks and a few used barriques. Finishes in cement before bottling. Sweet vanillin and fruit equally red to blue, herbal though not exactly minty, more like an essential oil of wild thyme or marjoram. A bit tight still, acidity quite sweet and a lift to the wine. All follows the original floral effect and in the end the palate experience is one a a truly silken and refined blend. 60,000-70,000 bottles annually. Drink 2026-2031.Tasted September 2025

Gorelli Sangiovese Brigo 2023, Toscana IGT

Young sangiovese, lifted and reductive, freshness with fruit that imagines the Tuscan corbezzolo fruit with its red acid twang. Evergreen note, Christmas Tree cool and verdant. Fresh but never aggressive, substantial enough and Montalcinese without infringing on Rosso or Brunello. Chalky finish suggests some tannic presence. More sapidity than most local sangiovese and finishing with cocoa despite never having spent a moment in wood. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted September 2025

L’Aietta Trebbiano Mania 2023

Skin-contact trebbiano, 25 days on the skins, aged in amphora. An experiment and maybe will be called Mania, goddess of the afterlife, but written right to left, like the Arameans. And this acts just like that, opposite of what you expect, of vivid aromas and a sweetness on the palate that keeps bitterness at bay. Crushable with a stone fruit profile that is so much more inviting and seductive than most wines of this ilk. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted September 2025

Carma 2021, Toscana IGT

New project in Radda in Chianti of builder Massimo Guarnacshelli, second vintage for only sangiovese grown above 600m of elevation. Across the road from Castello di Albola and Poggerino for a remarkable early effort just a bit pressed to eke out extra fruit from the high elevation vineyard. The vineyard has rights for Chianti Classico but for now father and daughter are bottling under IGT. There are some green tannins and yet the fruit and style remind of other Radda wines like Poggerino and Val delle Corti. The future looks very promising for this three hectare project and just 1,000 bottles currently made. Drink 2025-2027.Tasted September 2025

L’Aietta Spumante Rosé Metodo Classico Non Dosato 2012

Francesco Mulinari began to make sparkling in 2010 with this 2012 having spent 84 months on the lees. Colour is Rosato, in part because of some original skin contact and also obviously age having compounded the effect. Three reasons for starting the program, first to stop wasting fruit to green harvest and second because his mother Loretta didn’t drink red wine. The fruit is only from the 0.5 hectare plot in Castelnuovo dell’Abate in the lowest part of the vineyard. The result is still zero residual sugar. Apple skin, orange zest and east African spice, a Zanzibar or Madagascar exoticism. It’s all very intoxicating with a furious tang. Sweet Loretta Martin, “get back to where you once belong.” Drink 2025-2028. Tasted September 2025

L’Aietta Rosé Spumante Metodo Classico Non Dosato 2019

The 2019 is the first classic method sparkling wine that Francesco Mulinari used no white sugar but instead sangiovese juice is added after fermentation, raising the alcohol from 10 to 12 percent but also adding flavour. Just turned upside down a few minutes ago and so the nose is not perfectly clean but the high acidity and complexity are something special. A bit rough, tumble and acetic right now. Tasted September 2025

L’Aietta Senza Tempo III, Toscano Rosso IGT

A wine reward, a gratificante offered up by Francesco Mulinari called “Senza Tempo,” its meaning timeless and made form the best sangiovese, “the perpetual wine” made with vintages from 2014 through 2018. The next and fifth edition will hold some drops of ’14 and travel to 2019. A rare multi vintage Rosso from Montalcino and most unique because it pulls the best fruit away from Rosso, Brunello and Brunello Selezione. Only bottled in Magnum, 150 of them for this third edition. Going forward probably only 75, half of a barrique. Tastes like an aged Brunello, say 10 years old, secondary leather and carob notes joining the macchia and Amaro herbals. Chewy liquorice and herbal pesto. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2025

Good to go!

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Chianti Classico Collection 2025 part two: The visits

Apr8

Critics and journalists can get their fill by attending wine events in their home city, taste wines at the office space or in the comfort of their homes. This type of work situation has been a standard for decades and sure there are moments when just the writer and the bottle together can combine to produce some solid prose – but it’s not enough. To go further, to find the goods and get at the heart of the matter it is essential to travel, to visit with families and wine producers in their element. Climb hills, walk vineyards, get mud on your boots, touch vines, consider pruning decisions, crumble soils between the fingers. This is where the real stories come from, magnified in purpose when visits involve sitting down for a meal. Godello has been doing this with Chianti Classico producers consistently for the past 10 years and that is how he is able to write on this very subject without pause and about more than just the wines. People, roots, heritage and land are the impetus and catalyst for how the big picture is revealed.

Twenty trips and 52 articles based on more than 300 visits with 100-plus producers later and here we are with the latest set of wine reviews covering 10 visits made at estates producing Chianti Classico wines. Tenuta Casenuove (Panzano), Castello di Meleto (Gaiole), Poggerino (Radda), Calcamura (San Casciano), Il Poggiolino (San Donato in Poggio), Richiari Porciglia (Greve), Poggio Torselli (San Casciano), Fontodi (Panzano), Volpaia (Radda), Ricasoli (Gaiole), Nardi Viticoltori (Castellina), Castello di Verrazzano (Montefioralle), Castello di Ama (Gaiole) and also tasted in Montalcino, the small production wines of Baciate Me (San Casciano). An apology goes out to Castelnuovo Berardenga, Lamole and Vagliagli for being the UGA left out this time, although they have all been the focus of many previous excursions and will again soon. These are the 92 wines tasted with the 13 estates back in February of this year.

L’aia at Tenute Casenuove

Tenuta Casenuove – Panzano

Out of Firenze’s Peretola Airport and direct to Panzano for a long overdue visit with winery director Alessandro Fonseca, enologist Cosimo Casini and cellar master Maria Sole Zoli. Under the ownership of Philippe Austruy, 35 hectares are at elevation between 370 to 490 metres. Previously owned by Chianti Classico négoce Pietro Pandolfini from 1954-2015. We stood on the small stone square, “l’aia,” where the grain was once worked, looking south over the Pesa River, towards Castellina. In 2015 there were 15 hectares of vineyards, now doubled to 30, including a new site at the top on Alberese stone planted to sangiovese, colorino, canaiolo, malvasia and ciliegiolo. The top of the (east) ridge is a soil led by Pietraforte, the rest argilla and schist with a manifestation of compact, purple-veined Galestro. Identified vineyards are Poggio Asso, Vigna Somassa which comes from Arenaccio, an iron sandstone block, Vigna San Martino (fine decomposition of Galestro) and Vigna Camperi (calcareous clay).

Purple-veined Galestro of Tenuta Casenuove

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Another beautiful season, not at the beginning because of the April 7th frost which delayed development by a month – though in the end the wines showed with great balance. In part because of less bunches and bunch weight per plant but also because of a great September rain that followed a hot summer for the latest finish to harvest in recent times – September 25th. Everything in this wine moves in unison, all parts working together for a polished and luxe example of Chianti Classico. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

The vintage following that seminal 2019 marking a transition for Casenuove away from aging in small wood and making use of various larger format casks. Once again you get the feeling of highest level of extraction and here the most glycerol and silken texture to date. A warm vintage with 12 days exceeding 35 degrees to stress the vines, especially the young ones. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Panzano

Here the new plantings began to be used in the Classico. The first vintage to represent the transformation away from Cordone Speronato to Guyot training resulting in bunches not as tight for a shot at the juiciest sangiovese expression to date. Tannins are still working with grip and force, acidity is high and the wine has a serious chewy quality as well. Also with thanks to Maria Sole in her second vintage in the capacity of managing the cellar. Tells Cosimo “you can see the transition, the new sensibility and the extraction level in the wines.” This certainly marks new territory and an understanding of the potential for the estate. Last tasted February 2025.

Fruit quite mature of 90 percent sangiovese with five each merlot and cabernet sauvignon, a focused expression and very much the warmest of (western) Panzano style. You can taste the Bordeaux grapes in here, with a Cassis for sure but also some desiccation of small berries. Minty and a cherry stone bitterness on the palate with drying tannins. Give an hour of air and drink over the next three years. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted February 2023

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, Panzano

Plenty of rain, humidity and cooler temps and “it scared me,” admits Cosimo though the shift from humidity with the northeastern Tramontana wind brought about a great day for night temperature excursion. High solar radiation and cold nights at the end of September, especially here in Panzano created this truly unique set of harvest ripening circumstances. Feel the mix of ripenesses in both the fruit and acidity, the long-chained tannins and talons that hold on to your palate. Still acting this way six years later. Last tasted February 2025

Fruit quite fresh for 2018 and in a way more so than the following 2019, here again from a consistent blend of 90 percent sangiovese with five each merlot and cabernet sauvignon. Juicy Panzano expression, ready and willing to please, tannins softening now and acidity captured with truth. Raspberry and blueberry, fruit captured at peak and here an Annata with silky tannins, everything in line and ready to roll. Tasted February 2023

Crunchy Panzano Annata here from Tenuta Casenuove, peppered as opposed to peppery, as if with freckles or micro-sized bits of earth. Plenty of salt and pepper seasoning but again nothing sharp or spicy about it and fruit so very berry red. Tasted March 2022

From the southwest corner of Greve in Chianti, southwest of Montefioralle and close to Panzano. Modish and modern for 21st century sangiovese is just this, stylish, chic and highly motivated. Quite fully developed and felt red fruit of glycerin, pectin and mouthfeel but you want more and more. Impressive magnitude in bringing so much fruit into the mix. Not overtly high in acid or tannin so use this early and often. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted twice, February 2020

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico DOCG 2017, Panzano

The experience of 2015 and 2016 were critical towards dealing with the hot 2017 season, especially because the south by southwest expositions at Casenuove are what they call “a hot spot.” Yes you can feel the desiccation but the 80mm of rain that fell between September 4th and 8th really saved the day. As smart producers are want to do the harvest was delayed, started two weeks after the rain and continuing through to the 15th of October. Acidity is different and special though the fruit is now just starting to fall away. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted February 2025

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico DOCG 2016, Panzano

From 2016 all the blocks of the estate were now being vinified separately. The season began in a different way, first with a cool and humid Spring which delayed development by a month and then things sped up during the warm summer. Harvest began on Sept. 26th, finishing at the same time as 2015 which means just two and a half weeks for the same 13 hectares. A wine of more density and development than 2015 though still tannic and today maintaining an important level of freshness. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2025

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico DOCG 2015, Panzano

First year of production under the new ownership of Philippe Austruy and Oenologist Cosimo Casini arrived in June just a few months after the acquisition. His grandmother was born in Panzano and so this was a true return to his roots. Very much a part of this first vintage that he describes as “almost too easy” which suggest he thinks some things were taken for granted. Harvest from September 12th to October 10th, 13 hectares in total. “But I’m waiting for a season like 2015 to happen again.” Last tasted February 2025

The first vintage, 80 sangiovese with 15 merlot and 5 cabernet sauvignon. The sangiovese was raised in 25hL botti and the international grapes in tonneaux. Darker and deeper than the ’16 to come. Good acidity keeps it moving through the waves of vanilla and graphite. Drink 2019-2020. Tasted September 2019

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Panzano

Riserva at 100 percent sangiovese is a change from the Classico where smallest bits of colorino, canaiolo and merlot are involved. Riserva comes from a strict selection of the best part of estate vineyards where clay-schist soils spill over with iron-rich Galestro outcroppings. As in Panzano in all its glory for a true expression of Casenuove’s warm location. Creates this clean sangiovese of utmost clarity. Last tasted February 2025

Riserva is 100 per cent sangiovese, a bit dusty and reserved, acids and tannins very much in charge. Crisp and crunchy for Riserva with notable fennel and balsamic notes with a nuttiness that is a palate extension from palate sweetness. A factor of new and used barriques with baking spice that in conjunction with full on ripeness to the edge creates a feeling of sleepiness. Enervating sangiovese. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023 and February 2024

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

The first vintage of Gran Selezione happened in 2018 after a cask tasting in the cellar where the team found something different from fruit taken out of a single vineyard. A place called Sopra Torre above the base of a hill up and away from the humidity at the lowest part, a place where the wind slashes through, and the exposition is pretty much perfect. Makes for the richest of all Casenuove sangiovese, longer in wood and you feel it but who feels it knows it. Last tasted February 2025

Serious, experienced, structured and vertical example of Gran Selezione. Maturity of fruit but also layered acids and most impressively developed tannins. This walks with great stature, sure of its meaning and intent. As a Panzano sangiovese it knows exactly what it wants to be. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Castello di Meleto

Castello di Meleto – Gaiole

A studious and vigna intensive first visit with Victor Camilo Duque Crociani, GM Francesco Montalbano and agronomist Mattia Achenza. Gaiole’s famous Castello di Meleto has been a territorial guardian watchtower and fortress since 1256 with 1000 hectares, nearly 800 of which are forested. There are 130 hectares of vines in two località, Meleto and San Pietro, 80 percent planted to sangiovese, with merlot, cabernet sauvignon, trebbiano, malvasia and (0.5 ha) san colombano. The team has gone all in to isolate and exult the identified single vineyards, now with three Vigna labels; Trebbio, Poggioarso and Casi, the last one located on the road to Radda. Trebbio is collee, with red argilla soils. Poggioarso (the arid hill) is higher elevation with Alberese and outcroppings of Galestro out of the clay. Casi is in a ventilated zone with Galestro out of Macigno (sandstone) soils but it’s uniqueness comes from some alterations involving some Alberese and sandstone-based Pietraforte. The vines have been in transition since 2020 from Cordone to Guyot training, organic now for 10 years and largest such estate in the territory. Consulting oenologist and agronomist are Valentino Ciarla and Giacomo Sensi.

Castello di Meleto Método Classico

A traditional method sparkling that began 12 years ago. A spot of TCA on the first bottle. Only sangiovese, harvested early, usually late August, soft whole bunch pressed with minimal skin contact if just enough to give this Spumante a Rosé hue. Get the freshness and complexity. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

Just five percent merlot softens the sangiovese with many vineyards of the 130 hectares in total contributing. Usually the youngest vines and also some of the plots that experience the warmest climate for the season. Ages 15 months, half in cement and half in large (really old) French cask. No tannic impart and this is about as correct, clean, acid retentive and well adjusted a Chianti Classico as you are want to find. Warm vintage yet freshness and fruit quality is knowably ripe and easy. Less savoury and more fruit centric than in years past. Last tasted February 2025

Intensity of red fruit, almost searing while this young and immovable but surely a far cry from overly pressed or done. Surely a matter of Gaiole and vintage with Meleto sure to respect and deliver what it’s meant to bring. Another ’22 that must be waited on, again confirming how different these are to 2017. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2024

Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Gaiole

The first vintage where Riserva is certified organic, also with five percent merlot and fruit drawn from many areas of the estate, maximum two week maceration. Ages in large French cask (up to 500L) and plenty of fruit ripeness fills the mouth, with a local Balsamico specific to and expressive of a Meleto sangiovese. Clean and precise with all the attributes of Riserva in pocket from the finest mixing and matching of vineyard fruit as a true example of Chianti Classico assemblage. You can drink this anytime. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2025

Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Gaiole

For Gran Selezione there is only sangiovese taken from the most important identified blocks from which the three cru are made. These are the grapes not chosen from and for the Casi, Poggioarso and Trebbio ultra specific expressions. Sees 10 days of maceration post fermentation and like the other wines (Classico and Riserva) there is a silky smooth character to the Selezione. More concentration is what separates this from the others but also a refinement of the Balsamico, spice and herbals of the wine. Sapid to a good degree, almost ready to rock and the kind of sangiovese that will age slowly, incrementally and long. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Poggioarso 2020, Gaiole

The first vintage labeled as Poggioarso was 2017 and here for 2020 the vintage to launch with the UGA Gaiole on the label. Poggioarso is at the highest elevation, from 450-530m and the freshness matched by stony-mineral quality is truly high. The vineyard with the most temperature excursion, high solar radiation during the day and cold at night. Unique aromas that separate this cru from the others with a sulphur sensation that’s not sulphur. You can sense the sandstone derived mix of lime and Pietraforte that gives this mix of salinity and mineral flavour. It’s namely potassium and that is the unique perfume of Poggioarso. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2025

Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Trebbio 2020, Gaiole

Trebbio is the new cru designation for Castello di Meleto, medium of elevation between 380 and 410m located to the northeast of the castle. A very clay soil with some Alberese (limestone) and Galestro. Also iron in the ground with red hues throughout the soils. More sanguine and sweeter notes, in the fruit and with spice. Only sees the largest (3000L) French casks and the Balsamico presence can’t be denied. More density and intensity here, bigger wine, stronger and with more grip. Older schooled in a sense yet the red fruit quality is dominant as well. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Castello di Meleto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Casi 2020, Gaiole

One of two Castello di Meleto cru artists that originally existed as Riserva. Elevation from 450 to 530m and a really concentrated sangiovese high in poly-phenolic character. A smoulder here with tobacco that comes from the interaction between grapes and wood, compounded by the longest maceration. The most tannic and without a doubt the most potential of the three. A serious wine, profound expression of the vineyard and the sort of Gran Selezione that will live through to the next decade. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted February 2025

With Piero Lanza – Poggerino

Poggerino – Radda

Piero Lanza has embarked on a shorter pruning window because of the warming climate and is now keeping more bunches on the vines (1.2 to 1.5 kg per plant), to slow down ripening and to result in balanced, juicy wines. “There are no rules, not any more.” For Lanza it has been a slow evolution, a step-by-step process. As for which artistic winemaking period he’s now in, with 20 years on his back he says “it’s been about 15 years that I’ve been doing things this way.” The 2024 vintage was challenging, like 2013 with heavy Spring rains which made it hard to get into the vineyard and then a warm March encouraged early budding, but thankfully no frost followed in April. Rains ended in early June with none until the 26th of August. Veraison started early but by the 15th of August the water table had dried up and the vines shut down. Rains came just before harvest, a good thing and yet it was necessary to remove leaves to reveal bunches and speed up ripening. More importantly to reduce humidity around the bunches. Lanza finished picking on the 14th of October and mould was everywhere. One day fine, the next not so much – sometimes just a mater of six hours. “The evolution of the grapes was changing hour by hour. It reminded me of the 1990s,” said Piero, “but the most challenging vintages make the best wines.”

Poggerino

Poggerino Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Radda

The Perenospera (resulting in downy mildew) vintage but Piero Lanza only lost 10 percent of his production. Yes – he fared much better than many in the region. He remembers the 24th of June, at the time of the festival of San Giovanni in Florence. “I woke up on the 24th, a foggy morning, I went in the vineyard and everything was white. We sprayed and managed it.” The 2023 is only sangiovese, of 15 different clones and vineyards, a sweetly herbal example, oh so glycerin textured, holding more Bugialla (Riserva) fruit because none was made in 2023. Freshness from concrete aging mixes with wood spice for an easy drinking, balanced and well made Classico. Just recently bottled in December 2024. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Poggerino Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

The 2022 has been in bottle just a little bit more than a year now and has settled comfortably into its Classico skin. Quite a warm year with high level fruit and more importantly phenolic development with less herbal and tobacco notes that come from the very young ’23. Concentration is higher and again the red fruit is everything. There is a chalky underbelly of tannin and despite the vintage heat you have to remember this is Radda and so freshness is still a guarantee. Piero Lanza tried to have great respect for the grapes by pressing easy and macerating short. As s result the wine will go long, not 2016 or 2021 long, but it will last. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2025

Poggerino Chianti Classico DOCG 2014, Radda

It’s incredible! The longevity of 2014 is justified and now solidified. Adds Piero Lanza, “the quality and balance between the acidity and phenolic (compounds) have allowed the wine to age,” and age so well. Last tasted February 2025

The vines date back to 2004 and 1994 for Poggerino’s Chianti Classico, a 100 per cent sangiovese that sits at a zenith where the most red limestone earth and sour intensity is noted above all 14s almost anywhere, not just from Radda but for all of the territory. Almost over the top in this regard but stand up and counted is what this amounts to. Then it grooves forward and rebounds with warmth and depth before returning to that earthy calacari bonding. Gathers itself, the moving parts and glides along with solid length. Very interesting, honest, organic and naturally curated work from Piero Lanza. Drink 2018-2022. Tasted September 2017

Poggerino Chianti Classico DOCG Nuovo 2022, Radda

Nuovo is the new-ish Chianti Classico label, first made in 2013 as the sangiovese aged in concrete eggs. The 2022 is now one year in bottle and a manifestation of what Piero Lanza looks at “like being a chef in a fine dining restaurant.” That is to say trying a recipe 20 times before it is perfected. The roots came from Lambardier in Champagne where they aged their wines in eggs ahead of the secondary fermentation in bottle. In 2010 Piero put sangiovese in one empty egg after removing the previous wine intended for Sparkling Rosé and the experimentations began. Year two fibreglass fermentation and egg. Beginning in 2016 the fermentations happened in the new (5,000 and 8,000) concrete tanks then transferred to eggs in December. Ten years later there are 4,500 Nuovo bottles made and my how this sangiovese emits a very specific aroma. Certainly a matter of the natural swirl inside the concrete eggs but also a seriously oxygenated wine that shows no signs of oxidation. Feels like a wine of località hyperbole and says Lanza, “the egg increases the terroir.” This is the limit of quantity and yet more bottles would be a blessing. More terroir is expressed from egg in a warm vintage. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2025

Poggerino Chianti Classico DOCG Nuovo 2021, Radda

A top vintage and a fortunate one for Poggerino where the prevailing frost in Chianti Classico did not affect this località. A warm yet temperate year with heat but nothing like 2017 and just a perfect season from which to put sangiovese into concrete eggs. “For me it was a fantastic vintage, normal but the big difference was September with great temperature fluctuations between day and night.” The result is top level Raddese acidity and finest quality in the tannins. No this is neither Riserva nor Gran Selezione but being the unique wine that it is – it could very well be a manifestation of the latter. But we won’t name that and so for now we’ll just call it Classico-plus. Last tasted February 2025

One thing you can count on is for Piero Lanza’s sangiovese to come out ripe as any in the territory and 2021 would surely not be an exception to the rule. The fruit is remarkable and the structural parts equally formative and formidable so I’m not sure Lanza has made such a wine in quite some time. Years are needed to settle the pieces, parts and puzzles of this magnanimous affair. Don’t care that Annata is the appellation. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2023

Poggerino Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Vigna Bugialla 2021, Radda

First vintage of Bugialla as Riserva was 1990 though it was made as far back as 1985. Now labeled as Vigna Bugialla which puts this in cru territory and a wine that has come about after Piero Lanza’s 20 plus years of making wine, including many mistakes. It would be easy to simply think about the concentration but the true nature of Bugialla is the vineyard and its predilection for growing the finest Poggerino sangiovese. Quintessentially Raddese with the highest quality tannins available from the vineyard planted in 1994, surrounded by forests. Only the smallest and perfect bunches are chosen, like Lorenzo Magnelli at Le Chiuse for Diecianni and Luca Martini at San Giusto Rentennano for Percarlo. Aged in old Slavonian cask for two years, this 2021 is now in bottle just one year. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted February 2025

Poggerino Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Vigna Bugialla 2019, Radda

Not a cool vintage but is was in September and so the finishing concentration is not quite, well let’s say 2021. Allows the Raddese Balsamico and herbal qualities to come out a bit more. Tons of character, very expressive and time in the bottle have allowed for this coming out party and makes one wonder how 2021 will show in time. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2025

Andreita Rojas and Stefano Marinari – Calcamura

Calcamura – San Casciano

The semi-virtual winery co-owned by partners Andreita Rojas (from Chile) and Stefano Marinari, winemaker at Castello di Bossi. The two met in 2014 while working harvest abroad. Calcamura, a vineyard located between two poderi, Calcaorelli and Mura, both located on Via Mura. A conjunction of the two, as opposed to calling the brand “Stefandreita.” The località of their vineyard is Poggio ai Grilli over and down the hill from Villa Le Corti and sharing the same topography plus geology, that being the famous San Casciano river stone strewn vineyard reminiscent of Les Galets in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Their’s is a 25 year-old, 0.5 hectare block owned by their immediate neighbour to the west with a second 6,000 square metre block rented since 2021. A third will be a 1.05 hectare plot, they will be certified organic (on their labels) as of 2024 are are still currently crushing in Radda at Istine.

River stone strewn vineyard at Calcamura

Calcamura Sussolto

Sussulto, as in “to gasp or being startled,” but in a good way. A reaction as if to say, “oh my God, I’ve been jolted by something.” Made from the first passage of 100 percent sangiovese Calcamura grapes picked in late August. The idea came from a dinner with friends, to use these grapes and never consider a green harvest. Quite a phenolic sparkling wine and also one of incredible richness. This is matched and balanced by the smoky mineral, rustic style and a light mushroom consommé. So unique and worthy of any sort of fizz detour you are willing to make. 4,000 bottles produced. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2025

Calcamura Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Casciano

Now in the third vintage for Calcamura the aging is only in tonneaux, two Slavonian and one French. Only sangiovese from a vineyard in the middle of nowhere but a località called Poggio ai Grilli. Could that be the name of a coming Gran Selezione for Stefano and Andreita? The Annata will be a grand total of 430 bottles that spent a year in Slavonian tonneaux and one in ceramic Tava terracotta. A light touch for a San Casciano sangiovese for which acidity is tempered with 10 percent canaiolo to affect a sangiovese between salinity and sapidity. A wine made by experienced hands not trying to coax too much from the rockiest river stone soils available to anyone in the whole of Chianti Classico. Never ambitious, always respectful and a feeling gained from out of the receded waters (so to speak) to make Annata as pinot noir Burgundian, nebbiolo Piedmontesino or nerello mascalese Etnean as any in the entirety of the territory. A more precise and verging on profound Chianti Classico with that terrific combination of drinkability and structure. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted twice, at Borgo Machiavelli and The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Calcamura Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, San Casciano

Only sangiovese (because the cabernet sauvignon was grafted over with canaiolo) and now aged in used tonneaux (plus two barriques). Picked earlier than 2020, in mid-September at a time when alcohol can be kept at 13.5 percent and to a softer extraction in this second vintage. What results is a red citrus-styled sangiovese with a bit of sussulto of its own, in other words an acidity so very San Casciano and in a bridge year between cabernet sauvignon and canaiolo to soften, raise pH and lower acidity. Indelible vibrancy, “a style that we want – drinkable,” says Andreita. Even though the tannins are lower it is the acidity that will preserve the wine. And with no sense of overripeness or over-extraction. Represents the place and its makers. Last tasted February 2025

Campione: Limited production, 100 percent sangiovese of San Casciano bones, saltiness and energy. Notable as always for the herbs and verdancy but this edges up in volatility before descending into its tannic well. Taut finish and in need of two years to settle. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted February 2024

With Andreita Rojas and Stefano Marinari – Calcamura

Calcamura Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, San Casciano

c First vintage for Stefano and Andrea with the vineyard they purchased in 2019. “We were very happy with the result but we knew we could do better. People told us the wine was great but we also knew it was important to maintain quality.” Yes this is an impressive first kick at the can and there is some greenness in the tannin but it’s exaggerated somewhat by the cabernet’s pyrazine. Aged in used barriques for a year. This first Calcamura sangiovese reminds a bit of a Castello di Bossi Chianti Classico mixed with a Renieri Brunello. Wink, wink, say no more. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Martina and Alberto Fabbri – Il Poggiolino

Il Poggiolino – San Donato in Poggio

First visit to one of San Donato and Chianti Classico best kept secrets on the hill above and across the river from Sambuca with another more famous neighbour, Badia a Passignano. Carlo Pacini purchased the farm in 1974 and today his daughter Alessandra Pacini, Alberto Fabbri and family run the 18 hectares with with vines planted between 320 and 400m. The seminal plot is a north by northeast vineyard up on the hill overlooking the winery called Le Balze, a.k.a. “the terraces.”

Il Poggiolino AlesPaci5 Bollicina Italiana Método Classico

AlesPaci5 stands for Alessandra Pacini, better half to Alberto Fabbri and her birthday being December 5th. Solo sangiovese 30-36 months on the lees made in Rosato form with just a few years of Il Poggiolino experience augmented by greater experience from consulting oenologist Giacomo Cesare. Really aromatic and autolytic with the finest tight bubble, scraped orange skin and ginger. Truly well made. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Il Poggiolino Rosacarino 2023, Toscana Rosato IGT

Rosato made in the salsasso method (a.k.a saignée) run-off from the Gran Selezione maceration. A Rosé not focused on colour and not even aromas but with the intention of flavour as the driver. The nose is expressive of some formaggi, an aged Pecorino meets Beemster sort of thing and yes the taste is what draws you in. Rhubarb and orange with a lot going on with respect to taste. High in tang and needing food for balance. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted February 2025

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato in Poggio

The vineyards at Il Poggiolino may reside at moderate elevations between 250 and 350m but there are no south by southwest expositions and so in a hot vintage like 2022 the freshness remains a guarantee. Just three percent colorino goes a long way to raise up character of a Classico that only sees concrete and stainless steel for aging. Sweet acids match the fruit stride for stride and what you want is what you get – A level of drinkability that represents Classico and this northwest corner of San Donato in Poggio. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, San Donato in Poggio

A terrific vintage and yes many estates in Chianti Classico lost production to the April frost but at Il Poggiolino the maximum loss was 10 percent. And so come for the quantity and stay for the quality. Rich and concentrated, lightly chalky with a clay and stony feeling. Structure asks that we wait a year before opening the window and set this sangiovese with three percent colorino for aging through to the end of the decade. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted February 2025

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Balze 2021, San Donato in Poggio

From a north by northeast vineyard up on the hill overlooking the winery which may have been a expositional detriment 20 years ago but no longer. The change of climate puts this steep single vineyard sangiovese in great light today and so welcome to the third in a row of vintages that may just shock as to its character and quality. Le Balze 20 years ago was organized as large terraces and in Tuscany you say “le balze,” when you take a giant leap. This Gran Selezione has improved and grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years to join other greats to reside near the top of the appellative pyramid. Last tasted February 2025

Another perfumed and expressive Le Balze comes with as much if not more pulp and flesh a la mode than those San Donato in Poggio Gran Selezione that have come before. The depeche florals are Spring bloom fresh, the volume set at ideal pitch and you just need to keep putting glass to nose because, well you just can’t get enough. Richness is never compromised but it is belied by the beauty of a tannic caress about as graceful and gracious as there are. This is Il Poggiolino’s finest GS to date and that is saying a lot. “Just like a rainbow.” Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2024

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2001, San Donato in Poggio

Wow. Seriously wow from a 23-24 year-old sangiovese that speaks in such a clear vernacular. A language so specific to the space of this place nearest to Sambuca in the UGA of San Donato in Poggio. Yes this is from another era and the wood (though it has disappeared) and tannins (which have melted) have set this up for the longest run through history. The freshness of primary fruit lingers and merges with an ideal window of softening secondary notes. Soft yes but refreshing sip after comforting sip. Just a lovely linger of Chianti Classico as Riserva the way it was surely intended, with or without luck would have it. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted February 2025

Il Poggiolino Roncai 2020, Toscana Rosso IGT

From the 20 year-old vineyard right in front of the house and cantina facing the village of Sambuca that ages 30 months in mostly, but not all new barriques. A wine conceived approximately 10 years ago and Roncaia is the name of an old label produced at Il Poggiolino back in the 1970s, resurrected four decades later with this single vineyard fruit. The meaning comes from roncola, a traditional viticultural knife used to cut grape bunches off of the vine. Rich and chalky, well-structured, elegant and poised for merlot put to new wood for as long as it is. Remarkable really and only produced in years “when the grapes are truly perfect.” Drink 2025-2027. Tasted February 2025

Il Poggiolino Le Balze 1999, Toscana IGT

The artist has always been known as Le Balze, a.k.a. “the terraces,” to the wine that would eventually become Gran Selezione. What matters is the steps’ north by northeast facing vineyard and here from what was considered a top vintage at the time. The sweetness of fruit is still so evident and while there should be zero complaint about how well this has aged – the wine still feels like its maturing into the beginning of its denouement. The 2001 (Chianti Classico Riserva) feels much younger and still there is great pleasure to gain from 1999. Great fortune to taste, the wood very much a master of the flavour and sweetness through the entirety of the wine. Tasted February 2025

Il Poggiolino Vin Santo del Chianti Classico DOCG 1987, San Donato in Poggio

Current vintage on the market. Yes, that is not a typo. A 27-28 year-old labour of love that from trebbiano and malvasia but in the late 1990s the switch was made for sangiovese as Occhio del Pernice. An elixir so silken and smooth, no rusticity and seemingly untouched by human hands. A Vin Santo as if made by the bees, with apricot, guava, jasmine, lemon, Japanese orange and lavender. Fine, fine spice and just so special. A dream, demure and engaging. On the right side of vivid. One of the finest ever and know that you can drink this meravigliosa dessert wine forever. Drink 2025-2050. Tasted February 2025

Federico, Martina and Leonardo Tatini – Richiari Porciglia

Richiari Porciglia – Greve

One of the most intriguing and rewarding discoveries of the last 10 years in this family estate on the east side of the Greve River at the base of the Ruffoli hill. The origon is 1980 and 1985 was when Greve in Chianti’s Emilio Tatini and his wife Lidia Martinelli established the winery with the first commercial wines having been bottled in 2009. Brothers Leonardo and Alessandro are now in charge of the vineyards, winemaking and cellar. Leonardo’s wife Martina runs the business and their precocious son Federico is now working alongside his parents and uncle when he not studying oenology at the University of Florence. Considering the continuity of the local and familial, there should be no surprise if daughter Irene joins the team seven or so years from now. The single vineyard or cru “Il Paccio” Classico comes from the oldest vineyard of 40 years of soils based upon Alberese and Pietraforte.

Richiari Porciglia Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Greve

First vintage of the “regular,” non single vineyard Chianti Classico was 2009. An Annata conceived from vines between 250 and 350m at the base of Greve’s Ruffoli hill. A perfectly correct Classico, dark of fruit, easy to enjoy, fine though never tart, acidity spot on and smooth. Clean as there could be and a clarity that speaks to style, precise winemaking and place. Made with 95 percent sangiovese with (5) canaiolo. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Richiari Porciglia Chianti Classico DOCG Il Paccio 2020, Greve

The single vineyard Classico from the oldest vineyard of 40 years where Alberese and Pietraforte predominate the soils. Not made in every vintage because, well quality and passion matter dearly to brothers Leonardo and Alessandro. You can clearly see the choices passed down from father Emilio and the stubbornness to only make quality wines with the season dictating the choices. Made in ’20, skipped in ’21 (though Riserva was made) and aged for six months in 15hL Botti after fermentation in stainless, followed by one year in cement vats. Il Paccio the name is just what every generation called this vineyard and place but no one really knows why it is called this. Such a proper Classico and representation of the designation “cru” because there is something so specific and distinct about this sangiovese (with eight percent canaiolo) in its sapid style. Ready to drink though you can see this aging five more years without any real change and certainly zero decline. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2025

Richiari Porciglia Chianti Classico DOCG Il Paccio 2016, Greve

Though already eight-plus years old there has been almost no movement in Il Paccio 2016 from a warm vintage making for stronger and deeper sangiovese. You can smell the place with such expressive strength, the Piteraforte and Alberese stone committing to a local Balsamico with grip that does not come from the 2021. This is Chianti Classico in a nutshell, fine-grained and exceptional of prescriptive tannins for great longevity. You can tell just how gentle the press and maceration process were because for 22-28 days this is Chianti Classico with the finest and sweetest tannins around. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2025

Richiari Porciglia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Greve

Riserva is a selection of specific vines and so the choices are made in the fields for 95 percent sangiovese with (five) cabernet sauvignon that makes up just a half hectare of the 14-15 total on the estate. There is more of a Ruffoli feel to Riserva albeit of a darker and exaggerated Balsamic profile from lower elevations. More tart intensity and higher acidity noted as compared to the Classico and the style, or better yet the result is actually quite different. Tannins are grippier as well, fine yet with some austerity here. Needs time, at least two years further in bottle. Reminds somewhat of a Castello di Querceto. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted February 2025

Richiari Porciglia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2012, Greve

A pleasure of fascination to taste a 12-plus year-old Riserva from this part of Greve and once again the longevity is remarkable. The combination of clones chosen in the 1980s and 90s matched to this terroir clearly decides the fineness of tannin but even more so the incredulous acidity that drives the Balsamico and savour of this sangiovese. This reminds of Lamole more than Ruffoli but 2012 is unique as a vintage and therefore a wine like this will stand up to be counted from an accord forged on its own. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Richiari Porciglia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Greve

The first year of Gran Selezione for Porciglia with decisions made in the field for sangiovese with (inclusive of five percent colorino). The best grapes are chosen and left on the vines two more weeks for the final harvest. A combination of best solar exposition, highest quality and smallest bunches are isolated for the Selezione. Sees 12 months in cement vats and then 18 months in second use barriques. A clear line is drawn from the Classico but especially from the Riserva because that is the wine used to season the barriques before they are passed on to the Gran Selezione. The intensity of the Balsamico and fine grained tannins here are a hyperbole of the other wines with so many years needed to soften and integrate the parts. More old school behaviour while up there with other fine GS examples in terms of precision and focus. Drink 2028-2035. Tasted February 2025

Porciglia Cocciuto 2023, Toscana Rosso IGT

A play on words, first on the Coccio stone but also cocciuto which describes a stone-headed Tuscan, like a donkey. There was a donkey on the farm (belonging to Martina’s father) named Cocciuto though he’s no longer with us. The blend is 70 percent sangiovese with (15 each) merlot and canaiolo co-fermented in Manetti (Impruneta) terracotta. Once again the use of of aging vessels puts a Porciglia wine in vineyard light which means that time spent hidden away does nothing to take the land and soil out of the wines. As here with an IGT of acidity and tannins meant to express what the vines request. This is a very fine example of an ulterior Greve in Chianti (Classico) style. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted February 2025

Poggio Torselli – San Casciano

A return visit to Poggio Torselli but this time with the new branding is called “Il Contadino Cusano” under the ownership of Italian-Canadian Pasquale Cusano from Puglia who moved to Vancouver after the famous Florentine flood of 1966. Cusano is a jeweller, publisher of Nuvo Magazine and proprietor of Poggio Torselli since 2021. There may be 83 hectares of vineyards but just 25 percent are used to bottle the wines and the rest is sold off as bulk.

With Cristina Fonte and Margherita Romagnoli – Poggio Torselli/Il Contadino Cusano

Poggio Torselli Chianti Classico DOCG 2022 Il Contadino Cusano, San Casciano

The 2022 Annata and ’21 Riserva/Gran Selezione are the first set of wines to be made strictly as 100 percent sangiovese. As a reaction to the 2021 season’s severe reduction of yields there was no Annata produced and so this is the follow-up to the previous 2020. A new age of style and quality really begins with this vintage, of such sweet Balsamico character in a Chianti Classico of equally positive acidity and simple, if fine tannins. Great length on the Annata and a pleasure to drink. Last tasted February 2025

Campione: Second vintage with oenologist Carlo Ferrini with a different process and yes the difference is immediately obvious. New tonneaux and 30 hL botti now housing the Annata, old barriques tossed out the window and the new balance is felt in the most palpable way. Rosso di Montalcino comes to mind and while that comparison may seem sanctimonious or anti-Classico, well just taste the style and level of quality. Juicy, blood orange in that regard and pretty much a finished wine. Stands up to be noticed. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Poggio Torselli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021 Il Contadino Cusano, San Casciano

The new brand “Il Contadino Cusano” takes flight in 2021 with Riserva (and no Annata produced) because of frost-related reduced yields. An exaggeration of the local Torselli Balsamico and also really tightly wound acidity matched with equal force by grippy tannins. This is a different wine than the Torselli Riserva of the past, now with greater vibrancy and energy. At this stage the wines are made by Alessandro Campatelli with consultancy assistance by Carlo Ferrini. Something special begins and brews with ’21. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted February 2025

Poggio Torselli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021 Il Contadino Cusano, San Casciano

The new branding is called “Il Contadino Cusano” under the ownership of Italian-Canadian Pasquale Cusano from Puglia who moved to Vancouver after the famous Florentine flood of 1966. Now a jeweller, publisher of Nuvo Magazine and proprietor of Poggio Torselli since 2021. There may be 83 hectares of vineyards but just 25 percent are used to bottle the wines and the rest is sold off. The wound intensity of Riserva gives way to greater concentration and depth in Gran Selezione but the nervous energy is not the same. Here a more settled and luxe 100 percent sangiovese that will age well yet drink beautifully pretty much all the way through. Sneaky tannins creep onto the back palate and take hold. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted February 2025

Poggio Torselli Il Contadino Cusano Bizzarria 2023, Toscana Rosso IGT

Just sangiovese, no wood, fermented and aged only in brand new concrete tanks. Carbonic maceration meets alcoholic fermentation. Made by Carlo Ferrini from fruit out of the Gentilino Vineyard purchased by Cusano in 2022 on the edge of San Casciano village behind the COOP grocery, direction Sant’Andrea in Percussina. The name refers to the “Citrus Bizzarria and fittingly the name translates as “oddity.” Bizzaria is the only citrus tree that produces three kind of fruits, a lemon, bitter orange and a third that combines the qualities of the two. That said there is nothing truly bizarre about this wine. Served chilled it might create a buzz on the palate and the uninitiated might see it as a surprise effect but in today’s vinously hip world this fits right in. The dictionary entry of glou-glou – and clean. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted February 2025

Poggio Torselli Il Contadino Cusano 2020, Toscana Rosso IGT

A blend of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot at that time made by winemaker Alessandro Campatelli, fermented in steel and aged one year in barriques. A rich, concentrated, spiced, aromatically spicy and woody Bordeaux blend, but the local Balsamico can’t be denied entry into the overall character. Some toast in the barrels is broadly evident and this reminds of a South African red. Got that soil funk and earthy/peaty quality, finishing at ground espresso. Needs another year to integrate though the stuffing will only give it three more after that. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted February 2025

Poggio Torselli Il Contadino Cusano Bizzarria 2023, Toscana Rosato IGT

The Bizzarria is a grafted tree combining Florentine citron with sour orange, was studied in the Medicean Gardens in the mid-17th century and produces separate branches of both citrus fruits. This Rosé. is made with equal parts sangiovese and pugnitello by way of a micro-generous two hour macerate skin-contact style so that the cheese rind and musky citrus skin combine for something you’ve experienced before. Extract and tannin compound the earthy complexity to mean that food is pretty much necessary as an accompaniment. Sformatino di Zucca with goat cheese just has to be the pairing. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted February 2025

Poggio Torselli Il Contadino Cusano Bizzarria 2023, Toscana Bianco IGT

The last of the Citrus Bizzarria trees were discovered in 1980 by Paolo Galeotti, the “Citrus Archaeologist.” He grafted a twig from his find and waited three years before announcing the find of the strange citrus tree that grows lemon, orange and a fruit that is a combination of both. Il Contadino Cusano is an apt producer to use the name considering Poggio Torselli’s passion and aptitude for growing citrus in their incredible gardens. Bizzarria as Bianco is made with trebbiano and (less than five percent) malvasia with a long skin maceration and only stainless steel to age the wine. Negligible cheese and musky citrus as compared to the Rosato but also less extract and tannin because the grapes do not call for or are want to deliver the same kind of results. A clean and direct Bianco with ultra vibrant frescezza for refreshing use. Much easier to drink and a wine that would not necessarily require food alongside. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted February 2025

Poggio Torselli Il Contadino Cusano 2022, Toscana Bianco IGT

Of chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and gewürztraminer growing and picked together, co-fermented and aged for six months in tonneaux. This being the second vintage from fruit out of just one hectare for the mildest of orange wines, sharp, tart, quite focused and developing texture as it goes. Like the juices of lemon, mandarin and something tropical (guava perhaps) with the consistency of a simple syrup. An unusual wine, semi-aromatic and the gewürz does not take any real control. There is a hint of rosewater and yet the chardonnay takes the lead. Pretty easy to knock back. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted February 2025

With Bernardo Manetti, Jessica Dupuy and Giovanni Manetti

Fontodi, Panzano

Conca d’Oro, Vigna del Sorbo, Terraze de San Leolino, Pastrolo, Pietraforte, Macigno di Marne, Dino, Amphora, Flaccianello delle Pieve, Il Presidente del Consorzio and Manetti. So much has been written on these Godello pages about Fontodi over the years and so this link should sufficiently fill you in.

Fontodi Bianco Vino Biologico 2022, Colli Toscana Centrale IGT

From a mixed vineyard, mainly of trebbiano and san colombano but just the trebbiano is chosen from the 50 year-old vines for a project that started in 2016 in response to climate change and a vineyard more consistently ripening the fruit. “You need to put your glasses on to find it,” says Bernardo Manetti and this being the sort of white that sees a maximum alcohol potential of 12.5 percent alcohol. Picked in mid October, aged in used 600L casks for six to eight months. Higher pH and lower acidity as compared to the sauvignon blanc and so a sapid white, never vivid or dramatic, chosen to develop character through wood and not maceration. Still the wine travels on an upward trajectory up the sides of the palate and back down again. “Effete tampone” is a sponging that happens with thanks to the lees naturally cleaning the wine to get it to this place of clarity. Just 800 bottles are produced. Last tasted February 2025

A new sku for Fontodi and the inspiration comes from the next generation, that being Bernardo Manetti. Made with vermentino, 50 year-old vines, fermented in 600L barrels, 2nd passage (previously used for sauvignon blanc Merrigio). Low temps, every day bâttonage, whole cluster pressed, no skin contact and use of dry ice. Picked at high acid and this is just about spot on but thankfully a dry if not exceptionally hot season has resulted in great freshness, piquant personality and a truly linear Bianco. This is smart and focused. Just a bit more than 12 percent alcohol. 780 bottles produced. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted October 2023

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Panzano

Just only recently bottled, a 100 percent sangiovese from a very hot season and the challenge faced because of a devastating hailstorm that occurred on the night of August 15th. Thirty hectares (of 105 total) were lost to this rarest, once in a century happening. “It was revolting,” says Bernardo Manetti, “if you smelled the grapes after the hail.” The approach for 2022 became one of lower extraction and less aging, the wines taken out of wood in July after just nine months. The severely reduced crop yielded this concentration and inedible stamp of Conca d’Oro richness with a fine tannic presence and ripeness at peak both adding to the compaction of the wine. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted February 2025

Fontodi Chianti Classico DOCG Dino 2022, Panzano

Dino is the sangiovese fermented and aged in amphora, from the southwest facing vineyard lower down in the Conca d’Oro overlooking the Chianina stables. A strangely low alcohol wine at 13 percent “and we don’t fully know why,” says Bernardo Manetti, but it is in fact a cooler site where temperatures really drop down in the night. Bottled in June of 2024 after three months of maceration and just a year and a half of aging. Always the push-pull between earthy and musky, as here with high poly-phenolic character. There is a presence to the 2022 with thanks to the lithe frame housing fleshy red fruit. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted February 2025

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Pastrolo 2022, Panzano

Like Dino (in amphora) the aging time in wood for Pastrolo is shorter and so this 2022 put to bottle in June of 2024. From the Lamole (UGA) vineyard pruned in a variation of alberello or goblet training style but the vines run higher due to Pastrolo’s steep terraces. The soils are unique, marine in origin and called marna di macigno, in other words a Galestro type of cracked or flaky manifestation, but in this case from sandstone. The grace and harmony of ’22 Pastrolo is soothing with a delicasse that no other Gran Selezione will ever show. It’s remarkable from this more than warm vintage and the 14.5 percent alcohol is barely perceived. This will wake you up, especially if you are tasting in the first part of the morning. Thank you Pastrolo. I needed that. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted February 2025

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna del Sorbo 2022, Panzano

A finished wine because today is bottling day and what serendipity to taste it on the day. Vigna Del Sorbo is one of the vineyards that escaped the August 16th hail because it’s on the other side of the (Conca d’Oro) valley. Full quantity as a result, approximately one-third matured in new wood, the second year spent in older cask. Freshness captured and as always Vigna del Sorbo is the spiciest of the Gran Selezione but also the one of the three with the finest, if grainiest tannic profile. This after an aromatic wave of floral and mineral before giving way to a sangiovese that integrates with impunity. You’ve got to figure that the age of the vines are responsible for handling the heat of 2022. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted February 2025

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG San Leolino 2022, Panzano

Just being bottled as we speak and the quietest opening pronouncement as compared to Pastrolo (Lamole) and Vigna del Sorbo (Panzano – Conca d’Oro). This from the terraces below and in surround of the Pieve up on the hill where Alberese soil predomimates, unique to Fontodi because schisty clay (with Galestro), Pietraforte (calacreous sandstone conglomerate) and Marna di Macigno (marine sandstone) define the other wines. The Alberese limestone makes for a crispier and more croccante sangiovese, magnified in 2022 and while this is also quite tannic the catalyst to exaggeration is made by the highest acidity of the three. Vinoso but even more succulenza, a very specific character that is San Leolino. In fact this Gran Selezione will take longer to come together, but again the vintage dictates and solicits this response. Drink 2028-2037. Tasted February 2025

Fontodi Flaccianello delle Pieve 2022, Toscana Colli Centrale IGT

“Flaccianello for us is always the finest expression of Fontodi terroir and sangiovese grown in our territory,” says Giovanni Manetti. Truth and still a certain sense of irony as coming from the President of Chianti Classico consortium. Flaccianello was struck by hail in 2022 and so one third of the crop was lost because the western vineyard Poggio was obliterated on August 16th. The other two (Pecille and La Cappellina) survived and in the end the Pietraforte that runs through still granted the freshness, structure and especially acidity. There is a more immediate floral bloom and perceived balance from 2022, also sneakier tannins than the previous few vintages of Flaccianello. The longevity is a veritable guarantee, for 20-25 years and quite possibly more. Drink 2027-2042. Tasted February 2025

Federica Mascheroni – Volpaia

Volpaia – Radda

There are times when it feels as though in the Chianti Classico territory “all roads lead to Volpaia,” a saying that mimics the most famous one of “all roads lead to Rome.” Yet apropos in the context of Castello di Volpaia, meaning “fox’s lair,” though not actually a castle but formerly a walled in medieval village. Also the gateway to Monte San Michele at the peak of the Monti del Chianti. Historically significant within Radda and much of the village is owned by the Stianti-Mascheroni family, makers of Volpaia wine and oil. There is La Leggenda, the great tale of how the Gallo Nero came to be the symbol of Chianti Classico and then there is another La Leggenda, that being the matriarch of Volpaia, Giovanella Stianti. Her daughter Federica Mascheroni brings the family’s work to the world.

Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Radda

Surprising perhaps because 2021 and well, Riserva but acidity is tops from Volpaia. Then again it’s sangiovese and should there really be any surprise? Just three-plus years in but my goodness how the holy trinity has come together to make this work right here, right now. Fruit, acid, tannin, all aligned horizontally, the first sliding into the second and in turn to the third. Ready and willing. Last tasted February 2025

Fine swirl of sangiovese with the highest quality 2021 fruit that must and will show the fineness of Volpaia’s high elevation Radda no matter the quantity gained or lost. And the vintage was not easy though the estate’s position was a plus for making cool and fresh Riserva from the vaults of a hot vintage. For Volpaia this is darker fruit, not full-on 2020 dark but thankfully the location is there to keep deep breathes alive with the freshest of Raddese air. Still this is bigger for Riserva and bones are truly strong. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2000, Radda

Twenty-four years (and 25 to the vintage) later the Riserva from a cool-ish vintage shows its predicted predilection to arrive with acidity intact. The fruit is fully into chewy leather as dried plum and liquorice with the baking spice cupboard providing the accents. One of the first years of Lorenzo Reggoli’s tenure at Volpaia and very much one of his vintages – so there will always be an affinity for 2000 to be connected to the present day wines. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Coltassala 2021, Radda

The artist formerly known as Riserva and previous to 1999 also Toscana IGT is now become Gran Selezione, as of the 2015 vintage. Still it’s always been Coltassala, sangiovese inclusive of (five percent) mammolo. Like Riserva there is acidity more than merely qualified as Raddese but with this label extrapolated as Volpaia. Volpaia the hill below the Chianti mountains where structure is texture and mouthfeel is length. The Gran Selezione that speaks clearly in youth and so long as the catalyst driver leads the way it will persist like this for another 20 years. Last tasted February 2025

Always a concentrated sangiovese, from high elevation, solar radiated and night cooled vineyards. Still a five percent mixing in of ultra specific mammolo, spice bringer and catalyst to create this unique interaction with sangiovese. A fulsome vintage, fruit and tannins thick as thieves, luxe behaviour guaranteed and time on side for one of the longest runs to be had in Chianti Classico. The palate and mouthfeel are already showing signs of great activity and you could actually drink this now with the correct salty protein alongside. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted October 2024

Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Coltassala 2000, Radda

Impressive freshness persists because of Volpaia acidity, owing to location, location and location. Compared to the first Riserva 2000 there may not by any more concentration but there is more specificity and cool factor herbal notation. The Coltassala feels like it comes from a cooler vintage, even more so as compared to the non etichetta label and that puts it in a more complex situation. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Puro 2021, Radda

The refinement of Il Puro is apparent from the start for a sangiovese as Gran Selezione 100 percent worthy of its grape and name. The pure one is Volpaia perfume incarnate, cool and floral, Chianti Classico spice masala developed low and slow, acidity as unctuous as any but always di Volpaia. Hypnotizing elements make this wine go straight to your head though there is clarity of thought. Also beating of hearts because of its philanthropy. The focus and finesse are grand, the hypnotic effect causing a loss for words. Il Puro 2021 is a thing of great beauty – what else needs to be said? Drink 2029-2040. Tasted February 2025

Roast Chicken and Mash Comfort lunch by Giovanella Stianti

Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Puro 2020, Radda

Truly a different vintage for Il Puro as compared to 2021 for the Gran Selezione transformed in 2010, first made in 2006 after having been planted in 2000. This the GS understood to be worthy a full five years before Coltassala because the single vineyard concept and the greatness of the plot was noted earlier on. More herbology, dusty Balsamico quality and a notable aroma of wild “finnochio.” More rugged by comparison, rough and tumble, crunchy and taut. Tannins will take long to resolve and roasted protein is currently (and for the next five years will be) a must alongside. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted February 2025

Volpaia Balifico 2021, Toscana IGT

Still and always two-thirds to one sangiovese and cabernet sauvignon, here from a wine almost too young to appreciate and yet at Volpaia there is always a window of accessibility because, well acidity. Location, elevation and the natural world conspire to allow every wine a chance at speaking about itself, even before the elements have come together to truly do so. The Mascherone-Stianti family always knew that sangiovese could speak for the place, to be understood by people who knew Bordeaux varieties better and to this day the IGT is based that way. This Balifico plays a part in the estate basilica for a vintage of many gifts abided by with utmost respect and expertise. Drink 2028-2036. Tasted February 2025

Volpaia Balifico 2000, Toscana IGT

Oh the delight of a chocolate “After-Eight” mint in a 24-25 year-old IGT from high elevation in Chianti Classico territory at the upper steps of the Chianti Mountains. Many local reds at the stage will just feel old or at least taste like a mouthful of liquid truffle but Balifico’s acids are intact, even though the aromas are already losing their lustre. One-third cabernet meets sangiovese and by now they may as well be equally dispersed because together they conjoin as one. Just a hint of tannin remains, likely not real but sensed anyway. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted February 2025

Shared birthday between Godello and Bettino Ricasoli

Ricasoli – Gaiole

Ricasoli and Castello di Brolio are two historic locations that have been visited on several occasions. This link will bring you back.

Related – Ricasoli, Barone Ricasoli

The last decade has been dedicated to the cru investigations above and beyond Gran Selezione. The three Gran Selezione are now Colledilà, Roncicone and CeniPrimo, each a unique and distinct iteration of Ricasoli’s most important identified blocks of their large amassment of Gaiole’s Chianti Classico terroir. Relatively recent news for Ricasoli is that the company now owns nine hectares in the UGA of San Donato in Poggio and also recently purchased two point five in Vagliagli, at 350m of elevation just below the Tolaini estate.

Ricasoli Brolio Chianti Classico DOCG 2023, Gaiole

Francesco Ricasoli sets the 2023 up by describing it as “crispy,” which translates as freshness but who could not think of Brolio ‘23 as juicy. Classic black cherry for this label of 600,000 bottles encompassing all five soil types, 250 hectares and everything that is collected, layered and transcribed as the Ricasoli estate. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted February 2025

Campione: Youthful, still a bit reductive in a sweet bell peppery way, herbal amaro yet to stretch and let the fruit speak first. Good fruit however, substantial and showing Gaiole’s abilities for 2023. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Ricasoli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Brolio 2022, Gaiole

Riserva is truly the extension of Annata, from across the entirety of the Ricasoli estate and aged longer. Accedes to more concentration but still the Ricasoli style must be attended to; sharp, clean, drinkable and a provider of joy. This much is true and yes, the clarity is on display, so obvious in its openly generous and frank transparency. If there were rustic aspects 10 years ago they have long since left the building. It has been a matter of fine tuning, vintage after vintage. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Ricasoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Castello di Brolio 2021, Gaiole

The jump from Riserva to Gran Selezione is a significant one though the conceptualization remains similar, to draw from the various soils, of Alberese, Macigno and schistous clay manifesting as Galestro. There are other places within Chianti Classico that hold the cards to all the major soil groups but Ricasoli holds the great advantage of being able to variegate out of several micro-zones and climates. This makes for the most rounded Gran Selezione but also one with more layers than that of the other two appellative wines. And tou can drink this non-cru GS straight away. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted February 2025

Ricasoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Colledilà 2021, Gaiole

The first single-focused Gran Selezione (and one of four) is at its most floral and juiciest. In other words a sangiovese of great succulenza, accessible and no doubt the sort to attract great international attention, gracing top vintage and year-end lists, and for great reason. It draws you in and nurtures the palate with philanthropic generosity. No longer shy, already open and forthright, its character wise and strong. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2025

Ricasoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Roncicone 2021, Gaiole

The soils are marine in origin, sandstone based with fossils present. The most sapidity of the three single-focused Gran Selezione, driven by soil, profound of conception, deeper thought and finally understanding. The sapid one indeed, taut and botanical, the soil type bringing out an herbal, verdant and tonic-inflected style. Baritone, with a low rumble and cool pool of fruit with seriousness of acidity. High level poly-phenolic sangiovese, recognizable as such to the greatest degree. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February 2025

Ricasoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG CeniPrimo 2021, Gaiole

Comes from the vineyard with a west facing hill leading down to the Arbia River with fluvial terraces. The terroir of a geologist’s dream, pebbly with silt deposits on steep slopes that require three harvest passages, mainly due to the different fertilities of lower, middle and high parts. Like the Roncicone the phenolic presence is strong and in connection with the Colledilà the generosity is so very attractive. CeniPrimo might be a terrific mix of the two but soil and style conspire to make sure it’s a Selezione of its own accord. That is also defined by the highest tannins of the three and more time is needed to release its charm. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted February 2025

Proud dad, uncle and Gallo Nero producer Giacomo Nardi

Nardi Viticoltori – Castellina

Giacomo Nardi worked at Castellare in Castellina and his brother at Casanova di Neri in Montalcino. Giacomo takes great pride in the wines being made at Nardi Viticoltori and when asked for what he considers to be a list of top winemakers, this was his response. Alessandro Cellai (Castellare), Carlo Ferrini (Pietradolce, Giodo, etc.), Gioia Cresti (Carpineta Fontalpino) and Paolo Salvi (Montevertine and Gagliole).

Curing salumi at Nardi Viticoltori

Nardi Viticoltori Farfaro 2024, Toscana Bianco IGT

Made with 85 percent trebbiano and (15) malvasia just bottled three weeks ago. Simply meant as a white of “easy drinkability.” Sapid, mineral-metallic and well, juicy. Just 11 percent of alcohol, a bit leesy and quick to the point. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted February 2025

Nardi Viticoltori Baccheri 2022, Toscana Rosso IGT

Baccheri was the name of Giacomo Nardi’s great-grandparents that lived on the farm more than 100 years ago. A 60-40 sangiovese and merlot blend, six months in wood. “Must be a gastronomic wine – 100 percent.” Red fruit, merlot softness and sangiovese acidity. Restaurant by the glass. Drink 2025-2026. Tasted February 2025

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

Sangiovese with five percent colorino and canaiolo first produced in 2014 now with the image of Siena’s skyline on the label. Soils are clay with some limestone and for Giacomo “the 2022 is better in the mouth.” Aged in a mix of Tuscan, Slovenian and French oak, “essential for aromatic complexity.” Now just in bottle for a bit more than a month, expressive of fruit in a broad way and the tannins are present in two parts, of softness and then in fine grains. Nardi picks on skin and alcohol – not on the pips. He insists they don’t necessarily have to be crunchy and brown. Surely a reaction to climate change and because he wants to make a wine of drinkability. Makes sense in Castellina and yes, there is more than ample ripeness in his 2022. Well done, Giacomo. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

Quite a different vintage now that the 2022 has been tasted and it sure seems like Giacomo Nardi and his brother took another step forward in 2022. This 2021 is a bit more rugged and just not as finessed in the mouth. Last tasted February 2025

For Giacomo the Classico is a “traditional blend and vinification.” Elevated and lifted aromatics from Castellina for Annata, aromatically charged, lifted, phenolic and allied to the palate with well ripened fruit. Sees time in Botti (Tuscan from near Ruffina) and Slavonian wood. Not so much a matter of volatility as about freshness, but a verdant stripe does run thorough the perfume’s middle. Cool, minty savoury, sapid and salty with a feeling of the endemic ethereal. Great curiosity and controlled intensity for Nardi’s 2021. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted twice, February 2024

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Castellina

The first vintage was 2016, the following vintage was so hot and dry but Nardi did the yeoman work and made a truly drinkable wine. The 2021 is blessed of the good if basic red fruit vintage, here with more polish and refinement as compared to the Annata. You can feel the passion and the piety in this work. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2017, Castellina

Now five to nearly six years in bottle and still going strong, with thanks to moderate alcohol and even though Giacomo does not feel like the acidity is up to par – it still does what matters. There is in fact some elegance and plenty of life left in this challenged wine. Last tasted February 2025

Hot year and one of the great recent challenges for a Chianti Classico vintage but Nardi’s Riserva comes out at 13 percent alcohol. What is this witchcraft? What kind of wizardry or magic is practiced on this farm? Finished harvest on the 22nd of September, two full weeks after rains finally came and nearly fulfilling the requiem to arrive at phenolic maturity. Still this is Castellina and waiting through to October would have been impossible. Yes acidity is lower but still very present and the wine has aged beautifully. You feel here that you are drinking the attention and passion of a small production with this being the very best that could have come from such a challenge. Fundamental instincts followed and sangiovese that speaks to the connection between family and place. Just a touch of drying maturity coming out at the finish. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Castellina

Annata is a bit burly, Riserva more refined and Gran Selezione 2021 takes the finesse and focus to another level altogether. Certainly a more approachable GS as compared to the 2019 and again you can see just how much the Nardi brothers have figured out from one vintage to the next. Still vertical and yes the structure is serious but the integration of the Slavonian wood is more in tune with the fruit. Balsamico and croccante crunch for a special Gran Selezione out of 2021. Just 1,800 bottles produced. Drink 2028-2033. Tasted February 2025

Nardi Viticoltori Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Castellina

The first vintage, from Vigna del Pino to mark the pine tree at the top part, with only clay and no limestone in this block. Typical Castellina soil in this valley, a top vintage for Nardi and the fruit separated. “Old style of sangiovese that my father planted to the D12 clone.” Long maceration, up to 35 days after alcoholic fermentation and the style is indeed old school, vertical, fruit as purple as they come and it was Alessandro Cellai who identified the block when the grapes were being sold to Castellare. Sees 20 months in Slavonian Botti, acidity maintained is really high and the structure rumbles low below. Wait two more years for the grip to relax and the tannins to integrate. Last tasted February 2025

First vintage from the one hectare vineyard, “our vision of the different sangiovese,” the dark soul and D12 (Emilia-Romagna) clone planted by Giacomo’s father back in 2002. Small bunches, strong and thick-skinned leading to a requiem of longer macerations (as many as 30-35 days). Darker of colour and a richer version of Nardi but more important is the croccante and graffiante nature of the tannins. Great acidity captured (at 6.2 tA), a full half to three-quarters higher than the Annata and Riserva. Th exposure is northeast (which makes dad look like a genius) and the soil is a very strong clay. Sees 20 months in Slavonian oak and evolution is low, slow and relatively forever. Balsamico finish and acidity (more than tannin) is the driver. Think Brunello if you like but this is purely Chianti Classico Gran Selezione. A father is and a grandfather would surely be proud. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February 2024

The one and only Luigi Cappellini – Castello di Verrazzano

Castello di Verrazzano – Montefioralle

There is arguably no visit in the Chianti Classico territory with more ambience, thrills, history, humour, top Tuscan comfort cuisine and quality wines than at Castello di Verrazzano. A few hours spent with Luigi Cappellini and daughter Maria-Sole Cappellini can’t be repeated enough. It all began with Giovanni da Verrazzano, Italian navigator and explorer for France who was the first European to sight New York and Narragansett bays and today the The Verrazzano-Narrows Suspension Bridge connects the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn. Verrazzano wa known as a humanist and man of science, much like Cappellini who came along 500 years later.

Castello di Verrazzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Montefioralle

Worthy exercise to taste 2022 next to the settled 2021 because you see how much bolder this next vintage really is. Silky sangiovese impurezza as it is said, warm and sun-ripened at elevation with a look to the Chianti Mountains due east. A syrup of fruit and acidity swirled and seductive, acids purely Montefioralle and a balance discovered throughout. Deeper and darker fruit, sinking into brooding and a sangiovese that will need time to shed it’s weight and rise up again. The acidity will see to that rising and when the weather warms in 2027 this Verrazzano will begin to drink as it should. Fine Annata and one that resembles the Gran Selezione, albeit as parts of the appellative whole. Drink 2027-2031. Tasted twice, at the winery and at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello di Verrazzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Montefioralle

Seems appropriate to taste ’21 almost exactly one year to the day later because this exact amount of time has settled the score. The energy has not waned even an iota and today’s pulse is triggered yet measured, like an athlete at rest. Behold a definitive Annata. Last tasted February 2025

For Verrazzano a complicated and in the end balanced vintage but who could have forecasted the restrained power and elegance. A 100 percent sangiovese vintage and one of somewhat shortened vindication to capture the grace and especially acidity of the vintage. A bit of maceration that hints at carbonic but no fizzy pulse. Almost a spicy sensation on the palate but really a matter of total energy. Bravo. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

Castello di Verrazzano Chianti Classico DOCG 2008, Montefioralle

Aromatics indicate an older wine, pleasant and in the throes of primary to secondary transference, but the palate remains immersed in freshness. Succulence and energy in the mouth, cool, sweetly herbal and the fruit still pops. Ignore the historical thought of naysayers who said the 2008s would not age well – Verrazano’s has travelled through life without obstacle because its balance is impeccable. Why not imagine three more years at this level? Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2025

Castello di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sassello 2018, Montefioralle

Not sure if any significant movement was expected but none is forthcoming for Sassello 2018. Persistently punchy and grippy with tannins still at their peak. Feels formidably sapid at this stage and perhaps another six months will lighten the load. Last tasted February 2025

Not yet released and will have at lest three more months in bottle before that can happen. A strong vintage and normally the release would be the fall but both wood and fruit need to time to find each other. The substance in Sassello 2018 is, well substantial, in fact something more than that. Richness at the height of Verrazzano’s abilities but my goodness this packs a punch while also showing off the modernity and harmony that define this estate today. Bravissimo. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February and October 2024

Castello di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Valdonica 2018, Montefioralle

More delicate than Sassello and the contrast is even more obvious from 2018 than it had been for 2017. Though the season developed darker fruit it is the freshness, luminosity and sweeter style of Balsamico that see great lift in this Gran Selezione. In a way a true expression of the word “onica” for mineralogy, “a variety of agate with concentric black and white streaks, or, more generally, with areas that present strong contrasts in colour.” As here from the wine’s core to its edges, in hue and feel, vinous meets gemstone and stony cool. Last tasted February 2025

The thing that connects Sassello and Valdonica is the vintage, the power and the full on substantial effects compactly packed yet carefully multi-layered. A swarthiness really separates this GS from Sassello in ways that put this in its own light. The aromas and flavours also bring in exotic spices but also a succulence that show how special and different this sangiovese truly is. It walks a fine line, flirts with danger and comes out singing. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted February 2024

Castello di Ama

Questa non è una finestra at Ama – Daniel Buren, Sulle vine punti di vista

Castello Di Ama Ama Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Gaiole

Only Ama could pull and gift this much upfront fruit to draw us in as quickly as we do. Richness accrued and balance incarnate, more than juicy acidity and fully encapsulating tannin. If this is what Annata is all about the ceiling is unlimited for San Lorenzo and the more interlocutory and focused single vineyard Gran Selezione. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024 and 2025

Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Montebuoni 2021, Gaiole

A mouthful of acidity, tannin and mineral direct and defining Ama’s Montebuoni 2021, a wine not yet mature enough to say the window has opened. Quite woody at this age while the dark fruit is so very substantial and so time is needed to melt them into one another. That acidity and seriousness of Balsamic quality speaks to the Gaiole origin as the source for this level of appellation. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted twice, at Ama and at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG San Lorenzo 2021, Gaiole

San Lorenzo the concept comes from the vineyard with that name and now the ideal conceives of Gran Selezione as a wine to speak for all of Ama’s Gaiole. The vintage is renowned to be important and so arrive expecting fullness of everything involved, but also a fortress yet to be breached. A tough one indeed still at this stage with verticality and immovability. Needs at least two more years. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG San Lorenzo 2018, Gaiole

Aromatic, spicy, lifted and genuine. Extra layers, fruit of course and then floral, calcareously white peppery, luxe as per the appellative level and a matter of time. Vintage but also patience, the latter needed to understand the former, warm and developed, compact and yet never dense. To achieve this kind of acidity is remarkable. A matter of matching same parts to make up a whole. As per Marco Pallanti’s decades of dedication. “I am not a flying winemaker, I am a pedestrian one.” Drink 2024-2034. Tasted May 2023 and February 2025

Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto Bellavista 2020, Gaiole

Bellavista is first and foremost the Gran Selezione only made in select vintages, inclusive of 20 percent malvasia nera and also the one of ripest fruit with a view. The depth in 2020 is serious, the wine at once grounded and then acidity of a Gaiole nature kicks in to lift and see this Bellavista rise. Full and beautiful, seamless, orchestrated by a master of decades and artistic appreciation while delivering a modernist’s virtuoso performance. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted at The Chianti Classico Collection, February 2025

Castello Di Ama Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto Bellavista 2018, Gaiole

Bellavista the Gran Selezione is only made in select vintages and 2018 marks the first of three consecutive (likely with a fourth 2021 coming soon) after 2017 was passed over. A rare example of GS to include 20 percent malvasia nera and the beautiful view comes replete with riper than ripeset fruit. The depth from 2018 is akin to 2020 but with two further years having come and gone there is now a soft middle in between two grippy pieces of structure. This unique high elevation sector of southern Gaiole with its formidable ridges delivers the acidity of a località which always lifts Bellavista up to its precipice. At this stage it does already feel like looking back at a wine with its window fully open and the breezes blowing in. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2025

Baciate Me, San Casciano (Tasted with Lorenzo Magnelli at Le Chiuse in Montalcino)

Baciate Me Chianti Classico DOCG Avvenne 2020, San Casciano

“Kiss me,“ a play on words for the three men who own the winery, including Le Chiuse and Castello di Meleto oenologist Valentino Ciarla and a vineyard he purchased in San Casciano during Covid. Avvenne loosely translates as “please let me have some more of something, but in one word” and truthfully that is how you will feel after a glass of this wine. It’s is a sangiovese with some canaiolo of very old vines, truly San Casciano with a feeling of the local macchia and a natural wild quality, of great temper matched by restraint. The wine rolls and oscillates in waves, acts juicy, very aromatic, light, at times dusty and yet the texture is flowing. Never sharp and just the right balance from a super tiny production. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted at Le Chiuse in Montalcino, February 2025

Baciate Me 2021, Toscana Rosso IGT

An old vineyard and from the aromatic grape higher in pH and lower in acidity but when really old vines are involved the balance is better. Tasted with Le Chiuse’s Lorenzo Magnelli who believes that canaiolo should be bottled under glass cork (or why not screw cap) because under nature cork “the wine will lose more then it will gain.” In other words the grape can oxidize faster than sangiovese but here the freshness of the vintage persists and there is a unique, almost corrugated tannic profile. Currants and the Tuscan Corbezzolo, a unique expression that is in fact really expressive. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted February 2025

Good to go!

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Harvest report 2024: Retro Chianti Classico

Dec12

Sangiovese 2024, Chianti Classico

In Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1976 film 1900, an epic tale of class struggle in twentieth century northern Italy is told through the relationship between two childhood friends. One is of a proletariat family, the other born into the bourgeois and through their friendship the movie explores the struggle between socialism and capitalism. Sitting in a pub, Alfredo Berlinghieri (played by Robert de Niro) says to to Ada Fiastri Paulhan (Dominique Sanda), “November is the cruelest month of the year.” This may have been true for farmers struggling to survive in post-war Italy and through the era that saw the collapse of the mezzadria system. A climatic evolution over the last 50 years might just alter the argument to say that November is no longer the most troubling month. Take Chianti Classico as an example. In frost years there is April and the rains of May to June bring downy mildew, both potentially devastating issues that attack vines and reduce yields – very bad for business. Easter time can be cruel and the late Spring Perenospera an umitigated Oomycetes disaster, but when it rains heavily in September and October, an entirely new set of adversarial circumstances can occur. Grape rot becomes a real factor, grapes swell to increase their volume and the harvest can last forever. Welcome to la vendemmia 2024.

Sangiovese fermentation 2024 – Terreno

The age of freezing cold winters is but a memory now for growers in the territory where the Gallo Nero are produced and 2024 saw another stretch of new age warmth. Even if January and February nights drew temperatures dropping near zero, the daytime highs were often pushing into double digits. Milder days in the latter half of February meant you could bask in the sunlight of a Sunday afternoon, on the terrace with a glass of Rosato or in the thermal baths just outside Castelnuovo Berardenga’s southern border. You could count the coldest days with temperatures typical of winter seasons’ past “on the fingers of two hands,” so said Marco Ricasoli Firidolfi. Rainfall was ample and so 2024 would see no repetition in terms of drought, nor would frost become an issue, as was seen in 2017 and 2021. Precipitation was intermittently constant, upwards or more of 70 millilitres fell in January, 180 in February and 120 during March, which meant for saturated forests and vineyards across the whole of the Classico region.

Sangiovese – Lamole

What to expect from 2024 Chianti Classico?

The summer of ’24 was typically hot and dry but all that changed after September 7th because in some parts of the region nearly 400 ml of rain fell over the following seven weeks. Unprecedented amounts of water, well at least if you look back at the previous 30 years. August of 1995 saw rain like that and previous to that there was plenty of precipitation and cool harvest temperatures in 1991 and 1993. Fast forward again to 2024 and the the constant deluge of mid-September through to late October ends up becoming the cruelest stretch. Days on end when tractors are unable to enter the vineyards, harvest crews repeatedly pause on stand by because picking wet grapes is a cardinal sin and prayers are made for two straight days of sunshine to happen anytime and anywhere. From Greve to Castellina, San Donato in Poggio to Castelnuovo Berardenga, Vagliagli to Gaiole, San Casciano to Radda, in Montefioralle, Panzano and Lamole. Bunches are dropped because tight sangiovese clusters encourage the development of mold from within and the waiting game is excruciating for many. Patience is the greatest virtue and yet sugars are developing slowly, like the old days, piano-piano, as they like to say. In the end a classic vintage in the ways of days of old is declared, with phenolic ripeness achieved because of the longest hang-time since 1993, the same year Juventus’ Roberto Baggio scores five goals in seven international matches for Italy. Drinkable sangiovese, elegant, ripe, low alcohol and a good number blessed with sneaky structure. Producers are pleased with the freshness and ethereal beauty. The tank samples are bloody delicious. Pure sangiovese. Retro Chianti Classico.

La Squadra Canadese in Firenze

First and foremost on so many producers minds are the alcohol levels topping out at 13.5 percent. If you see 14.0 abv on a bottle in 2026 or beyond you can bet the actual number is just above that 13.5 Mason-Dixon line and in some cases 13.5 could in actuality be just a shade above 13.0. Lighter wines as a general rule, but age-worthy because of phenolic ripeness, at least in cases where producers waited, waited some more and picked as late as possible. Expect to see straight through the transparent hues of Chianti Classico sangiovese for 2024, to sense, taste and feel the brightest and potentially sweetest acidities, then finally the silkiest if also most elastic tannins. The 2024 acids will be the catalyst for aging these sangiovese. Anyone under the age of 50 will have likely never experienced a Chianti Classico vintage like 2024 and potentially never will again.

La Squadra Canadese – Piazza del Campo, Siena

Just two months ago La Squadra Canadese of seven sommeliers and Godello as their chaperone went all in for a mid-October excursion through the 11 UGAs with estate visits, tastings and round-table discussions in classic Chianti Classico boot-camp fashion. The theme could not help but concentrate on the 2024 harvest because first timing, but also its omnipresence as an all-consuming affair, on the minds and in the daily planning of every producer. The group’s seven members: Christian Perreault Hamel – Harbour60, Toronto, Lauren Hall – Scale Hospitality, Toronto, Ashleigh Forster – DaNico, Toronto, Jessamyn Box – Major Tom, Calgary, Lisa Baran – Savio Volpe, Vancouver, Heather Rankin – Obladee Wine Bar, Halifax and Montréal’s Elyse Lambert M.S. – Ritz-Carlton, Toronto. A tradition initiated by the legend Jeremy Bonia was carried on, to play a game aboard Enzo’s bus with music themes chosen by the leader (Godello) and each sommelier picking songs to be played throughout the course of a travelling day. Please feel free to peruse and listen to La Squadra Canadese Radio:

La Squadra Canadese Radio – First song you remember singing along to

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Pre-2000 Hip-Hop

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Country

La Squadra Canadese Radio – 80s and 90s jams

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Headphones on a beach

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Wedding Songs

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Dancing by Myself

La Squadra Canadese Radio – When you have a Hangover

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Non North American artists

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Favourite movie soundtrack song

La Squadra Canadese Radio – To play at your Celebration of Life

La Squadra Canadese Radio – Pairs with Chianti Classico

La Squadra Canadese – Panzano

There was an extensive Gran Selezione UGA Tasting at Casa Chianti Classico in Radda, 15 estate visits, an aperitivo with President Giovanni Manetti at Enoteca Baldi in Panzano, unforgettable dinners at Panzano’s Antica Macelleria Cecchini, in Siena and also Florence. As always, the planning and support from the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico’s Carlotta Gori, Silvia Fiorentini, Christine Lechner, Caterina Mori, Laura Cavalleri and Simone Fabbrini. La Squadra came, they conquered and the Gallo Nero left an indelible stamp on their collective emozioni – forever. As for Godello, here are his 125 tasting notes from the trip – expected and as per usual, abided.

Gran Selezione Tasting – Casa Chianti Classico, Radda

Gran Selezione tasting at Casa Chianti Classico

Marchesi Antinori Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Badia A Passignano 2021, San Casciano

If it looks like, smells like and tastes like Badia a Passignano, well then it must be Badia a Passignano. Then again as a 2021 the fullness, generosity and natural phenolic grip meeting sweetness is unparalleled. Yes the underlying verdant savour is always there, always the Badia’s corner of San Donato in Poggio, but honestly the pulchritude of substance feels extant, furthered and extra level for Passignano. For Antinori. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February and October 2024

Arillo In Terrabianca Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Terrabianca 2019, Radda

All sangiovese and nothing but the sangiovese in one of the first iterations of Gran Selezione under the guidance of new and improved ownership. Brightest of red fruit for a concept and work in progress that seeks to deliver utter transparency for lower (relatively speaking) elevation out of Radda. Firm enough though the tannins are anything but austere. Drink early GS, again, relatively speaking. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2023, February and October 2024

Banfi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Fonte alla Selva 2020, Castellina

Fonte Alla Selva, “fountain in the forest,” though there is less bosco influence in Castellina than say Radda, Gaiole or Panzano. That said the clay and Alberese soils of alluvial origin breathe freshness into a Gran Selezione with 40 hectares of vineyards from which to choose from. The 2020 is a big wine from a warm season though here cool, liquid smoky and glycerin textured sangiovese with the smooth consistency made whole by the “other” non-specifically declared varieties. Though by rule as of next vintage they must be local and make up no more than 10 percent of the whole. Tight, tart and chalky, surprisingly tannic, not sharp mind you but with a noted pointillism in its brush. The vanilla and lavender may be distracting but as far from over the top. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Bindi Sergardi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Mocenni ’89 2019, Vagliagli

Mocenni 89 is a special Gran Selezione, open, ethereal and generous. And it is just now entering its window of beauty with new surprise at every turn. Last tasted October 2024

Tenuta Mocenni presides at one of the higher points in the Vagliagli UGA at 500m with vineyard blocks impounded with great Alberese stones and outcroppings of Galestro. The south facing amphitheater is one of Chianti Classico’s most impressive sites and sights. The latest vintage is not yet released and there is no shock how youthful and tightly wound you will find this 2019 to be. The one that follows will proudly display the UGA on the front label. More than just a few years of time in more than one kind of vessel has equipped this major potion of fruit with ample layers of structure in a Gran Selezione so bloody big, substantial and beautiful. Will most definitely require five to seven years of unwinding. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Borgo Salcetino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG I Salci 2016, Radda

Wildly perfumed and built upon a foundation of aromatic volume for a 2016 that needed all the time it has been given to come and express itself this way. Still tannic by way of a combination of chalky and austere, a crisp Gran Selezione and one needing food alongside to tame its drying second half. When will it fully resolve and what will the fruit be up to at that time? Remains to be seen but waiting two more two years will not make for the best result, or joy. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted October 2024

Borgo Scopeto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2017, Vagliagli

Settling in, arriving near to its fruition and frankly this represents the most elegant side of 2017. A surprising vintage considering what was expected and Borgo Scopeto’s is much brighter and fluid than many. Surely a Gran Selezione that needed time, to soften the edges and allow freshness to shine through. This is the time to drink a ’17 that will work for its dinner. Hard to fathom how it came to be but this works at 13.5 percent abv. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Brancaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2021, Castellina

Fine, fine Brancaia, luxe and stylish while restrained in any needed way. The epitome of modern Gran Selezione, understated and always giving, with confidence and the understanding of why the appellation was conceived. Crunchy and savoury, still highly tannic and so make sure to concentrate on the beauty of perfume in this early stage of its tenure. Last tasted October 2024

The aromas and perfumes are so much more prevalent and open for 2021 with stoniness and Castellina as the instigator for how this Gran Selezione is want to express itself. Crispy, savoury and the sort to really bite down and sink your teeth into. Tasted April 2024

New label not yet printed that likely indicated this has not been in bottle long and as a 2021 Gran Selezione that must surely be the case. Keep this in mind when you feel just how implosive and locked in the fruit is kept behind the wall of tannic sound. The freight is loaded in the compartments but the train has yet to leave the station – though as a 2021 there will be joy at the end of the line. With stops along the way because the vintage does not demand too much nor will it crash and burn. Brancaia’s 2021 is a ripe and primed GS to live out the decade and then for a few more years in the next. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted February 2024

Cantina Castelvecchi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Madonnino Della Pieve 2017, Radda

Well-aged (and held back two to three years) Gran Selezione from Castelvecchi out of mid-elevation Radda and a sangiovese paying tribute to La Madonna of her church. From the warm and veritably dry 2017 season but there is both flesh and also acidity riding high in this Gran Selezione. A top vintage for this appellative category because the healthiest fruit destined for the top wine did well to create promise. Still a bit austere and this was pressed just a bit heavy so the wine will always show a certain level of verdancy and tightness. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023 and 2024

Capannelle Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Gaiole

Seriously rich and liquid chalky sangiovese, concentrated as a Gran Selezione level example should be expected to be. Full and layering vintage, ripe in terzetto respect, including tannins and so this says drink sooner rather than later. Not quite yet mind you but the coming winter and a long-simmered stew will benefit well alongside. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted October 2024

Carpineta Fontalpino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Dofana 2019, Vagliagli

A preview of 2019 that will shown at the Chianti Classico Collection in February of 2024 that are now finished wines “but to me they are young,” shrugs Filippo Cresti. The dried balsamic quality of 2018 is here replaced but more freshness and spirit. A richer wine in 2019 as compared to Montaperto with the wood more involved – while the wine this young is trying to figure out its way through adolescence. The clay is fully involved in just how textured and fruity Dofana acts in this inimitably generous vintage. Flesh will come, with time. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted October 2023, February and October 2024

With Dario Cecchini – Panzano

Carpineto Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Greve

There is nothing about this Gran Selezione that is not Carpineto and so kudos to the Greve estate for unyielding consistency, no matter the time or place. In fact this also represents a look through the mirror of a vintage, never overbearing or overpowering and just a snapshot of cool, herbal and brushy, like taking a long walk though a dry forest, air crisp with fresh air. The 2020 GS has matured some already so drink this while some others work through their issues. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2023 and October 2024

Carus Vini Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Gaudio 2018, San Casciano

Proper austerity and the yet to fully descry intention are what define this style of the Carus San Casciano Gran Selezione. The fruit combines that pitch of red and sway to speak of savour but as of yet never the twain shall yet meet. Two or three more years are needed, to get them together but tension needs to subside before anything meaningful can happen. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted October 2024

Casale dello Sparviero Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Paronza 2019, Castellina

Unique example with aromatics unlike any other but for now they are mostly caused by the stay in wood. Vanilla yes but also what feels like the effects of American oak. Coconut like Rioja mixed with Napa Valley but sangiovese is rendered “different” because, well sangiovese. Needs two years to come fully together and will outlive many, darkening and thickening as it matures. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted October 2024

Castelli Del Grevepesa Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

The Grevepesa cooperative (out of San Casciano) grabs and works with fruit from Panzano and they have chosen to put the UGA front and centre on their label. This they do with Lamole as well. In both cases the Gran Selezione is written vertically, boxed and smaller in font. Celebrating an adjunctive location is most curious and when you think about it, quite clever. Their 2019 is clearly Panzano in origin with that notable combination of glycerin fruit matched by Galestro-Pietraforte mineral swirls. There is some astringency here – yet more importantly bright red fruit. Needs a year to further settle in. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2023 and 2024

Castello Della Paneretta Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Torre A Destra 2016, San Donato In Poggio

Unbelievable how tannic and unrelenting this persists as a 2016 Gran Selezione. Crisp, crunchy, savoury and spicy, wood still a major factor and fruit continues to be hold back. How long will this take? At last two more years it seems. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted October 2024

Castello Di Ama Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG San Lorenzo 2019, Gaiole

A reminder and to be clear – San Lorenzo comes from the San Lorenzo vineyard and also Montebuoni but not only. The Gran Selezione is both a name of fantasy but also connected to the vineyard that lends this top tier appellative wine its name. The step up in quality and precision from Montebuoni Riserva is really quite obvious though each are wines respective of their appellation and style. A very important vintage because there are times when Gran Selezione must be accessible early with unequivocal structure allowing it to age. This is 2019 from Ama as a personification of its maker. Marco Pallanti as Gran Selezione. Has a nice ring to it don’t you think? Drink 2024-2032. Tasted October 2023 and 2024

Castello Di Bossi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019

Ultra professional, concentrated and fruit layered example of Gran Selezione, all parts sweet and tanned, from fruit through acid to tannin. A paced and measured 2020, plenty of warmth and wood seasoning, though all is liquid, elastic and fluid. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Castello Di Fonterutoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Castellina

Clean, advanced to a finer point and really showing the sweetness of fruit at this stage. Open whenever you are ready yet can also be kept for four-plus years. Last tasted February and October 2024

Castello di Fonterutoli’s 2020 is Gran Selezione like looking in the Castellina mirror because the purity of red, red, red fruit is the crux and at the core of what this wine wants to say. Hyper indicative of the vintage, clear and transparent, never too weighty or adamant and Fonterutoli puts everything in its rightful place. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February and October 2023

Castello Di Monsanto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto Il Poggio 2019, San Donato In Poggio

The arrival of an Il Poggio is greeted with great anticipation because luxury and fortune have beget tastings of several recent and also older vintages. So imagine what Monsanto’s 2019 will surely bring to the table out of San Donato in Poggio. No ordinary moment, but one likely to get frozen into time. Open heart and mind, dig into deeper understanding and intuitive possibility. Gran Selezione 2019 from the Bianchi family’s hilltop vineyard is sublime. Concentrated, understated, refined, precise and giving. Nurturing if edgy but always gracious and unselfish. A touch reductive, protected and of course stylish. A moment so vivid it causes ache, awe and longing. Too much waxing for a bottle of wine? Actually no but another Il Poggio for the ages. Drink 2026-2039. Tasted October 2023, February and October 2024

Castello Di Querceto Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Corte 2020, Greve

La Corte is “the court,” second of two Gran Selezione out of The Dudda Valley by Greve’s Castello di Querceto. The one with more precision and refinement (as compared to Il Picchio) and it is this warm vintage 2020 that really captures the sunshine as manifested in true sangiovese concentration. The complexity comes from liquorice and resinous evergreen oils, a note of graphite, creosote and something unknown, or unnamed. Nevertheless there is a lot happening here and the wine should unwind with great intersect over a ten year period of time. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2023 and 2024

Galestro – Panzano

Castello Di Radda Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Il Corno DOCG 2018, Radda

Juicy Gran Selezione, integrating and resolving, coming into its own with fruit still at fresh peak performance, These are really fine Raddese acids, helpful and supportive, propping up the fruit. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Castello Di Verrazzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sassello Vigneto Querciolina 2018, Montefioralle

Castello Di Volpaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Coltassala 2021, Radda

Castello La Leccia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Bruciagna 2020, Castellina

Quality sangiovese comes in many ways with this being the kind of fit concentration matched equally by conscious and confident full use of wood. A tight, tart, tannic and intense example showing both its strengths and also constraints. Give this two more to shed some new light. Last tasted October 2024

Here a Castellina Gran Selezione called Bruciagna, pure sangiovese sleek and hot-blooded. A 2020 of agility, speed, and spirit, well designed, fruit at the height of its powers and a sprinter as opposed to a long track runner. Structure is more power than endurance so drink in the near term for the win, place and show. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted October 2023

UGA Tasting – Casa Chianti Classico, Radda

Castello di Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Bolle 2021, Greve

Le Bolle, the name of the cluster of houses in a specific locality and therefore in the register inside the “frazione” of Greti within the commune of Greve. A Gran Selezione single vineyard of just sangiovese, initially made in 2006 and first presented as a GS at VinItaly in 2019. More aromatic volume and power than La Prima but also a smooth as silk sensation on the nose and also on the palate. Stylish, certainly more woodiness and perceived sweetness because the tannins are in fact ripe and the mouthfeel classically “scorrevole.” Longer and more persistent from a GS that represents the house style. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2024

Cecchi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Valore Di Famiglia 2018, Castellina

Solid, weighty, tense and taut sangiovese here from Cecchi in the highest level on the appellative pyramid. Wound tight and will take five years to unwind, just as it has already been nearly five to wind up into this intense present character. Might dry out a bit and the seasoning will be peppery strong as the fruit subsides. The next few years will see the best moments for this Gran Selezione. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2023 and October 2024

Cinciano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Still tightly wound and somewhat reductive with a skin to pulp ratio resinous effect in place. Still much to wait for and to receive from what will surely be a giving and abiding Gran Selezione that acts out a distinguished and defined San Donato in Poggio sangiovese style. Comes from relatively low elevation vineyards at 250m of medium textured soils, Alberese based, stony with some low-lying clay. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted October 2024

Conte Capponi/Villa Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Bastignano 2020, Montefioralle

Have waited just eight months and not only has nothing changed but the wine has gone into full slumber. Revisit no less than a year from now. Last tasted October 2024

Campione: A sample but one at the three and a half year mark so let’s take it at face value. One of the baller and brazen Gran Selezione in Conti Capponi’s work, doubled down by a vintage of similar character. Intense minerals and elementals streaking through chalky fruit that mimic and speak to the terroir – an Alberese stone that will not be denied. This is indeed serious and structured. Wait a minimum four years people. Please. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted February 2024

Dievole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Sessina 2019, Vagliagli

A 6.4 hectare vineyard at 450m which qualifies as the highest point of Dievole. A south exposure with Macigno and outcroppings of clay to deliver more power than any other estate sangiovese. The aromatics are expressly consistent with Riserva (and also Casanova) but the musculature is taut and developed. That which Riserva commits to is magnified in this fourth vintage of the Gran Selezione, none more so than the tannins which grab, grip, secure and hold on tight. They compound and reside in the arena of the austere at the finish of this profound wine. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted February and October 2024

Fattoria Della Aiola Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Cancello Rosso 2018, Vagliagli

The red gate is a definitive Vagliagli sangiovese with its tell-take evergreen and pine forest aromatic crush. A warmest vintage means concentration, early picked jammy fruit and highest acidity captured. A proverbial food wine if ever there was because the acid cards accumulate for layers of sweet and sour edginess. Still needs time and in this case the fruit can hang around until the wine integrates to near fruition, if never quiet getting fully there. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese – Casa Chianti Classico, Radda

Fattoria Di Corsignano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG L’imperatrice 2019, Vagliagli

High-toned, tannic and mid-season volatile behaviour, showing experience and location, or rather wearing these things on its sleeves. Just a bit of squeezing or pressing to bring out the natural fruit and along with it some verdancy quite savoury in nature though surely within character for Vagliagli. Curious or in other words unique Gran Selezione that after another two years will reveal much more. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted October 2024

Fattoria di Valiano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG “6.38” 2019, Vagliagli

Notably wooded example of Gran Selezione from another warm vintage with years still needed to integrate though fruit freshness is nearing its peak. Tannins are near severe to speak of the season, spicing and intent. The goal here is structure and longevity, two ideals that are surely part of this 6.38’s DNA though by the time it gets to Vagliagli there will and should be tartufi and porcini on the table. Classically styled for a Piccini 1882 CC-GS. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted October 2024

Fattoria Montecchio Chianti Classico DOCG Pasquino 2019, San Donato In Poggio

Gelid and glycerol red fruit, into the San Donato in Poggio blood orange spectrum, naturally sweet and pulpy, a squeeze of omnipresent red citrus and something so very well understood. Fine work, likely showing at best if not quite integrated peak at this stage. Last tasted October 2024

Seductive Gran Selezione here from Montecchio, not atypical for 2019 yet Pasquino takes the style to another level entirely. Blood orange, glycerol, silken texture and just as it has been said, seductive. Chic and classy without pretension or precious personality. Little maintenance required, only a glass, some salumi and fine cheeses, good people with which to share. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Rancia 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Inaugural vintage of the Rancia Gran Selezione, for many years the bigger Riserva from the grand southwest facing hill, now ready for top-level prime time in the eyes of Giovanni Poggiali. Took its time to make this grand change and no shock to find the cedar-cypress-evergreen component running ultra high. A hyperbole of who it was, now under the magnifying glass, full, heady and intense. A Gran Selezione of stature, structure and at this stage, immovability. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2024

Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Terrazze San Leolino 2020, Panzano

How much does the human factor effect a wine like San Leolino? The answer lies in the relationship between the land, weather, vintage and in how the people who work the fields to maximize the gifts made available to them. From 2020 the quotient is high, above 2019 and ready to pass the torch to 2021. At least in these first three vintage the incline is palpable, the progression linear and more importantly vertical. This is great and 2021 will take it further. Allow the wood to settle for two more years. Last tasted February and October 2024

From the vineyards surrounding the 9th century Pieve and you know what they say. “Sangiovese is planted, consequences follow.” A 15th century drawing found in a Florence museum proves that monks cultivated grapes on this property at that time. More perfume than the Classico level Panzano and so there is proof that this terraced land with high level Alberese soils provides aromatics and great structure in the way a Lamole plus Panzano might hypothetically get together for a similar result. Leolino is not a go between but something unique, something other. Special and of an aging potential that may just be more promising than that of Vigna del Sorbo, but let’s wait 10-15 years to see if that will come to be true. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted October 2023

I Fabbri Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Lamole

From the oldest vines, including those planted back in 1965 and aged for two years in large cask, a.k.a. grandi botti. The old vines show what can be done from lowest of yields, highest of concentration and by way of a contract that seeks and attains the necessity of elegance. Everything about Susanna Grassi’s Gran Selezione speaks to the Lamole UGA, in sweetly herbal and savoury perfume, a floral note connected to the botany and grace under the pressure of structure so well defined. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2023, February and October 2024

Il Molino Di Grace Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Margone 2021, Panzano

An important selection, in 2021 mainly from the Al Sole vineyard but also some fruit coming out of Francesca. “A great vintage for us,” says Iacopo Morganti. Unfortunately the Easter frosts reduced quantity by 40 percent. No matter because Il Margone’s position is to offer a calm respite away from wines too big for their own good, pivoted towards elegance in a sangiovese so right and so pure. Puts this in the finest Panzano light as a wholesome Margone by Morganti and Il Molino di Grace that will slowly evolve over a near 15 year period with kept freshness and slow development. Last tasted May and October 2024

Campione: Take a little trip forward along a linear and precisely drawn line from Riserva to Gran Selezione and see what will be. Not as aggressive or intense as Riserva but its own kind of powerful and grippy while also more charming. I believe its elegance will begin to show sooner rather than later, say in the first few weeks of 2021. The wood is more noticeable on the nose and the sangiovese needs time – but charm and grace is there. This you can count on. Smaller production of 8,000 bottles. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted October 2023

Il Poggiolino Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Balze 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Isole E Olena Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2016

“I did not like Gran Selezione, I did not have anything against Gran Selezione but the discussion about UGA (sub-zones) was already underway so why not wait for this next change to the appellation?” The thinking for Paolo de Marchi was more about the wines that did not qualify for the appellation becoming wines that now qualified, the issue being a new rule could not apply to only 30 or so producers. So what is needed for that to happen? “All grapes born here should be able to travel with a passport.” If it is more complicated than that then there is much more to discuss. A Chianti Classico from a long, linear and fortifying vintage delivers equally appropriate and extending tannins, gripping the composition while proposing to become elegant and fine. The seamlessness and never wavering focus keeps on keeping on, in the ways of emotion in motion. Will remain in bottle one year more before being released to the market. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted February 2022

Istine Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Casanova Dell’Aia 2021, Radda

From Angela Front’s (relatively) newer Radda planting and one to deliver sangiovese with a vineyard’s determination, not to mention the winemaker’s imprint. Will come across as lighter, brighter and less concentrated to some but they would not be paying attention to nuance, precision, stealth mystery and the many still to be revealed hidden meanings. Vigna Casanova dell’Aia 2021 is a restrained tour de force of a Gran Selezione, knowing full well its full intention is yet to be announced. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese – Chianti Classico Headquarters – Sambuca

La Croce Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Croce 2020, Castellina

High aromatic swirl and flush of floral fruit to draw us in and come looking for more. Many splendored and substantial quality in that regard. Were we to stay there the wine would continue to please. The palate whoever is sappy and gratuitous with its wood-effected vanilla and berry ice cream soft serve. Softens quickly and then trails away. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

La Sala del Torriano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Il Torriano 2020, San Casciano

When San Casciano brings aromatic wealth twofold between red fruit and sweet savour then you know you have really got something special in your glass. High chances it will be Torriano from La Sala. Warmth of vintage, expertly considered and arranged picking schedules, then finally winemaking respect has all fused to come to this. Amplitude meets tranquility and fullness transcribes as pleasure. Lovely spices and spicy piques arrive at the back and length is outstanding. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2024

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto di Campolungo 2019, Lamole

As you would expect the Gran Selezione is a crunchy sangiovese, as only Lamole can deliver with more freshness and verdant character than just about anywhere in the territory. A different green than Gaiole or Radda, an almost humid rainforest breath of air, like running spring water through the canopy that expands the aromatics. Brings out the Lamole perfume more than the Riserva and five times that of the Annata. Also sanguine form the iron-laced Macigno sandstone and its own kind of char, like a seasoned cast iron on low heat. Up until three years ago there was some cabernet but now it is solo sangiovese. First vintage of this wine was 1985 and then transformed as Gran Selezione in 2010. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2024

Le Cinciole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Aluigi Campo Ai Peri 2020, Panzano

Panzano expression incarnate, red fruit ripe and silken without glycerol gratuity and flirting with untethered gravity. A richness while also barrel work lending a creamy mouthfeel that still needs to soften further, integrate the associated spice and see this become a Gran Selezione of parts develop into the whole. Just some austerity in the structure stands in the way. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted October 2024

Le Fonti Di Panzano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

As always at this appellative level Le Fonti’s is 100 percent sangioivese and as with Annata but also Riserva the house style chooses fruit over wood and seasoning over toast. The warm vintage finished with late season daytime highs juxtaposed against nighttime lows and this Gran Selezione emerged with glaring clarity, instrumental precision and parts on point. From fruit through structure round fits into round and square into square, nothing awkward, sharp or out of place. An aromatic sangiovese while the palate provides an experience and a half. Selezione ’19 is a prepared one, to withstand oxidation and develop supplementary character so that it may age well into the next decade. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February and October 2023 and 2024

Livernano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Purosangue 2016, Radda

Yet another aging Gran Selezione wound tight, austere tannins yet to relent and fruit in a remarkably fresh state. The level of concentration will not live to the fullest along with the wine’s longevity and yet wood is not an issue. Used and resulting in good gastronomical seasoning but never obtrusive. So reminds of nebbiolo, if more light, bright and austere like Barbaresco in style. Very old school Radda. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted October 2024

Lornano Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG 2017, Castellina

Always stiff, reductive and vertical in youth which still includes 2017. Cedar and pine mulch, great savour all-around, fine-grained tannins and an aromatic thirst yet to be quenched. On the palate there is some incoming joy and so we see that the belt is loosening and the wine beginning to offer up some pleasure. Some will see too much wood and that opinion is perfectly valid but understand how Lornano’s wines at every level need time, The tannins are in fact fine and everything will make more sense after another year of time. Last tasted October 2024

The last Lornano Gran Selezione tasted was 2012, absence makes the heart grow fonder and five vintages later expectations run high. Their’s are the most austere in youth, especially for Castellina because the bright red fruit of the UGA does not always ring the bells of structural alarm. But Lornano’s position and high Alberese content make them immovable when young and so three extra years is warranted for seeing them open up to the world. As with this 2017 which has indeed done so and yet maturity still seems far away. Great and luxe, juicy and even fresh fruit considering the vintage and so Bravo to the team for coaxing this kind of elegance. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted October 2023

Marchesi Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Tenuta Perano Rialzi 2020, Gaiole

In Gran Selezione terms for Chianti Classico Rialzi is about as singular as it gets. Just drive up the road from La Villa in Radda, into Gaiole and through to Perano to know what you are dealing with. Olive trees, cypress, pine, other evergreens, rosemary, sage and brushy greens on your left give away to the single Rialzi Vineyard on your right. All that verdancy translates into these 25 year-old, cordone speronato vines for a very specific balsamico, drawn from the greens, through the experienced vines and into the fruit. The vineyard was called “I Rialzi,” literally “the lifted up,” or now “the steps, or terraces. Lamberto Frescobaldi always insists “the vineyard matters most,” and in this case that is simply true. Aromatic confusion in a way but more so volume, palate tension and also vintage. Incidentally warmer than 2019, lending more volumetric credence and tending towards a bigger iteration of Gran Selezione. Feels more like the Rialzi of expectation and the kind of structure to go on and on. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2024

Nittardi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Nittardi 2020, Castellina

Über Castellina sangiovese, full fruit compliment at Gran Selezione level and already openly generous. Crunchy fruit mixed with equally toothsome tannin make for a good appellative combination. Fine work out of the variable 2020 vintage. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted October 2024

Villa Le Corti Principe Corsini Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Don Tommaso 2020, San Casciano

The original Gran Selezione for Villa Le Corti, that being Don Tommaso, incidentally labeled with its UGA while “Zac” adds the Val di Pesa suffix, as per the commune. Quite the fleshy and substantially concentrated 2020, impressively so, rich, luxe and jam-packed with flavour. A mix of 80 percent sangiovese with merlot (that will not be available in 2023 due to no production because of downy mildew). A bit woody on the palate at this youthful stage but this will pass and Don Tommaso will drink dutifully if also effortlessly through the latter stages of this one and into the first stretches of the next decade. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted October 2023, February and October 2024

Radda in Chianti

Querceto Di Castellina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sei 2021, Castellina

Really pretty and voluminous sangiovese from Castellina’s Querceto, as bright and red fruit excitable as they come. Not edgy or twitchy though, but even paced and moving from strength to strength. Length is forever and tannins are present if never too demanding. Sei is a 2021 Gran Selezione that will go on and on, potentially through to the middle of the next decade. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2024

Querciabella Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Greve

The first commercially available vintage was 2017, from the highest reaches out of Querciabella’s vineyard parcels between 450 and 530m aboard the Ruffoli hill. Picked four weeks ahead of same altitude vines in Lamole because of exposure and well, Ruffoli. Treated to a submerged cap, i.e. capello sommerso methodology, a simmer of skins kept wet just as they have been doing forever in Barolo. This means a quality of tannin that comes out by infusion as opposed to extraction and with such an ideal vintage the result is uncompromising. Freshness captured, instinct incarnate, tannic freight compact, though the layers have breezes blowing through. Precise and focused as expected and the finale lingers forever. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted February and October 2024

Rocca Delle Macìe Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sergio Zingarelli 2019, Castellina

It just feels as though a Famiglia Zingarelli sangiovese will always act, emit and taste this way, that were this wine poured blind we would know the origin and the appellation. That being Gran Selezione and with 2019 the glare and obvious beautiful red mess of Castellina fruit is right there. The tops for substantial fruit as far as this GS is concerned and possessive an aging potential long and great. Should become one of Zingarelli’s finest. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2023 and October 2024

San Fabiano Calcinaia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Cellole 2019, Castellina

Mainly Sangiovese with some colorino and a few splashes of merlot “that speaks Chiantigiana.” Also a 500m elevation for most of these grapes, the sangiovese planted in the 80s and converted to organic in the 90s. A stony Galestro soil opposite to the sandy clay and calcari, i.e Calcinaia around the borgo and winery. Only Cellole delivers this cool, liquid peppery swarthiness that the Classico does not show and also a combination of verdant but also distinct minerals notes. Tannins are exceptionally taut with at least two to three years remaining before they begin to truly integrate. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted February 2023, February and October 2024

San Felice Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Poggiorosso 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

If you could close your eyes and sip Poggiorosso you would almost certainly realize that San Felice was in the glass because this is the result of their sangiovese. Tight, tart, youthful, unresolved and yet to realize its potential. This is a bit of a dumb phase, not fully expressive and seemingly light stage of its tenure. Need to refit and see what comes next. Last tasted October 2024

Almost hard to believe but 2019 seems bigger, broader and in a way wilder than the 2020 Poggiorosso and yet this single vineyard Gran Selezione is a force to reckoned with, no matter the vintage. The vibrancy and especially the acidity is the wild aspect of a sangiovese that acts a bit the rebel, with cause. Quality here is tops in every respect, fruit is ripe on both ends and that acidity is really quite sweet. Splitting hairs compared to 2020 but this is something special. Amazing work from all new 500L tonneaux. Drink 2024-2037. Tasted October 2023 and February 2024

Tenuta Cappellina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Canto Dieci 2018, Vagliagli

A massive Chianti Classico Gran Selezione in so many respects, vintage being the impetus and catalyst for how this reached 15.5 percent alcohol. In spite of the spike the acids are raging high as well, the high tonality of the sangiovese also spiking with sharp and pointed style. The heat is like white light, or lightning rather and sometimes it’s hard to fathom how a grape from a UGA like Vagliagli can get this way. A hot season with big temperatures in late September but unavoidable is the truth of the matter. Does well to express place and style in the face of this adversity. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Tenuta Casenuove Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

Tenuta Di Nozzole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Giovanni Folonari 2019, Greve

Western Greve brushy and herbal style of sangiovese with a dusty and evergreen feel. Aromatically exuberant, open-knit, bright and with just a hint of proper volatility. So bloody sangiovese and concentrated for a point to consider a specific style of Gran Selezione. Another proper vintage with fine work put in to factor for a well made Chianti Classico. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Terra Di Seta Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vendemmia Assai 2018, Vagliagli

Ha taken its time to arrive at what is now a truly drinkable moment, the generous wood styling and aging now integrated, smoothened and in delivery of silky texture. High in glycerol, some wood char still in the background but now more like liquid smoke, neither smouldering nor ignited to any developed flame. Relatively dark fruit, very black cherry, tannic and just ever so slightly oxidative. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Tolaini Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Montebello Sette 2020, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Youthful still and showing no signs of growing up, moving forward or coming away released from its wood and tannic shackles. A big Montebello Sette from a vintage that determined this course, with impressive bones, silken red cherry fruit and potential of the highest Castelnuovo Berardenga order. An important wine for Tolaini and the culmination of hard agricultural work put in to play. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese with Giovanni Manetti and Christine Lechner – Enoteca Baldi, Panzano

Vallepicciola Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Lapina 2021, Vagliagli

Red stone fruit, aromatically fleshy while also expressed through high tones. Acid-driven vintage, ultra believable as coming from Vagliagli and at a refined concentration level that clearly indicates Gran Selezione. A 2021 to pay attention to, cellar and take in the results five to seven years after vintage. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

The most amenable and accessible vintage there could be but ’19 is already beginning to show its fruit sliding into dried and dusty territory. Granted it was still relatively early in Serena’s tenure and understanding of the vineyards and even more so the appellation but at five years past vintage this is the Gran Selezione to drink straight away. Still some tannic austerity but otherwise a sangiovese in resolution. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Cecchi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Villa Rosa 2019, Castellina

Single vineyard sangiovese from Casteto at the highest eastern heights of the Western Castellina vineyard. Most freshness and elegance of all the Cecchi sangiovese and from 2019 a wine so ready to drink you will find it hard to keep any bottles in the cellar. Not that structure is an issue because Villa Rosa will mature slowly over a five year run. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May and October 2024

Viticcio Gran Selezione Chianti Classico DOCG Prunaio 2019, Montefioralle

Prunaio is beginning to resolve, to see a next level of integration and a drinkability not too far away. Fruit is persistently fresh, acids sweet and fattening, structural parts in play though without any austerity or great tannin. There is some mind you, but in good control and working well alongside the pleasurable parts of this Gran Selezione. Fine work here in 2019 from Vitticio. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Valentino Davaz – Poggio al Sole

October 2024 Estate visits

Poggio Al Sole Sangiovese Bianco 2023, Toscana IGT

From relatively older plantings (1997 and 1998), harvested on average two weeks before the sangiovese used for reds. First commercial availability was 2019 but it has been experienced and played around with for 15 years. Quite phenolic, pH influenced, a sapid bianco of tonic and grip. Finishing with a lemon saltiness that ties it all together. Has grown from 1,200 to 17,000 bottles from 2019 to now. The ’22 was just a bit saltier and higher in energy. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Poggio Al Sole Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Donato In Poggio

Organic, 90 percent sangiovese with (10) canaiolo, 12 days of maceration, one year in mainly large cask. The canaiolo helps to soften the tannic austerity of sangiovese and “make it more accessible earlier,” explains Valentino Davaz. The “business card” of Poggio al Sole, notable acidity yet cut and texturized by the blending and style. This ’22 is substantial, full and filled in when you consider the mid-palate, just about ready as we speak and should be consumed in its first three years. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Poggio al Sole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Casasilia 2021, San Donato In Poggio

Casasilia was the name of the estate before it became Poggio al Sole, opposite hill to the estate that owned Poggio al Vento on the other side. A Gran Selezione that transferred from Riserva and has been pure sangiovese since 2007. From plantings between 1992 and 1997, high acidity vintage and dry extract off the proverbial charts. Basically the best looking bunches that can then macerate longer and the result is a mix of fruit and acidity that travel the sides of the palate, up and down, unrelenting and working with the structural components of the wine. Intriguing, woody and inviting. The grandest wine that falls into the sweet spot between elegant and bold, lithe and massive. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted October 2024

Serena Gusmeri – Vecchie Terre di Montefili

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Panzano

Just 50 percent of production from a warm vintage with low juice to skin ratio. Aged only in 30 hL casks for approximately 15 months before release. “The bottle you open must be of the place,” explains winemaker and agronomist Serena Gusmeri, “with the purity and freshness of the crunchy sangiovese.” Spicy and musky aromatics, not surprising because of the skins’ effect. Powerful vintage with bones, dry extract (more than 36 g/L!) and a purposeful saltiness. Puckering finish. Last tasted October 2024

Tasted side by each with the 2019 there can be no missing the darker hue, stronger fruit and bolder notes sung by Vecchie Terre di Montefili’s 2020. It’s the vintage and also Panzano that create the unavoidable, each as forceful and imposing as the other. Then agin the trilogy of terroir, weather and place are intrinsic to the sangiovese that arrive each and every season. Big wine, tannins equal to the task and yet evolution will happen faster than 2019. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted February 2024

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Panzano

A selection from Vigna del Bosco from Montefioralle and also with some Vigna Vecchia Panzano fruit. In the next vintage the two will each make up their own, one labeled as Montefioralle and the other with the Panzano UGA. Depth and volume in so many ways, of hue, extract, aromas and concentration. Truly floral with Panzano’s Pietraforte ingrained within. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2024

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2019, Panzano

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2016, Panzano

Serena Gusmeri’s second vintage at Montefili, harvested exactly one week after her daughter was born. In so many ways the perfect Chianti Classico vintage and even more so for Panzano and this corner of the UGA. Understated and far from powerful elements, especially tannins, like the sound from a cornet. That said this ’16 Gran Selezione is so persistently young and fresh. Almost no movement as of yet, still a sanguine and mineral quality set that keeps this sangiovese crunchy and pure. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2024

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Vigna Vecchia 2019, Toscana IGT

Less than half a hectare planted in 1981, Panzano side at Montefili, the last year as an IGT ahead of its inaugural Gran Selezione labelling in 2020. High level of spicy savour, bloody quality and more tannic austerity than what comes from Panzano. This seems opposite to what would be expected but welcome to Chianti Classico where producer and location are everything. Richness meets structure, Alberese and Pietraforte conspiring for a muscular style. Salty conclusion and should age forever. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted October 2024

Vecchie Terre di Montefili Vigna del Bosco 2019, Toscana IGT

From Montefioralle and the highest elevation for Montefili at 540m, now an IGT but will be presented, labeled and introduced as Gran Selezione (DOCG) in the 2021 vintage. There are no neighbours to Vigna del Bosco, only the forest surrounding the vines and 62 different types of wildflowers right there. This is the sanguine part of the 2020 blend with a juiciness, a sweetly savoury note that makes for the freshest style. So crunchy, with currants, corbezzolo and pomegranate in such a red citrus way. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2024

Le Fonti Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Panzano

Always 90 percent sangiovese with up to 10 percent (mix of merlot and cabernet sauvignon), now settled into its languidly structured skin. The spices have braised in to create a dual effect, of seasoning and emulsification. Last tasted October 2024

This is truly a preview of the Le Fonti Chianti Classico 2021 because this is the vintage that will be poured at the Chianti Classico Collection held in Florence on February 15th and 16th. When frost struck the area on April 6th and 7th, 2021 Vicky Schmitt-Vitali said “Le Fonti is positioned quite open to the winds so most vineyards fared OK with the frost. Only one small patch protected by trees and bamboo at the bottom of the valley got freeze-burned. The other side of the valley got hit worse so we have to be grateful. Lucarelli (the small village in Radda just below Panzano) is always very cold and our tractor driver lives there and said that his house was minus six the past few nights. All fruit trees burned but his vines had not been out yet so he was lucky.” The result here is a top notch, clean, fresh and harmonious Annata that also happens to be a sangiovese of higher quantity than many out of the vintage. The acids here are just about perfect and the flavours are as enticing as they are diverse. Without a doubt one of the finest Chianti Classico ever made by Guido and Vicky at this appellative level. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted January and February 2024

Le Fonti Fontissimo 2019, Alta Valle Della Greve IGT

One of only seven wineries with high enough elevation vineyards along this section of the Greve River between the Panzano and Greve villages, but also the only Panzano winery labelling with this “elevated” Alta Valle Della Greve IGT. A smack exciting vintage of acidity and wow does this Fortissimo attack the palate with the best of intentions. You are captured, captivated and ready for the fruit strafe that follows. Varietal obviousness, fortitude and pleasure to be had for seven years more. Easily. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese with Victoria and John Matta, Vicchiomaggio

Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico DOCG Guado Alto 2022, Greve

Short-ish maceration, five to seven days, finishes in large cask. Never barriques for sangiovese. Leaves the austerity of the past well behind, forging the present and the future for easy-accessible, fresh, bright and refreshing Annata. Warm vintage brings high brim and mature fruit for truly early term drinking – but you can hold and see what will come. Tasted October 2024

Campione: Perfectly balanced sample of 2022 sangiovese, Greve and Vicchiomaggio, red fruit captured with as much perfumed ripeness as could be desired while also fulfilling palate needs. This is what should be expected and gifted from a Campione – a window to the drinking window and potential of the wine. No need for wonder or worry – you know you will get the right stuff from Guado Alto ’22. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted February 2024

Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Agostino Petri 2021, Greve

The Petri family were owners of Castello di Vicchiomaggio between 1850 and 1910 and today their name graces the label for sangiovese with a small (more or less 10 percent) of cabernet sauvignon. Mix of small and large wood for the sangiovese with the cabernet staying in barriques. Refines in 50 hL grandi botti for a couple of months. Dictionary entry for what is perceived as Riserva, rich and mouth-filling though from 2021 the acidity really works the room. So much so the length on Petri ’21 is of the finest Vicchiomaggio ilk. More fulsome and also well-rounded vintage with extending structure than those of the bookending vintages from ’20 and ’22. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG La Prima 2021, Greve

Bottled in April 2023, now 18 months fully settled, seasoned with a bit of merlot though under the new rules of Gran Selezione this will no longer be the case going forward. Of the two Vicchiomaggio GS this is the one with the earlier integration, higher acidity and less demanding tannin. Nearly drinkable, maybe anther six months away from the open window. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted October 2024

Vicchiomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Le Bolle 2021, Greve

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico DOCG Duelame 2021, Lamole

“Two blades,” a technically sound and silky smooth 100 percent sangiovese Chianti Classico of violet aromatic fruit and glycerol texture unequivocally polished above all else. A blend of the lowest and highest vineyards, wood more about spice than whatever other ideas there might be for its generous use. Might have been a bit spicy and woody a year ago but now settled and balanced. Ultra professional Annata. Last tasted October 2024

Full and substantial which is pretty much what we have come to expect from a Lamole (di Lamole) sangiovese and to a degree much higher than any other from that UGA. Perfumes yes but fruit and texture are the base ingredients to make this wine swell forth. Lots of love and deep space in L de L’s 2021 with a sleek Macigno feel throughout. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted February 2024

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico DOCG Maggiolo 2022, Lamole

Warmer vintage and for Lamole yet Maggiolo is expressive of more youthful freshness and also herbaceous character with a note of wood char more than spice. There are 10 percent combined merlot and cabernet sauvignon mixed in, along with their smaller barrel textures and flavours. Thicker, jammier and less glycerin, warm and freshness supplied by its youth. Some green tannin at the finish. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Rankin, Godello and Forster – Lamole

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Lareale 2020, Lamole

Lareale is the real sangiovese for Lamole di Lamole, a selection of two vineyards in Il Prato, lower at (relative for Lamole) elevation, set between 400 and 500 meters and this level, quality and concentration of fruit handles the wood with ease, accepts the spice and comes away as it seems like it should. A truly positive result, rich, fresh and ideally seasoned. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted October 2024

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigneto di Campolungo 2019, Lamole

Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Vigna Grospoli 2019, Lamole

For Lamole di Lamole Gran Selezione means single vineyard. This vineyard section is two hectares of Alberello trellised sangiovese in a modern way on sandy Galestro soil. A block purchased from Fattoria di Lamole by Lamole di Lamole. More traditional feel, a gentle rusticity and a glide of fruit across the palate, but ultimately a truly tannic wine. Grainy and yet the texture really sells the sangiovese. Needs two years easy. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted October 2024

Terreno Método Classico Pas Dosé “Quatro Sorelle” 2016, Greve

Named for the four Ruhne sisters, Anna, Victoria, Kajsa and Sofia for a special classic method sparkling wine spent seven years on the lees. Real acidity captured is also preserved from a program conceived in 2012 with Federico Staderini using pinot noir. This however is sangiovese, as it so rightly should be, perfectly gemstone golden and oxidative, every aspect of the wine done on the premises by hand. The natural sweetness from a pied du cuve exemption comes out with about as pure, floral and precise a result as the team and we could possibly hoped it might be. One of the best sangiovese bubbles in the whole of Chianti Classico. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Terreno Chianti Classico DOCG Tre Vigne 2020, Greve

The three vineyards are Greve next to the winery, across the ridge’s rift at Solano (also in Greve) and then Greve west bank in the UGA of Montefioralle. A mix of three soils, they being Monte Morello, Pietraforte and Alberese. Called “Tre Vigne,” because it comes from the three plots for a layered sangiovese bottled in the fall after two years in cask plus six months in bottle. Quite impressive persistence in terms of both freshness and length. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Terreno Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2019, Greve

A blend, of 85 percent sangiovese, (10) cabernet sauvignon and (5) colorino, the small amount of the latter bringing colour and structure. A mix of vineyards again but here the youngest vines are driven to the Classico while more experience and potential for structure come Riserva’s way. They do what is necessary which tells us to wait another year before knowing this ’19 is ready to go. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted October 2024

Terreno Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Asofia 2019, Greve

Asofia is only from the oldest vines planted in 1980 and 2019 i the first vintage labeled as Gran Selezione. Previous it was a single-vineyard slash cru-designate, 100 percent Chianti Classico. A much more pinpointed and focused wine as compared to the Classico, aromatically charged with Alberese and clay as the soil source abutting the Chianti Mountains. A maturity and concentration of fruit as per the old vines that lend experience and fullness. Picked on the 4th of October and it shows in the phenolic quality, upwards of let’s say 8.5, pushing nine out of 10 on that hypothetic scale. Brush and cooler climate from the surrounding woods lends a savoury element to this wine and in Greve terms there is an almost Lamole at elevation and perfumed aspect of this hyper specific sangiovese. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2023 and October 2024

Terreno Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Sillano 2019, Montefioralle

One of two Gran Selezione and harvested almost a week later on October 10th, referring to the place and little church near the village of Montefioralle. From 500m on calcareous soils (Essentially Alberese), not Formazione di Sillano as might have once been supposed because of the name of the place. No barriques or tonneaux, aged 24 months in 12 and 24 hL oak, finishing at 13.5 percent, much apposite to 2018 that finished at 15 percent. This is purely Montefioralle, exquisitely so, cool and fresh, elegant and if this isn’t an ideal vintage for the UGA then I for one will have no idea what is. Purity of parochial red fruit and a temperate state of being, calm and relaxed. The tension lies hidden in the shadows of this wine, non-explicit and as a result the sangiovese seems non-plussed. The tannins are upright, timely yet taut. All this to say that Sillano will be ready just a bit later than Asofia and will also live just that much longer. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted February and October 2023, and October 2024

Perano

Marchesi Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Gaiole

Clearly driven by its acidity made whole by the elevation, which means high solar radiation and day for night temperature fluctuations. Wood now leaving the building and fruit singing. Great drinking sangiovese with canaiolo providing a sapid edge and cabernet sauvignon the black fruit spice. Aromatics are in top shape. The 2022 Annata will be released on November 21st. Last tasted October 2024

Today Tenuta Perano has a distinct advantage and that is elevation. Ten years ago that would not have been said but 550m is no longer considered a cold altitude and so critics and consumers alike should no longer dismiss this place. At Perano the sangiovese matures on both ripeness fronts and does so at a markedly reduced crop per plant. Results are more than simply a matter and meter of concentration. Lamberto Frescobaldi notes how the Chianti Classico from this part of Gaiole are those of “severity and specificity, and it can be tasted in the wines.” It comes from agriculture and can’t be missed. That is if the winemaking is expressed with humility. The verdancy and freshness by elevation are Gaiole and they foil the substantial elements, namely fruit and tannin. All of this is raised to the highest degree in the Annata 2021. “Especially when the plantings are on cooler sites but you really have to be careful, to push the harvest later.” The conclusions are captured acidity and a lovely expression on the nose. “You may not like sangiovese,” concludes Frescobaldi, “but you will always be intrigued by it.” Drink 2023-2028. Tasted December 2023

Marchesi Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Ten months have done little to see any wane of freshness or juicy character though there is the first note of sappy frostiness. Unique Riserva, obviously Perano and as an appellative wine still a work in progress. The 2021 will be released on November 21st. Last tasted October 2024

The 2020 Perano has arrived, showing know what it was once shy to do. Perano is at its juiciest and gifted height, crunchy of fruit still fresh, poised and in control, now into the best the two three years to express its Gaiole character. Tasted February 2024. You can always feel the white soil of Tenuta Perano and nowhere more so than from Annata level Chianti Classico. More than sangiovese with 10 percent merlot and (5) cabernet sauvignon for a silky smooth 2020 that wants to share its impression as early as it can. Cool and sappy, easy to understand and professional as they come. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted February 2023

Marchesi Frescobaldi Tenuta Perano Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, Gaiole

Villa a Sesta Chianti Classico DOCG Il Palei 2022, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Polished like few other Annata, liquid black forest cake, height of ripeness. Last tasted October 2024

Campione: Strong willed, boned and still in a state of reserve for a 2022 that not only needs to find the bottle but also further in bottle aging to open up any cracks in the structure. Rich and caky, wood a serious factor at this stage with a structural comport that will see a ’22 follow the sun towards a good long life ahead. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted February 2024

Villa a Sesta Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Il Palei 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Acid bomb, classic as Chianti Classico is known to be, acetone in control yet present and stylistically such a persistent Riserva. Last tasted October 2024

Riserva is expressive of some more warmth and also spice as compared to both Annata and Gran Selezione. In this respect it’s truly Riserva, the concept made even more notable due to the aromatic richness in layers of seductive perfume. If the others are crunchy wines with energy and freshness than this is the chewy one, with a different energy and style. More ruffiano, the kind of sangiovese you eat slowly and savour every bit of the sauce. Gonna need a few pieces of bread to get every last drop. 70,000 to 80,000 bottles produced. The 2018 sold like crazy and so this ’19 is out at the same time as the 2019 Annata. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Chiara Leonini – Felsina

Fèlsina Vino Spumante di Qualita Brut Millésimato Método Classico 2018

Sangiovese (60 percent) with (20 each) pinot nero and chardonnay, 48 months on the lees. Labeled Brut but comes away with what only feels like 3-ish g/L of residual sugar. Indelibly stamped and toasty, seemingly autolytic but stoic to stark and serious. Spumante of character and personality, gingered, full of zest and life. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Fèlsina Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castelnuovo Berardenga

The thing about a Fèlsina Chianti Classico is you know exactly what you are going to receive. A full, herbal, fruity, cedar and floral sangiovese. The hyperbole of this comes from 2022, warm as they come for vintages that wrap the fruit up in a great flannel blanket. Typical can be brilliant. Last tasted October 2024

Surprisingly forthright and open knit for such a young and impressionable Annata from Fèlsina. Calm and relatively settled so soon after going to bottle. The acidity is both sneaky and essential with tannins so similar in their design and style. A full and complete Berardenga for Castelnuovo in 2022, getable earlier than ever before yet in no rush to mature. As clean and generous as ever from the estate. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Tough frosty start in April at flowering but what remained for the Riserva’s top selection of vines gave ample stuffing towards developing, bottling, waiting and now drinking the quality at this level of appellation. Crisp, herbaceous, stony and with just that fine stamp of Fèlsina that adds up to 55 years of charm. Wild herbs growing between cracks of Galestro and veins in Alberese soils, of clay, sand and stone. Right proper stuff and in fact the 30 percent loss because of frost hit the Annata quantity most. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Rancia 2021, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Fèlsina Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Colonia 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Settling calmer still, another six months or so into the first mature days of its tenure. And yet the tannins remain austere, the wine’s communion and reunion still a ways away from happening. Last tasted October 2024

The Colonia vineyard is an important tract for many reasons. It was where Domenico Poggiali tried to clear and prepare but had to abandon back in the late 1960s because it was too difficult. Giovanni Poggiali succeeded in 1993 and then in 2009 this Chianti Classico became Gran Selezione. Colonia meant heliotherapy because this is the place people with diseases came to heal. “Helioteapica” it was, a sunny place at a tme when things were dire, including politically. Today Colonia may be a stone and a half’s throw up from Rancia but aromatically the sangiovese coming from its Alberese soils still result in a wine that is so obviously that of Fèlsinà. A diesel and pine note, charcoal, tar and evergreen resin, all rolled up with great red fruit that’s just so pure and substantial. Rich but no overtly so and luxe if always tempered by acids, wood and tannins exhumed from the depths of the grape’s must. So young, so fay away and so not ready to express its long-term goals. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted October 2023

Cinzia Manca – Complicità

Complicità Chianti Classico DOCG Asolo 2021, Vagliagli

Aged in concrete, only sangiovese, no wood, only freshness and elegance, restrained power, naked to the world. Beautifully aromatic, perfumed, floral and unadulterated. This is what it’s all about, or at least en route, this being only the fifth vintage and in the midst of a winemaker (Cinzia Manca) transforming her vines from Cordone Speronato to Guyot. The future is wide open. Last tasted October 2024

A small and protective amount of reduction which helps in dramatic ways because this Vagliagli Annata comes at the palate in waves. Fruit for the most part with underlying spice but do not sleep on the sneaky structure of this Assolo by upstart Complicità. Complicated in the ways of complexity and variegation, aromatically stunning and then intricately woven with flavours and palate textures. A discovery of the highest order. Terrific work for sangiovese that feels like sangiovese born of a family and their land. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted February 2024

Complicità Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Asolo 2020, Vagliagli

Riserva also as Asoslo, “the one,” referencing the solo varietal philosophy of winemaker Cinzia Manca, aged two years in tonneaux and six months in bottle, made at the facility of her business partner Sandro Bandini di Oliveira. As crunchy and fresh as Riserva could ever be, tonneaux or not and so the clay-limestone stony terroir is in the good hands of a young winemaker’s deft touch. Purity incarnate. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Complicità Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Asolo 2018, Vagliagli

Asolo as well, like the Annata and Riserva. “I’m sorry it’s my fantasy,” smiles Cinzia Manca. Philosophy more like it, again only sangiovese, 30 months in fourth or fith passage tonneaux, followed by one extra year in bottle. An intense vintage with extreme heat in Vagliagli, some dried grapes as a result which were stringently eliminated in the field at harvest. These are the best vines, healthiest and most concentrated berries, chosen after fermentation for Gran Selezione. Vintages change but the middle section of the vineyard ripens the best and consistently produces the finest wine. Silky without gratuity, pure and just about as honest and delicious as it gets. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese – Campomaggio

Tenuta Di Campomaggio Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Radda

Youthful the understatement for a slightly reductive and pure Radda expression, created with berries destined to explain Radda, Raddese acidity and a freshness that can only come from this UGA. Red fruit that is Radda, simply and unequivocally, much in common with nearby Monterinaldi but also the southeastern corner of Panzano. Spice on the second half of this wine, just a mere 13.5 percent alcohol, remarkable considering the vintage but once again – Radda. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Tenuta Di Campomaggio Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, Radda

Repeat concrete use, before and then again after the middle aging in barrel. Once again the purity is pulled from above the curve in the Radda road at high elevation vineyards littered with a Macigno, Alberese and Pietraforte mix of soils, all layering for this slow release of sangiovese complexity. Another warm vintage and it shows at Riserva level, especially in mouthfeel, fluid and gelid, cool, salt-licked and ethereal. Bigger wine for Campomaggio but elongated and balanced. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted October 2024

Old-School Chianto Classico?

Tenuta Di Campomaggio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG Santa Teresa 2019, Radda

From a two and a half hectare site, a heart-shaped vineyard from which the best selection is chosen for this first Gran Selezione. Santa Teresa is built from Macigno and Pietraforte, sandy soils both but with calcareous factors within that bolster and structure the sangiovese. Still that omnipresent Raddese acidity and this time the tannins are grainy, fine in that way but grainy nonetheless. Still something held back, not reductive per se but restrained and closed. The five percent whole cluster use has something to do with that. No barriques, just large casks (15, 25 and 50 HL) that are 25-plus years old. Really just released a few days ago so just in bottle a bit more than a few months, a baby now and yet perfectly clean, crisp, pure and beautiful. Amazing when fruit can be so shaped and emulsified without any sense of jam, overt sweetness or thickened texture. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese with Sophie Conte – Tregole

Tregole Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, Castellina

A bright vintage following a darker one and high in acid. Still very tight, opening slowly and says Sophie Conte, “in a hay moment.” Dry, suspended in time, reflected in the light. All full berries, spontaneous ferment, simultaneously inoculated malolactic, the DNA of Tregole really coming through with cool-coloured intensity. Bottled January 2024. Last tasted October 2024

The latest from Sophie Conte (also tasted from barrel on December 4th, 2023) is her first crowing moment, at least to date and in terms of her young career in making Chianti Classico Annata. De-stemmed and no pressing, fermentation at 24 degrees (celsius), 10-12 days, saturated with nitrogen, taste every day, separated when the skins release no more. Made with three vineyards’ fruit; Vigna del Bosco, Vigna del Strada and Casa, right by the house. “I’m pretty happy (we hit the point) in 2022,” admits Sophie. Brightness and freshness found, the goal achieved and bitterness kept not only at bay, but fully away. An aromatic swirl of pinpointed Castellina intensity that draws from the winds and the slopes to translate soil as best and purposed as any. You can feel the energy waiting and wanting to be released. No lack for structure from Conte’s 2022, young and yet to evolve into the polished solo sangiovese it is destined to become. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted February 2024

Sophie Conte – Tregole

Tregole Chianti Classico DOCG 2021, Castellina

For Sophie Conte this is a dark-hued vintage (as opposed to Panzano whien this happened in 2020) in between two with much more light. Inoculated on both fermentations with some whole berry inclusion. A sweeter tomato note as compared to 2020, running sanguine dark and a saltiness that does not appear in the bookending vintages. A matter of thick skins that only Tregole grows, a savoury-salty finish with vibrant tannin and equally invigorating acidity. Last tasted October 2024

The Classico may be Castellina but the feeling is just as akin to Radda, because this is the border, in the vineyards above the river and a micro climate that brings swirling winds in from Montevarchi and the Apennines beyond. No frost here because of 500-600m of elevation (incredible for Castellina), one of two best harvests because again, cool climate, elevation and Macigno soils are all ideal to create this kind of mineral and glycerin sangiovese. Spent 10-12 days in fermentation at 23-24 degrees, a matter of whole berries (because tannins can be austere at Tregole) and then under hydrogen for 5-10 days and skin maceration 18-28 days, longer with the Riserva and GS. So bloody lovely, walking a tightrope line, at first volatile but the fruit swells and vertically elevates up to the level you wish for in the Annata. In fact there is more structure in Annata then most Chianti Classico. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted December 2023

The Band at Tregole

Tregole Chianti Classico DOCG 2020, Castellina

Lighter vintage, certainly for Tregole as compared to 2021 and also more than 2022. Evergreen on the nose, tomato leaf and paste. A charred cherry and toasted element mix that feels specific to these ravines and valleys where sangiovese grows surrounding by heavy woods. A Chianti Classico no doubt influenced by the oxygenation provided by its full forests. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese – Tregole

Tregole Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, Castellina

When you step up into Riserva 2021 you bring the DNA of Tregole into hyperbole or better said, more intense light. The beautiful rusticity of Annata and its tomato-rosemary savoury quality is not just magnified but also refined. Now the true balsamico of the place comes through but only now after more time in bottle does the purity of the refinement come across with this level of finesse. Spices are green and they are what the surrounding woods breathe into sangiovese with added layers because of the higher quality fruit. Just beginning its trajectory into the finest of days. Last tasted October 2024

Bottled in November of 2023 and slated for imminent release. Floral yet reserved aromas and unequivocally sangiovese. La Riserva ages in (old) tonneaux of 700L and barriques. More brightness and freshness than the lion’s share of this appellative level in Chianti Classico, crisp and crunchy for Riserva but ultimately a matter of a specific vineyard, planted in 1985, as in the lower part beneath the younger vines. The warmest location where Ginestra blooms earlier and the fruit is saucy, a salsa of sangiovese sucoso, the juices running from rare roast beef. But also blood orange and so a pulpy sensation. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted May 2024

Belvedere Campòli Guicciardini Campoli Chianti Classico DOCG 2022, San Casciano

Solo sangiovese from “a normal vintage,” fruit from young vines not yet come into their own, aged for one year in large 25 hL French cask. Grapes are harvested at Belvedere Campòli, delivered to be processed and vinified at Castello di Poppiano and coming soon is a cellar project to the Chianti Classico property. Quite pure and yet savoury with the finest grainy structure laying below the pulpy red fruit. Missing a point of acidity to say that ripeness comes first. A factor of vintage and therefore necessity. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Belvedere Campóli Guicciardini Campoli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2020, San Casciano

A mix of higher tones and also acidity for a Riserva that seems clear to have been given the best available fruit from the vintage. Fruit grown on stony Pietraforte soil derived from this unique lingua or “tongue” of Formazione di Silano. The savoury elements are consistent with all of Belvedere Campóli’s wines that have been tasted since the purchase of the estate in 2015. You can surely feel the lack of intervention, the respect for allowing the place to speak for itself and the thread of DNA running through all three levels of the wines. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Belvedere Campóli Guicciardini Campoli Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG 2020, San Casciano

Belvedere Campóli’s ownership is Guicciardini of Castello di Poppiano – Chianti Colli Fiorentini and Massi di Mandorlaia – Maremma – Morello di Scanzano. Francesco Guicciardini was an Italian historian and statesman, a contemporary and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli and considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. The Belvedere Campóli estate dates to 1915, was abandoned after the end of the mezzadrie system and purchased by Italian historian and mathematician Niccolò Guicciardini and family in 2015. They have been restoring and replanting vineyards since 2020. From the single vineyard called Tabernocolo, set just below the large forest above and indicative of the chapel on the estate. Identifying the vineyard as the one to define Chianti Classico as Gran Selezione was paramount while the aromas and palate notes remain so perfectly consistent with both the Classico and Riserva. Steps up the concentration, the mineral and elemental aspects drawn from the Pietraforte and the cool, almost minty savour in the flavours. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

La Squadra Canadese – Cigliano di Sopra

Cigliano Di Sopra Nuvola Del Cigliano 2022, Toscana IGT

Picked earlier to preserve acidity (5-ish g/L of TA) and says Matteo Vaccari, “we work with the lees for a good resolution. You can make mistakes with sangiovese but not with trebbiano.” Texture is of a terrific natural coarseness while energy improvises, improvise upon and rights the fabric of this white. Last tasted February 2024. A mix of 75 percent trebbiano and (25) malvasia, five days whole bunches for a quick syringe of carbonic and then a short, old wood stay. Comes away with just that quick strike of matchstick and a finish at 11 percent alcohol. Citrus is very lemon, juiced and gelid like curd but what stands out is the dry extract and sweet tannins. This can and will age – there is no doubt. Picked on September 17th, 2023 – a week later than previously – on the 24th. Less than 1,000 bottles made. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2023 and 2024

Giampaolo Chiettini – La Vigna di San Martino Ad Argiano

La Vigna di San Martino Ad Argiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2022, San Casciano

“For us it’s important to have ripe grapes,” insists Giampaolo Chiettini, “and a balance from the vineyard.” Good thing because, well 25 days of maceration, with soft pump-overs, sometimes just with a bucket, meaning no punchdowns “that would violate the skins.” Infusion, not extraction until dryness and then put to 1000L casks and 500L tonneaux. The ’22 is ultra ripe with sweet acidity and unmistakable structure. All that could be wanted and needed. What a bloody hematic example of sangiovese. Last tasted October 2024

Campione: The tiniest of properties (one hectare) and smallest of productions (2,000 bottles) in San Casciano from Chiettini. A sample but one nose into this 100 percent sangiovese and you know you’ve found something meaningful. A wisdom in the wine born of great terroir and an agronomist’s acumen. The winemaker seems inconsequential or at least respectful to everything else. There is calm demeanour and a presence of freshness, soulful savour and weight without compression. Hard to know what it’s all about, but knowing more will be a next pursuit. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted February 2024

La Vigna di San Martino Ad Argiano Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2021, San Casciano

Perhaps not quite as ripe as 2022 but close without any deficiency, also less dark of fruit and very red cherry. Elevated acidity and a year make a difference – you can feel the first sign of maturity but just as grippy and underscored by structure with sweeter tannins than those in the ’22. The most classic sangiovese, lithe and conversely deep, pinning in the only direction it can and should, looking toward a future that will be long. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2024

La Vigna Di San Martino Ad Argiano Chianti Classico DOCG 2017, San Casciano

Just the third vintage of the newly re-planted, one hectare vineyard when only 800 bottles were produced. No doubt what vintage this comes from because fruit is already acting dried into secondary character with frutta di bosco and dried porcini notes having already begun. A bit volatile, not unusual for 2017, a truffled element and while complex there is some trouble. The acidity captured is persistent which acts as the driver for the pleasure in mouthfeel and upon the palate. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

La Vigna di San Martino Ad Argiano Vinsanto del Chianti Classico DOCG 2017, San Casciano

A Vinsanto that must be made with ripe grapes, the sort that would arrive at 24 degrees alcohol and then in Giampaolo’s world the drying is longer than most Vinsanto. This ’17 reached 300 g/L of residual suar, at the highest end for the appellation. Has been dried in the Pieve (though not 2017) and 400 bottles were made. So very caramel orange, almost maple syrup in its style of sweetness, crazy good acidity, a wholly deserving and respectful dessert wine made from 50-50 trebbiano and malvasia. Turns nutty toasty, keeps changing and changing again. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted October 2024

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico DOCG 2019, Castelnuovo Berardenga

Indelibly stamped vintage for Castell’In Villa, richness incarnate, fully formed at the height of heights for Castelnuovo Berardenga Chianti Classico Annata. Then again you know with a year plus one more in bottle the sangiovese will adjust, morph and change into some thing more closely resembling the previous two vintages. The palate weight is further layered but it too will see a release into its next stage. Finally there is the length that indicates the quietest power structure to disassemble and then glide over a 15 years period of time. Last tasted October 2024

Imagine the baseline and then the ceiling for Chianti Classico. Draw from as much experience as you have and then extrapolate towards the greatest of a vintage’s potential. Then put your nose into Castell’In Villa 2019. Everything rises to the surface and presents itself to be noticed. Note the calm, the precision and finesse, reach out and touch the fruit, recognize the quality and fitness of the acidity and realize potential, compounded in understanding after allowing the purity of the sangiovese to rest upon the palate. As near perfect and essential as it gets for Castell’In Villa without boundaries or limitations. Last tasted February 2024

Leave to Castell’in Villa to do not just the right thing but carry the weight of necessity and hold back Annata to a point where it can be tasted and assessed with the respect it so richly deserves. Though this Castelnuovo Berardenga estate and their historic vineyards are equipped to create magic in the most challenging of vintages, well when a season like 2019 is gifted then the magic turns to the supernatural. Fruit is everything, as it must be and the aspects of climate, fermentation, maturation and all the accruements of seasoning add up to a speciality as no other Chianti Classico will create. This is a very special vintage of Castell’in Villa and one to rival any Riserva or Gran Selezione made in this vintage. Will live in infamy. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted February 2023

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico DOCG 2018, Castelnuovo Berardenga

The 2018 weather conditions at Castell’In Villa’s location in Castelnuovo Berardenga were an anomaly for a vintage where so many parts of the Chianti Classico territory experienced late September heat, which sent wines upwards of 15 percent alcohol. Not out of this micro-climate with an Annata labeled at 13.5 and a good bet would say it’s actually closer to 13. Luminous, bright, dualistically and optimally ripe, void of confiture, ideally aged and ready to please. This is Annata made exactly as it was not only meant, but also expected to be. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted October 2024

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico DOCG 2017, Castelnuovo Berardenga

If 2018 is singularly light and ethereal, so goes the solo artist trajectory of 2017, if in a most different way. More direct fruit, volume of aroma and surely colour, then finally a bit of salumi cure to indicate the finest if smallest advancement towards maturity. Crunchier in a way, but also with acids that bely the vintage, carry the tune and extend the life of a sku connecting this Annata to Riserva. To that next appellative level Classico Berardenga the Principessa Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa only wanted to make a maximum number amounting to 7,000 bottles. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted October 2024

Castell’In Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Poggio delle Rose 2010, Castelnuovo Berardenga

The top Riserva from the plot on the south begins slow and with 20 minutes of airtime it begins to open. An incredible sweetness of fruit is released to seduce the senses in every respect. Last tasted October 2024

A nearly two hectare single vineyard or if you like the Castell’In Villa cru and really just a fraction of what is made in the “other” Riserva. Similar aging profile but with more depth and also complexity, here in the 15th vintage (first in 1996) from a vineyard created by the cuttings of the best vines identified around the estate. Getting the the iron mineral in addition to the brush and herbs which make this feel younger and more alive. These tannins are impressively resolute and trenchant, trading blows with your palate but en route to their soft moment in the sun. Extraordinary really, a wine about a place within a place within a place. The proverbial enigma, wrapped, shrouded, etc., etc. Last tasted March 2022

From the hill parcel planted in 1990 to the old selezoine massale clones, from the original property, not the current “Chianti Classico” clones. “And there is a difference,” insists Principessa Coralia. Three or four years in grandi botti and older tonneaux so no, it’s not even close to ready. Yet the fact that you don’t explicitly notice the tonneaux is its magic. A big and complex vintage with variability in temperature and precipitation but at the crucial moments it gave what was needed. There is a special presence about this sangiovese, because of the source but also how alive, bright-eyed and expressive it is. This pulses, vibrates and reverberates with ancient seabed salinity. No loss to finesse but more time will be required, to turn back time and back pages, for the true clarity and calm disposition to settle in. Extraordinary wine of restrained power and exceptional sangiovese. Has always been Riserva and “will never be Gran Selezione.” Drink 2021-2035. Tasted November 2018 and February 2019

Castell’In Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2003, Castelnuovo Berardenga

A library release of 20-plus years that realizes the future as we would have seen it, but are now afraid to admit. A Riserva from a warm vintage with the uncanny ability to steal longevity because the way wines were and continue to be made at Castell’In Villa. Sangiovese of a structure that must respect the diversity of 54 hectares distilled into two or three for a Riserva such as this. The aromas are just a bit muted, whether because of the particular bottle or the kind of tasting day. Either way it is not really known but the wine acts a bit shy. Still there are answers and they tell us the wine has plenty of life left to live. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Federico Pini and Riccardo Bucciolini – Torcobrencoli, Greve

Torcibrencoli Lo Stinto 2023, Toscana IGT

Only sangiovese picked two weeks ahead of the Chianti Classico, not Rosé but a light, refreshing, high acid and crushable example. Lo Stinco from the Tuscan meaning “the faded one,” yet ample, aged only in steel, textural because of the sangiovese skins and ultra phenolic. Kind of like green peaches. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Torcibrencoli Il Matan Orange 2022, Toscana IGT

Campione: More chamomile, less honey perhaps but to be honest the mellifluous quality runs high if also silken, especially for skin macerated trebbiano. Extra phenolic grip at this early stage but again, this will resolve and settle faster than 2021. Proper and you can tell the acumen meets experience of the work and the understanding for how to make a natural, orange and accessible wine. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Torcibrencoli Il Matan Orange 2021, Toscana IGT

First trebbiano vintage was 2016 for this skin contact, one year in acacia barrels orange wine. A most interesting take, phenolic and grippy but also graceful and clearly able to age. Peaches and green fig, iced tea savour and persistent which speaks to the winemaking out of which a pure and consistent maceration resolves. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Torcibrencoli Il Torci 2020, Toscana IGT

The sangiovese that rides along on par with Chianti Classico (Annata), here from 2020 and the following vintage will be skipped. All the lots are kept separate and after 12-18 months they are tasted and destined towards their final blends and labels. Natural fermentations, a “for the market” wine of fresh cherries and glycerol in the mouthfeel. Anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 bottles are produced, the grapes either sold off or blended into the Maria Giaconda label. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted October 2024

Torcibrencoli Chianti Classico DOCG Maria Giaconda 2020

Still a sample because it won’t released until next year but it is a finished wine. A vintage of quality though not completely there in terms of quantity. Unfortunately the next three years will be even smaller but things will turn around in 2024. Les flesh as compared to 2019 but the linear quality seems highly appropriate and the backbone will serve this wine well. Some austerity in the tannins to resolve but they are part of the trenchant plan. A masala of spice defines the finish. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted October 2024

Torcibrencoli Chianti Classico DOCG Maria Giaconda 2019

Classico has been made from the start and Federico’s grandmother Maria Giaconda has and always will be on the label. Natural fermentation, aging in 1,000L Croatian cask, tonneaux and barriques, finished with an extra year in bottle. The oldest plants bring high level extract and concentration. Terrific balance between that extract and the sweetness of acidity. Light structure but sneaky and lengthy nonetheless. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted October 2024

Torcibrencoli Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG Maria Giaconda 2018

Federico Pini is the grandson of Maria Giaconda Bucciolini, today making the wines on her family farm where she sold grapes. He attended agriculture and landscape architecture school in Florence before at 24 deciding to start bottling himself. Now 11 years later he produces 10,000 bottles between six skus. Federico’s father Raimondo Pini sold silk and textiles and so Torcibrencoli is from torchere e brenccioli, “twisting the fibres of silk.” Claudio Buccolini was Pini’s great-grandfather, a famous vernacular historian. The company started in 2012 and the first commercial wines were released in ’13. Five years later comes this 2018 Riserva of high level perfume for Greve, a testament to the quality of the plants and without even taking a sip the pretty quality of the fruit is obvious. Picked at the beginning of October after the heat wave and so 15 percent is perfectly accurate, but this is a truly balanced Riserva. And it is very much a Riserva. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted October 2024

Good to go!

godello

Sangiovese 2024, Chianti Classico

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Etna Days are here to stay

Dec6

Versante Nord, L’Etna

As an event Etna Days may only be four years in the making, but it is a great one. That it falls in the second week of September is a thing of brilliance, with weather warm and nurturing, grapes continuing to hang on the vines, the harvest on producers’ minds and yet still far enough away. The setting is spectacular, with ancient lava flows all-around, signs of new ones spewing from craters above 3,000 metres, vineyards marked by stone terraces and walls, century vines thriving here, there and everywhere. No two blocks look the same with each producing a unique Etna Bianco or Rosso. Confidence and morale feel to be at an all time high.

The Sommeliers of Etna Days

Never mind the challenges of 2023, including a May 3rd hailstorm, some but far from devastating presence of the Perenospera (mildew) virus and lower vine yields. What will follow the lower quantity and high quality of 2023 will by now have been the promise of a brilliant 2024 harvest. The Etna DOC Consortium suggests that the latest rains after the hot and dry summer have slowed down the ripening process, thereby helping to enhance phenolic and aromatic components. Slower and more gradual maturation proved to be decisive in terms of improvements in quantity and quality. The Consortium estimates a harvest of around 80,000 quintals (about 35/40% white grapes and the remainder red) and a likely production potential of more than 55,000 hectolitres. In terms of volume, the harvest is expected to be up by around 60 percent compared to 2023.

La Gelsomina Di Colombo

There is no understanding of modern Etna without a proper historical base and that begins with the ancient, but also more recent visualization of the Palmento. In some cases outdoor stone remains can be seen, including that of the 1300 year-old Palmento at Rupestre in Pietramarina, Castiglione di Sicilia. It was excavated out of one rock, a vasca carved from the sandstone, a lagares for treading on grapes used by the Sicel peoples, early settlers in eastern Sicily. The island is littered with archeological sites that prove the existence of winemaking going back three thousand years but on L’Etna it is the presence of restored stone buildings where, with the use of gravity, grapes would have been collected and fermented into wine. At Palmento Costanzo the buildings that housed the original wine making were restored in 2015 and finished in 2019. The technology is new but the gravity fed Palmento abides by the old ways.

Alberello planted in pentangles, five per grouping all facing a central axis at Palmento Costanzo, Contrada Santa Spririto

For centuries I Catanesi would have come up the mountain to purchase in bulk where necessitous viticulture was born in harmony but also with respect to the landscape. In the 19th century approximately 100 million litres of wine was produced on Mount Etna, all from the various Palmenti. Wine born of a place with an active volcano rising above vineyards at 3,300m of elevation, a climate unlike anywhere else on Sicily and a terroir aboard geology conceived from hundreds of various lava flows throughout the course of its history. The differences in biodiversity from block to block, contrada to contrada and village to village are evident in the multifarious plant life growing on the extant slopes of the volcano.

Consorzio President Francesco Cambria

The various lava flows, each with a unique set of stone in chronological stages of degradation, from the hardest lava rock through gravels and into sand are all characterized by a distinct set of weathered minerals and elements contained within. How each corridor and at what elevation affects the endemic grape varieties is a great mystery and so many of us will spend a lifetime trying to make some sense of the how and why. The Etnaese carricante, white and red minnella, nerello mascalese and nerello cappuccio are children raised and nurtured by the slope, elevation and geological make-up that is their home on the mountain.

Etna Days Rosso

Whether by Alberello or modern day Guyot or Cordone Speronato training it is the age and disintegration of soil that seems to be the greatest influencer on their outcomes. Serena Costanzo talks of the innovative pruning method of Simon & Sirsch, of which “the principle rule is ramification – build a chronology of live wood; first year, second year, third year and so on” with a method that does not interrupt the lymphatic system. They remind that “a vine is not a tree, but a liana” and that “pruning, which is and remains a mutilating technical act for the plant, causes consequences within the plant…a rethinking of pruning, so that it was more respectful of the physiology of the plant.” There are ramifications, the necessity of continuance for sap flow, to make small cuts and hold a respect for the wood. They have observed “how the application of a dynamic and physiological pruning of the plant promote an increase in living wood over the years, with a consequent intact and efficient lymphatic system.” Their most essential reminder is that “there is no good or bad pruner but there is a trained and an untrained pruner. The Simon & Sirsch system “is a way to combat climate change,” says Serena, “especially during periods of extreme heat.” Nerello Mascalese trained by Alberello and planted in pentangles, five per grouping all facing a central axis works opposite to traditional rows and is Palmento Costanzo’s way of maximizing root structure and efficiency.

With John Szabo M.S. and Consorzio Director Maurizio Lunetta

It bears reminding that L’Etna is a an active volcano and so what spews out and forth from its craters will constantly affect viticulture. The new settling of wind-carried ashes and lapilli are perpetually adding new layers to old soils which in turn induces innate revisions and so from vintage to vintage Etna’s wines are always in flux, forever subjugated to constant change. One only needs to have tasted the last few vintages of the Etna Bianco Superiore from the village of Milo to intuit just how significant an effect these wind-blown fragments have had on the wines. They have never been more intriguing, exciting and frankly better. Studies of these eastern Etna soils in a cooler micro-zone show significant levels of silica, iron, magnesium and potassium in the soils, combining to gift the Bianco with much to digest.

Related – All the wines of Sicily

That is the past and from the start of the First World War through to the 1970s and 1980s the wine business aboard L’Etna fell away to pieces. It’s resurrection is but 30 years in the making and the transformation of the past 10-plus years is nothing short of remarkable. The oenologist, farmer and cellar dweller will say that the use of Palmenti and the Alberello are key to restoring dignity, faith in humanity and the true essence of what it means to produce Etna wines. Consorzio President Francesco Cambria will say that the most important project is to see the passage of the denomination transform from the Italian DOC to DOCG. These are all matters to consider and get behind, for some it’s about the heart and for others the reality of business and therefore life.

Carlo Flamini, Maurizio Lunetta, Luigi Moio, Bertrand Gauvrit and Francesco Cambria

Etna Days is an exceptionally well run and seamlessly orchestrated event with thanks to the teams involved. Consorzio Etna DOC’s Presidente Francesco Cambria, Direttore Maurizio Lunetta and Segreteria di Direzione Sarolta Stella Osvath. The team at Ispropress with Angiolino Lonardi, Bernardetta Lonardi, Simone Velasco, Sara Faroni, Marina Catenacci, Marta De Carli and Eleonora Alberti Cermison. The third edition of the 2024 Etna Days congress assembled for the first morning’s welcome with expanded perspectives and analyses of international dimension. Cambria and Lunetta hosted speeches by Carlo Flamini (Head of the Italian Wine Union Observatory), Bertrand Gauvrit (General Director of the Association des Climats du Vignoble de Bourgogne) and Luigi Moio (President of the International Organization of Vine and Wine). Sommelier assisted technical tastings, walk around chats with the producers and touring visits at estates all combined to deliver a profound sense of modern day Etna. High-level discussions were had on location with Tenuta delle Terre Nere’s Marc de Grazia, Benanti’s Salvino Benanti, Papa Maria Cuore Di Marchesa’s Pietro Giovanni, Rupestre and Terre Darrigo’s Rosario Raciti, Palmento Costanzo’s Valeria and Serena Costanzo, Quantico’s Giovanni Raiti, Tascante’s Michele Brusaferri and Vittoria Cerniglia and Planeta’s Patricia Tóth. For his part Godello made tasting notes on 150-plus wines. These are his reviews.

Etna Spumante DOC and Terre Siciliane IGT

Benanti Viticoltori Noblesse Brut Carricante Método Classico 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

Twenty years into the (traditional method) sparkling wine program with help from a northern (Suditrol) sparkling wine company, 24 months on lees. Brut which here means 4-5 g/L of residual sugar, more than relatively dry with carricante. Reductive, high energy, tight and immovably youthful. Dried herbs, fennel, brushy and dusty savour. Acidity is quite fine, balance is struck and the lees aging time spot on for this widely appealing yet serious sparkling wine. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Benanti Viticoltori Noblesse XLVIII Brut Carricante Método Classico 2019, Terre Siciliane IGT

The Noblesse was named because Giuseppe Benanti saw himself as identifying with high level French sparkling wines and this next tier rise sees the wine remain on lees for 48 months. Similar RS (below 5 g/L) but the extra time brings quite a factor of autolysis as a by-product of time. Yeast-bready in just the correct way, harmony struck between the autolytic notes and acidity yet with a higher pH and lower acid profile. Quite a different expression of carricante as sparkling while co-existing within the same Benanti family. Both wines feel like they really carry a purpose, including for what sector of the market they are looking to make their appeal. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Benanti Viticoltori Lamorèmio Brut Rosé Método Classico 2020, Terre Siciliane IGT

Like the Noblesse Brut this sees 24 months on the lees with nerello mascalese as a Rosato which comes away feigning sweetness more than the carricante, even though the sugar (at 5-ish g/L) is just about the same. Acid structure carries the sweetness and the weight, length is good and this is surely the more all-around style taht offers wide ranging appeal. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Fischetti Etna Spumante DOC Método Classico Brut Librato 2020

Made with just a small part of nerello mascalese from Contrada Muscamento for a total blanc de noir production of 500 bottles. Livrato is poetry, in ode to Michaela Luca’s mother who was an avid reader. Base wines are kept on lees with bâttonage and the wine also spends 30 months on the gross lees. High energy, sharp, pointed and full on tang, enough freshness but also some weight to be sure. Citrus makes a statement and without any dosage there should be a piercing effect but that’s simply not the case. Quite impressive sparkling for L’Etna. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

La Gelsomina Di Colombo Maria Adalgisa Etna Spumante DOC Brut Rosé Método Classico 2021

Lightest Rosato hue, in part because the Gelsomina style is all about clarity and freshness, as far away as possible from oxidation and especially autolysis. No brioche or yeast derivative aromas, just red fruit, primary and juicy. The lees aging time is minimum 36 months but the winemaking does everything possible to stay reductive and with minimum contacts or stagnancies. Rosato is a step more complex than Blanc de Noir if not quite as energetic. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

La Gelsomina Di Colombo Maria Adalgisa Etna Spumante DOC Brut Blanc de Noir Método Classico 2021

When Etna DOC added Spumante to the disciplinare 10 years ago Gelsomina (partner of Tenute Orestiadi) was ready and was amongst the first to bottle under the allowable labelling. The blend is 80 percent nerello mascalese and (20) nerello cappuccio, minimum 36 months on the lees. Brut at six g/L of residual sugar. Good thing the acidity is captured and kept because there is no shortage of flesh, fruit ripeness and creamy texture. Clean, fresh, accessible and well made. The choice is clear, to avoid autolytic notes and so the yeasty and bready style is for someone else. A Gelsomina is the exact opposite. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Spumante DOC Método Classico Brut

A 24 months on lees traditional method sparkling wine, disgorged in February 2024, Brut style. Feeling like 5-6 g/L of residual sugar, tart and ably if typically carricante. Fine bubble, tight and sure with a botanical component. Clean and just feels right with a cheese plate. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Etna Rosato DOC

Alessandro Serughetti Etna Rosato DOC Lunabuona 2022

In 2022 Alessandro and Loredana Serughetti chose to invest in a small 1960 planted vineyard at 680m on the North slope of L’Etna in the village is Rovittello, a suburb of Castiglione di Sicilia in Contrada Dafara Galluzzo. Their Rosato is 90 percent nerello mascalese with (10 combined) minella nera and bianca. A unique Rosé, equal parts salinity an sapidity which essentially translates to 100 percent volcanic. This is currently their largest volume sku at 1,600 bottles and with the extra year of aging it drinks beautifully, at peak and with grace today. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

Cottanera Etna Rosato DOC 2023

From Rosso vineyards, looking for freshness and very little sugar but also low alcohol. Only steel, three months, bottled in February. Rich of fruit, salty, crunchy and for Rosato also complex. Tons of flavour, strawberry and some leafy savour. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May and September 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Rosato DOC Mofete Rosato 2023

Energy noted straight away, a carbonic nerello mascalese buzz that drives Rosato to stand up and be noticed. Comes right at the senses, aromatically floral and palate treble tremble to pique interest and taste sensations. Full fruit and mineral working together for flavour and character. That’s what it’s all about . Last tasted September 2024

Equally fruity and vegetal, of red berries and peppers, a tartness and also lactic cheese note. Herbal as well and so complexity as Rosato if on the acquired taste side of style. Crunchy and salty, briny to a degree, naturally wild and free. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted May 2024

Rupestre Etna Rosato DOC 2023

So similar to the Terre Darrigo Rosato made by Rosario Raciti with 100 percent nerello mascalese fermented and simply allowed to go from vine to glass. The difference is location and terroir. What does that mean? Contrada Pietramarina fruit, salinity and acidity, grip and tension. Otherwise just the Rosato and mascalese facts. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Rosato DOC Tefra 2022

Aptly labeled “Vigne Custodite dalla Famiglia Tasca d’Almerita,” a statement to make sure we understand these nerello mascalese grapes are estate grown. Aromatic varietal volume, energy and spirit run high, yet most notable are the wealth and depth of flavours. Cherry moving into strawberry with a basic phenolic presence and that is very much all you want and need. Not a high acid Rosato, nor was that the intention. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Tenute Bosco Etna Rosato DOC 2020

Only nerello mascalese from the lower and most vigorous part of the vineyard and grapes are chosen specifically for the Rosato. No wood like the white, once again to preserve the volcano’s effect on the wine, which is essential and when Rosato is made like this, also profound. This is a specific kind of salty, to Bosco’s vineyard and the mascalese that grows. Just three hours or less skin contact, quick maceration, no thought to colour, as with every wine in this portfolio, the place on Versante Nord is the heart of each and every matter. Already two years old, evolving very slowly and there is no reason to think it will not continue this way for another two or three more. Tranquility but also energy. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted May 2023 and September 2024

Terre Darrigo Etna Rosato DOC 2023

Only nerello mascalese as per the norm for Etna Rosato DOC and another salty little number with satisfying juiciness and grip. Direct, unadorned, almost no barrel, perhaps just a few percent. Straight fermentation, let it sit and ride. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

With Alberto Graci, Giuseppe Russo and John Szabo M.S.

Etna Bianco DOC

Alta Mora Etna Bianco DOC 2022

Nice and smoky Etna Bianco from Alta Mora though the fruit is equally adamant about gaining your trust. The smoulder equalized by the pulpy flesh of fresh bites into orchard fruit and a touch of finishing spice. Not the most complex but surely robust for the category. Last tasted May and September 2024

Solid and well made Etna Bianco in the ways of respect and tradition, ample, fulsome, substantial and structured for a wine that will drink well three-plus years forward. Citrus mainly, both lemon and lime, cool, not quite minty but surely like fresh summer basil and then a pinch of salt at the finish. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2024

Antichi Vinai 1877 Etna Bianco DOC Petralava 2023

Soda and neutral fruit intro which is par for the Etna Bianco course and certainly not unexpected. In other words mineral led, volcanic obviously and yet cool, gelid, mildly if sweetly botanical. A shot in the dark, unexpected and how can you not be thankful for a wine of this stature you knew nothing about. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Azienda Agricola Ciro Biondi Etna Bianco DOC Outis 2022

Fruit up front but in a botanical way, less basaltic mineral salty and more sapid as a result. Still it carries a set of elements that conceptualize the Bianco, however the peachiness and sweet preserved citrus set this one up to be a mellow sort of affair. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Azienda Agricola Ciro Biondi Etna Bianco DOC Chianta 2021

A more important label for Biondi and therefore aged an extra year ahead of release. Chianta the top Bianco cru and clearly a matter of longer maceration magnified by the extra aging. Not only noticed in hue but that natural salve texture settling while also dissolving nicely on the palate. A more interesting and satisfying iteration to speak credibly for the winemaking intent and also a matter of style. Then some crispiness and crunch to speak for captured and persistent freshness. Fine work. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Benanti Viticoltori Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Cavaliere 2022

Sweetly aromatic waft in a memory of cotton candy at the fair sort of way. Palate tells another story, truly lemony and in a current one-dimensional phase. The carricante has gone into slumber, which is unsurprising and so best not to touch any bottles until the Spring of 2025. Last tasted September 2024

Reserved, not reductive but neither open nor gregarious. A smoulder of volcanics and wood aging, just an aromatic wisp of flint and notable verdancy. The greens are also driven by the place and Cavaliere gives in just this way. Low, slow and with a time lapse release of controlled power. Really quite remarkable Etna Bianco from this contrada. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2024

Cottanera Etna Bianco DOC Calderara 2022

Calderara vineyards are 40-45 years of age and the harvest happens a week later, in the second week of October. Cement and large casks, 60-40, 10-12 months, brought back together and bottled. Saltier than the Bianco because the vineyard is so full of lava stone, a 100-plus year old eruption with brown basaltic stone. Very focused and precise though more power than 2021. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May and September 2024

Donnafugata Etna Bianco DOC Sul Vulcano 2021

Quite a taut and wound Etna Bianco, not unusual for the vintage and though anything but lean – my this is tight. Mountain white in every respect and one of the finest if also precise Bianci ever produced at Donnafugata. Exemplary for the DOC, speaking to the mineral slats, elements and ways but also reasons for how lava flows have affected what will happen to vines farmed with industrious respect. Frames Etna Bianco in a serious if surely satisfying way. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted September 2024

Federico Curtaz Etna Bianco DOC Gamma 2021

Gamma is more aromatic than most with its mix of candied and floral but also spicy and so nasturtium or marigold are considered. The transitions are bold if seamless and the next stage is where things really take a turn to excitement. Moving away from the tight reduction and into bold flavours, variegated and layered, of fruit but of course minerals and elements that deduce then decide what an Etna Bianco is all about. Crisp, crunchy, biting and lengthy, all decidedly essential attributes of a rebel Bianco. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted September 2024

Firriato Cavanera Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Zottorinotto, Balza Delle Poiane 2022

Some reduction from a specific cru and designation, that being Cavanera Balza delle Poiane within the northerly contrada of Zottorinotto. Herbal as well, fresh sprung spring glade of ferns and wild allium, trillium and the local Ginestra. Plenty of substantial fruit and truthfully so much going on. As far as Etna Bianco is concerned this should be considered a big wine, the kind that can be enjoyed by lovers of full-bodied chardonnay. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May and September 2024

Fischetti Etna Bianco DOC Muscamento 2022

Purchased the palmento in 2006, fully restored and what Michaela Luca calls “a very romantic place.” A Bianco called “Muscamento” (due to labelling bureaucracy) from the Contrada “Moscamento” at 650m on the northeast part of L’Etna. Just three hectares and 8,000-9,000 total production with this being the single-vineyard label. A blend, of 60 percent carricante and (40) catarratto. As floral as it gets for Etna Bianco with honeysuckle and ginger root. Lemon and lime flavours, clean, fresh and truly amenable. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Giovanni Rosso Etna Bianco DOC 2023

The work of Barolo’s Davide Rosso who came to L’Etna in 2016. Straightforward Bianco, neither predictive nor oxidative, tight or loose but somewhere comfortably in between. Goldilocks, between hard and soft, fruit and mineral, an equality of both. Solid, unassuming and yet perfectly representative Etna Bianco. Wood spirit and spice is felt on the back end. Rosso may need to make Bianco for 10 years before greatness arrives. His past work with chardonnay in Bourgogne can only serve to speed up the understanding of carricante. Would not put it past him to get there even sooner. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco DOC Nerina 2023

Only Nerina, San Lorenzo and Feudo were made in 2023 due to a challenge from rain, mildew and less fruit availability. No worries about quality however and Nerina is about as full pulp-fleshy and developed as it has ever been. The acids travel up and down the sides of the palate in the ways of striking Etna Bianco and here Russo finds the road back, each and every time. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May and September 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Bianco DOC Feudo 2023

New Bianco for Giuseppe Russo, a selection of 100 percent carricante from three hectares within the Feudo di Mezzo vineyard and contrada. Feudo is not San Lorenzo but it is something remarkable in its own right. More botanical and phenolic but also a level of citrus preserve not noted anywhere but Feudo. Crazy level of implosive citric intensity and taut character. The behaviour is so different to San Lorenzo with flavours that mean business in the most impressive way imaginable. Intensity off the charts, concentration so impressive, energy that builds and builds. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May and September 2024

Graci Etna Bianco DOC Muganazzi 2022

“A wine of mystery,” says Alberto Graci, “very intriguing for me.” Flinty and scrubby at the same time, energy and vibrancy laying in waiting, a buzz behind the curtain and a soil purposed into the 100 percent carricante that Graci’s team and now also we know the wine will want to explode with flavours a year, or more rightly two from now. So tight but you can feel it, the linear nature looking ahead and time will bring about something social form that mystery. Unquestionably one of L’Etna’s finest ’22s. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted Tasted May and September 2024

Graci Etna Bianco DOC 2023

A mix of all four contradas; Muganazzi, Arcurìa, Feudo di Mezzo and Santo Spirito. A mix of Mediterranean scrub and vibrancy, looking for that balance between and finding it. Really fine precision and salinity, length is outstanding for villages level Bianco. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May and September 2024

La Gelsomina Di Colombo Maria Adalgisa Etna Bianco DOC 2023

Fruit is drawn from the steepest of slopes surrounding the pond within an amphitheatre that is an extinct volcanic crater on the Gelsomina property. Tiny micro-climate within the 15 hectares of the estate, mainly carricante (80 percent) with a smaller portion of cattaratto, neutral and primary when this young, needing time to find its expression. Again the clarity and freshness are proper but the neutrality makes it hard to see where this will go and what it will become. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted September 2024

La Gelsomina Di Colombo Maria Adalgisa Etna Bianco DOC 2022

The 80 percent carricante with (20) cattaratto grows on the steepest of slopes within the estate’s amphitheatre in surround of a natural pond that are all part an extinct volcanic crater on the Gelsomina property. A small micro-climate inside of 15 hectares for a Bianco fruit forward and when young, so easy to drink. Unsurprising to find this perfectly clean, fresh and direct, a matter of just five months in stainless steel. Perfect for the many and the willing. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Massimo Lentsch Etna Bianco DOC 2023

Sweet aromatic perfumes, candied florals and white peach per se, a preserved lemon edging to limoncello. Lemony flavours, fine, simple and preparative to set the Bianco up for a modicum of representative success. Good and plenty but not quite exciting, complex or wholly substantial. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Serena and Valeria Costanzo – Palmento Costanzo

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Bianco Di Sei 2022

A cuvée of all parcels from different contrade, including the homefront Santo Spirito, along with Cavaliere. On average 90 percent carricante with (10) catarratto. Only raised in stainless steel, persistently fresh and if any region in the world might be compared with it would be Chablis AOC, direct, salty, smart and widely purposed. Last tasted September 2024

Just have to say wow because Bianco di Sei comes equipped with a level of intensity that was not quite expected from 2022. Not so much a volume or an explosion aromatically speaking but an extreme set of eccentricities that crash aboard the palate. Likely needing some rest and down time to integrate because the level of extract here (including volcanic activity) is simply off the charts. Etna incarnate, pointed and exciting. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2022

High level aromatic volume and concentration from Santo Spirito ’22 and we know right away that this wine knows exactly who it is, where it comes from and where it wants to go. Volcanic salts are also present on the nose from a Bianco of great stage presence and such a smart textural weave that gains every bit of the palate’s confidence. The connection is prescient, reaction calming and conclusion poignant. This is how you make and present Contrada-specific Etna Bianco. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2021

Note the colour of the lava soil on the label, lighter brown for Santo Spirito, from the contrada vineyard at 700m on the northern slope that comprises one out of three “islands within the island” of L’Etna. Still just an infant, implosive and insular, wound so tight, yet to explode. Give this another year, just as the first taste had indicated for months prior. Last tasted September 2024

A fine vintage and and even finer Contrada, that being Santo Spirito where carricante (and 10 percent cattarrato) are given every soil, geological and micro-climatic advantage. There is an accumulation of ripeness and stone cool mineral groove from location and acumen that make this move with incremental ability. It will slowly define itself over along period of time that will be fascinating to watch every step of the way. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Cavaliere 2021

Note the colour of the lava soil on the label, darker brown for Cavaliere, from the contrada vineyard at 700m in the southwest “island” of L’Etna. A different expression to that of Santo Spirito, volumetric in terms of aromatics and less austere or rather locked tight. Here more sapid and botanical, less basaltic salinity and fleshier early on. More fruit forward, pulpy stone fruit like, amenability run higher and the Contrada-designate Bianco to drink while waiting for Santo Spirito to mature. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Papa Maria Cuore Di Marchesa Etna Bianco DOC Cuore Di Marchesa 2022

From Contrada Marchesa near Solicchiata at 750m, a property through Pietro Giovanni’s father-in-law with vines around 100 years old, of the passion and at the heart of the contrada. As unique as it gets for Etna Bianco, 100 percent carricante, ripe yet certainly not honeyed and wood a driver with a white cocoa note that alters perception at a certain level. Some savour as well, brushy style, curious and raising the overall levels of interest. The flavours and textures combine for substantial, if also layered appeal. This may turn secondary sooner rather than later but the level of intersecting interest should only increase. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Pietradolce Etna Bianco DOC Archineri 2022

Archinieri comes at us with that Pietradolce mix of confidence and generosity because well, vineyards and expertise. A Bianco that must be great because the makers demand top quality from field to table and all the markers here are present, defined and accounted for. Ideal reasoning, seasoning and style. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May and September 2024

Planeta Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Taccione 2022

A singular Bianco labeled within Contrada Taccione for Planeta’s cantina located in Feudo di Mezzo and when you are the sole (known) contributor you make, transmit and valourize the rules. Pulp, acumen and circumstance establish and disperse layers of lava-fueled feelings, initiate discourse and bring about results to say this is Etna Bianco of balance and mountain reform. Not the acid intensity of some, nor the flowery pot gratuity of others. Nor does it reside indiscriminately or disinterestedly in between – no it makes a great pronouncement of elevation, mountain experience and intention. Exceptional Etna Bianco. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted September 2024

Quantico Etna Bianco DOC 2018

A few years have passed but my how this 2018 has hung onto its freshness despite some skin contact involved in the early process. Maturity is recognized in the platinum gold hue, subtle caramelization and next level developing complexities. May not keep for several years more but at nearly six years of age it is special. Last tasted September 2024

Just two years older than the ’20 and a marked difference, especially in aromatics. Much warmer year but the exotica and tropical fruit really stand out in this 2018. Cherry blossom, lime cordial and a litchi or longan effect, almost feeling boozy but the alcohol (at 13 percent) is the same as 2020. That said the palate is much more similar, less advanced and feeling fresher. Lots of fruit here, full of energy with a long lasting impression. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Rupestre Etna Bianco DOC 2023

The private label of Terre Darrigo winemaker Rosario Raciti grown in the Contrada of Pietramarina and vinified in the company’s cantina. Only carricante and an old lava flow location with 14 year-old vines planted by Rosario’s father. A unique saltiness and mineral intensity clearly attributed to the contrada despite the young age of the vines. Lean, direct and pointed, sharp and just the beginning of the story. Only 8,000 bottles in 2023. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Bianco DOC Buonora 2023

Only carricante and just has that look of a wine you expect to be extremely cold when it’s really a matter of a strong, sweetly phenolic presence. Herbal, like basil granita and a different sort of salinity owing to the specificity of Tascante’s Pianodario gravelly volcanic sands. Also owing to harvest time after a most challenging vintage which gave smaller, more concentrated berries with high skin to pulp ratios. Sees only stainless steel, for good reason and the effect triples down on this Bianco’s style. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Sciaranuova 2022

Vinified and aged in Slavonian Grandi Botti, “to preserve the verticality and freshness of the carricante” explains Tasca d’Almerita agronomist Michele Brusaferri. Plays hard to get and acts demure inside the halls of its aromatic silence but you know that the elevation and fine basaltic soil are the portents of Tascante’s main Contrada Sciaranuova that will see to conditions for change. Though soft you feel the wood, present with confidence yet the thread of cool, herbal and botanical rins from Buonora into this Bianco. Fruit will soon peek through and announce a scintillant’s arrival, blossoms too, namely orange and then to salty lime later on. Just takes some air, agitation and swirl to coax out the excitement and up into the stratosphere. Turns out to be crunchy and seriously salty Etna Bianco, like flakes of Maldon or Slovenian platinum for what can best be described as living the high seasoned life of Etna Bianco. Structure is there and so this should age quite well. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Sciaranuova 2016

The 2016 carricante takes the ’22 tasted alongside to another extreme. Now a return to a full blown aromatically romanticized effect with honey, orange blossom, sweet concentrated herbs, then into a downy, mature and creamy softness. Curious if well past prime with no good reason to complain about a Bianco conceived during its earlier stages of experimentation and understanding. You can tell the first two to three years would have had no problem convincing of greatness within the style it was made. Tasted September 2024

Marc de Grazia – Tenuta delle Terre Nere

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco DOC 2023

The Santo Spirito area has traditionally been devoted to Rosso and so grapes need to be brought in to make the Etna Bianco. Not 100 percent carricante yet the single contrada whites are. Remember that old vineyards would house five to seven percent white grapes and so here 20-30 percent would include minella, cattaratto, inzolia and grecanico. There is a gelid solidity to the texture and structure, inclusive of the white grapes hand-plucked out of the red vineyards. Makes for a complicated yet complex cuvée, not about parochial purity but instead an assemblage that speaks to bio and varietal diversity. There is notable extract and even some tannin involved for a Bianco you would want to drink every single day. With thanks to salinity that does the work from acidity. If only there were more of 2023, but such is the nature of farming in adversarial vintages. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco DOC Calderara Sottana 2023

“Such a stunning vineyard that I believe will actually improve the Calderara,” says Marc de Grazia. Where Bianco can help to elevate the Rosso by association and osmosis. A carricante with more volume and depth than the wines from the south and east of L’Etna but we know many will not only appreciate but also prefer the style of those Bianci grown in warmer areas. As such the Calderara Sottana sees barrel fermentation, in 350L tonneaux and 10 hL foudres. Now we are getting into a Bourgogne comparison, Meursault first and foremost though some will consider Premier Cru, Right bank Chablis, Fourneaux coming to mind more than most. In the end all that matters is finding the sweet spot in every vintage to express place, in terms of wood size, time and methodology used. We can be reminded that Dibourdieu is a big influence on de Grazia, for whatever that is worth. “If you don’t have a compass it’s not sailing, it’s what Dibourdieu called vagabondage. You need to have an idea of the answer you’re looking for.” Drink 2025-2032. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco DOC Montalto 2023

Montalto, “high mountain,” a 950m plot on L’Etna’s southern slope. Another Bianco that does not like being fermented in wood and so steel only aids and abets to maintain carricante purity. For the first time a Terre Nere white just feels truly salty, mineral extraction expressed through Bianco, as opposed to elemental sapidity. “You have to go higher as the heat increases,” says Marc de Grazia, “to extract perfumes and find acidity.” There is a savoury honeyed aspect that reminds of chenin blanc and the length is determined by old vines. Silex again which takes a mind to Loire more than Chablis. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Di Fessina Etna Bianco DOC A’Puddara 2022

Reductive in a most protective, protractive and progressive way because the burst of citrus screamed forth is seriously intensive. Well yes but it would behoove one to think in terms of elements and minerals over more than merely fruit. Wild and frantic even, excitability factor run off the charts and the palate, not to mention spirit seriously awakened. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2024

Tenute Bosco Etna Bianco DOC 2023

The ’23 Etna Bianco artist formerly known as Piano Dei Daini comes out of a hard vintage because of rain in June with some Perenospera issues, “but the carricante can handle the attack” explains Sofia Ponzini. No loss of fruit, harvest and vinification all together very much in a field blend way. The ten percent endemic varieties settle the carricante, neutralize its power and make for a most wholesome but always elegant Etna Bianco. A rinse of salty sea air meets Macchia Mediterranea. Sofia ends up happy but admits the wine needs bottle time, to sleep a bit, calm the energy and the power. Vibrancy is needy, crunchiness too, feel of the volcano so crucial and so all that is great but the drippy phenolic presence needs taming. That’s what time will effect. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted May and September 2024

Terra Costantino Etna Rosso DOC d’Aetna 2023

Presumably a mix of of Blandano and Praino, which incidentally seem to be siblings from two different mothers and so the deAetna label is a blend in two-parts. More Praino is would seem, gelid and cool, a lemon-yellow plum granita of an Etna Bianco. Fine and solid enough though quite generalized as a local, eastern side of Etna expression. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Terra Costantino Etna Bianco DOC Contrada Blandano 2019

A few years now in bottle and so this 2019 has developed next level style, further character and stage presence. Honeyed and luxe, acids sweetened with a lively if sour edge and then comes that extract that urged the totality from the start. A fine and confident wine with time on its side and a healthy perspective for Etna Bianco as the kind to serve at dinners and tastings all over the world. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May and September 2024

Terre Darrigo

Terre Darrigo Etna Bianco DOC 2023

A stone’s throw down the mountain is Lingualossa, of a terroir above 500 and upwards to 600m in a natural amphitheatre taken over by the Bacci family from a bankrupt farm and in disrepair. Restored to a beautifully rustic terraced set of vineyards set between the volcano and the sea. Salty carricante indeed with phenolic grip and yet acidity keeps the drive alive. So little was made because of a hailstorm in the first week of May that took out most of the vines even before rains and Perenospera mildew arrived to attack much of Etna’s northern vineyards. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Theresa Eccher Etna Bianco DOC Alizée 2021

As per the vintage and an estate taking full advantage this is quite ripe and open-knit Etna Bianco, simplified and moving forward into maturity with haste. Comes away with a bit of bitterness and honeyed savour but otherwise drinks well enough. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Tornatore Etna Bianco DOC 2023

Tornatore has simply, unequivocally and decidedly defined the genre that is Etna Bianco for world markets at an affordable price. The 2023 vintage was not so easy to do this way because mildew pressure and low yields were the obstacle. And yet like so many the acids are intense to insure true Etna mountain spirit is elevated as it needs be. This does precisely what wants and needs for a $25-30 Bianco. All must partake and become believers in what is possible. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Tornatore Etna Bianco DOC Pietrarizzo 2022

Pietrarizzo is both available and confident, not idiosyncratic like Zottorinotto and also richer of fruit. There is an herbal and botanical way about this cru Bianco with splashes of catarratto bringing seasoning to the carricante. A bit spicy and even humid though the fruit is the thing and the volcanics an accent making for even more spice entertained. Such a solid Contrada based Bianco. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted and September 2024

Torre Mora Etna Bianco DOC Chiuse Vidalba 2022

An Etna Bianco on the extreme volcanic side because the aromas and flavours just feel like sucking on a mouthful of basaltic lozenges. Cool, gelid and distinctly mineral on the outside, liquid ethereal and almost mentholated within. Don’t come looking for a burst of fruit, not by citrus, stone nor orchard though there is this green melon note coming late. Nor is this a high acid example, but also not so very botanical. Just bloody volcanic – which speaks to Chiuse Vidalba. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May and September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Carricante Sciare Vive 2022, Terre Siciliane IGT

Part of the production is from a vineyard located outside of the allowable (if arbitrarily and self-serving organization of geographic definition) for the DOC regulations. Yet the fruit from these 40 year-old carricante vines are special to Carmelo Vecchio. His is a true to real volcanic life skin-contact Bianco without the slings, constraints and arrows of pedagogical natural wine. Just the methodological facts to capture, elevate and celebrate the purity of grape variety come from where it lives. A well made example is a thing of beauty and in this case, a premise of perfection. Sapidity wins out over salinity and yet your palate may figure to feel more of the latter. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Carricante Sciare Vive 2021, Terre Siciliane IGT

Tasted side by side with the 2022 (and also 2016) but here the extra year on a skin contact carricante solicits the first stage of age development. Just on the nose really, quite honeyed with a Ginestra savoury spice and a vague saffron note considered. More so honeysuckle when you combine the two and so there feels like a connection, re-imaging or re-imagining of chenin blanc. Palate presence lingers and length is befitting of ’22. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Piè Franco Carricante – Terre Darrigo

Etna Bianco Superiore

Barone Di Villagrande Etna Bianco Superiore DOC 2023

Aromatic volume is turned up through the combination of vintage and Superiore designation which both repeats and magnifies the great fleshy chew for the accessorized palate. Some greens here though they are sweet to commit and then induce satisfaction. Also a great basaltic saltiness that causes this Bianco to linger long after you thought it might not and you are extremely grateful for the extension. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted September 2024

Barone Di Villagrande Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Contrada Villagrande 2021

Just two years older than the ’23 Superiore (classico) and here the Contrada-specific Etna Bianco maintains freshness while defending the integrity of its municipal steading. This is a reduced volcanic saltiness but even more so it speaks to being a mountain wine in the most credible of ways. Rich and expressive, so finely tart and just so very impressive. Stays with your palate for minutes on end and for that you say brava. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted September 2024

Salvino Benanti – Viticoltori Benanti

Benanti Viticoltori Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Pietramarina 2019

A current release which follows the Benanti rule of waiting four-plus years. Only stainless and already hinting at aromatic volume but also length, with petrol coming around the corner. Kind of in the vein of say riesling but even more so sémillon and more Hunter Valley than Bordeaux in that regard. Acidity is obviously lower and phenolics broader – but you get the drift. Will gain curiosity, if at the expense of freshness but that feels like the Superiore point. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Calcagno Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Primazappa 2022

Important if also essential mountain label for Calcagno in Superiore clothing and ’22 shines brightly, even if this is not the summit of summits as far as vintage is concerned. No conceding or submissive behaviour mind you and instead great spirit, energy and vitality. Crisp bites of orchard fruit doused under lemon-lime citrus for real spark. A scintillant Etna Bianco with some fine chiseling and structured for aging. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted September 2024

Federico Curtaz Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Kudos 2021

Kudos is far more botanical than that of Gamma, of green herbs and some herbaceous meanderings. More tonic and fine bitters though truthfully lemon in so many ways with some pith and it tastes like roasted Greek lemon potatoes. A second bottle seems to ramp up the intensity though things stay relatively the same. Superiore is a different animal and it feels like Curtaz has gone a bit more pied du cuve natural in the approach. Surely not an accidental wine and the jury stays out, not hung, but not making a final decision. Will do so after tasting another bottle, preferably sooner rather than later. Tasted September 2024

Fischetti Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Rocca d’Alba 2022

First kick at the Fischetti can and it must be said where have these wines been in this life? In others’ glasses and now here for a look at possible grandezza. Big attempt at extraction, squeezing every bit of 100 percent carricante juice which means tomato leaf and water, but also acetic belief. Old wood is very present and leads the feels for a rustic Bianco that may not exactly find precision, nor finesse neither, but its character is built from soil, soil, soil. The earth is all in and it translates with the aforementioned acetic tang. Just 700 bottles are produced. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted twice, September 2024

I Custodi Delle Vigne Dell’Etna Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Imbris Contrada Caselle 2020

Varietal carricante at 800m fermented in steel, put to barrel and then one year in bottle. So much corporeal flesh on the body of a seriously developed Bianco. Has come into a fine place but my goodness so much texture, citrus and length. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May and September 2024

Maugeri Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Contrada Volpare 2023

Youthful is the understatement and Volpare the name, so say it loud. This is indeed singular Etna Bianco, as they should be but some are in a league of their own, as Mugeri’s eastern wines clearly are. The estate has taken it to the next level with an ascension of elevated mountain fortuity but also depth determined by terroir which can only be transmitted when agriculture abides. Abides because the maker makes it happen and Volpare delivers generously while also with precision and finesse. Leave this for 18 months or more to settle the relationship between rocks and acidity. After tasting Frontebosco and also Frontemare you realize the latter is the true catalyst to propel this cuvée selection. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted September 2024

Maugeri Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Contrada Volpare Frontebosco 2023

Versante est which separates Mugeri from not just the north but also the south and the future will surely look to this area for greatness. Not only Volpare contrada but a section within, here called Frontebosco, as in facing or in front off the forest and so the herbals here within are assumed to be elected by the nearby woods. Makes for freshness but also a fruit fleshiness that the more general Volpare does not show. A full, substantial and impressive Etna Bianco that might just appeal to everyone. Superiore indeed. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted September 2024

Maugeri Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Contrada Praino Frontemare 2023

Frontemare, “facing the sea,”as opposed to Frontebosco, “facing the wood.” As such this would be east facing from Etna’s east sector and so the block with the view creates a unicorn of an Etna Bianco as fascinating as it seemingly gets. The most crisp, crunchy, fresh and intense of Mugeri’s whites, citrus squeezed throughout and long as the zig-zagging wind of a single road down to Catania and into the sea. Just wow, with layers upon layers to unreel, unfurl and unroll for a long aging period ahead. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta delle Terre Nere

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Salice 2023

Only carricante from the the town of Milo, five year-old vines in the place where more rain falls and reds can not really be made. No more than 1000 hectares of vineyard farmed by 20 producers recently and collectively coming into its own. Wines now made by high profile estates including Barone di Villagrande, Benanti and Marc de Grazia. Soils are unique, having come from the collapse odf the side of the volcano’s east side. Deep, fractured and then also shallow soils so compact it’s hard for roots to penetrate. Less humid as a result and the best for ripening carricante. Exposure is key because the sun disappears behind the mountain earlier than most, though says de Grazia, “650-750m is the sweet spot. Adding “a challenge but not a suicide.” Extremely steep, two years to rebuild the terraces and here is the result. Imagine the views of the Ionian Sea with a glass, wildflowers everywhere and a sapidity so different to the gifts of the northern slope. Salice is the willow and that weeping only adds to the demure, but in a botanical, mellow and properly astringent way. Just like silex, but volcanic from a wine with no wood in play. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Di Fessina Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Il Musmeci Bianco 2021

Il Muscemi Bianco is another matter altogether because of two aspects. More taut reserve instigated by reductively protected ability plus an aromatic accountability that screams “mountain wine!” Scintillant behaviour, a bit eccentric mind you but how one could not be amused if clearly enthralled with the intensity. Once again we speak of volcanics and mysterious elements with fruit out of the conversation because it was picked early and with acidity in total mind, but in the end the lava matters most. Needs years to settle in, especially because of the need to assimilate its wood. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted September 2024

Terra Costantino Etna Bianco Superiore DOC Contrada Praino 2022

Eastern slope on Etna, in the town of Milo where only here the Etna Bianco can be labeled with the addendum “Superiore.” From young five year-old carricante vines grown on Alberello at 650m by Fabio Stantino and his family where the conditions are more humid, namely because of the closer proximity to the sea. Cool, gelid and stylish. The kind of Etna Bianco with that mineral, gemstone quality while also one of the more yellow-fleshed fruit pulpy examples juiced by Sicilian orange. Gets white pepper and mango powder exotic at the humid finish. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted May and September 2024

Etna Rosso

Alice Bonaccorsi Etna Rosso DOC Valcerasa Rosso 2019

Truly ripe cherry, maturing and for Bonaccorsi’s Rosso surely well into the drinking zone. Wealth of cloying oak, resins and overripe behaviour mean that zone should already be behind us. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

Alta Mora Etna Rosso DOC Feudo Di Mezzo 2020

Middle ground traveled and promise delivered for the large Feudo di Mezzo as Contrada sizes come, with fruit able to defend itself against generous wood though all parts launch a collective attack on the senses and palate. Big Rosso for Etna, strong boned and willed with the intention to impress. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted September 2024

Alta Mora Etna Rosso DOC Guardiola 2020

Big barrel feel on Guardiola from Alta Mora and some fruit maturity to say the twain is yet to be abridged. As high toned as Rosso will come, red fruit swells and a dusty volatility that reminds of Rioja. Just feels akin to aging in American wood. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2024

Alessandro and Loredana Serughetti

Alessandro Serughetti Etna Rosso DOC Venturo 2022

Only 700 bottles were made of Alessandro Serrugheti’s Venturo, which transliterates to “next” and generationally speaking that is exactly what he and wife Loredona are to L’Etna. Their corner of Rovitello is rich in volcanic ingredients, of potassium, iron, and magnesium in the lava flow soils of their old (and qualifiedly historic) nerello mascalese vineyard. Alessandro dates them back 60 years and admits there to be a few cappuccio plants mixed in for one of his first attempts at Rosso that is simply grippy, liquid chalky, textural, structured and brimming with dark fruit. Ages 10 months in tonneaux. It’s basically a profound basaltic matter of this place within the greater volcanic place. Greatness is coming. Coming up next. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted September 2024

Antichi Vinai 1877 Etna Rosso DOC Petralava 2019

Floral with a pretty perfume of fruit to join along and the effect is a fête for the olfactory senses. Neither lithe nor delicate in terms of flavour profile and punch yet the substantial and layered effect is something notable. Just a smidgen overdressed and no, subtlety is not the middle name but overall there are fine and appreciable aspects if this Rosso to get behind. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Azienda Agricola Ciro Biondi Etna Rosso DOC San Nicolo’ 2022

San Nicolo’ steps up more than a tier in Etna Rosso terms as compared to Outis because its freshness and fragrance are that much more intense. This smells like Etna should, with southeastern slope warmth behind its ripeness and acidity acting as the driver for that freshness. Still it presents a challenge to sort through and figure out the how, what and why. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Azienda Agricola Ciro Biondi Etna Rosso DOC Outis 2017

Notable wood on the nose, spiced and like the Bianco also savoury in an herbal-botanical way. Suits the fruit though the aromas lower, deepen into baritone and struggle to rise up with ease. The barrel is very involved with the flavours and somewhat unrelenting though one should not question the substance of this Rosso. Then again it’s already five to six years of age and so maturity will now beget declension. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

Barone Di Villagrande Etna Rosso DOC 2021

Truly pretty Rosso perfume yet the palate’s hard shell is candied and a bit cloying. The barrel is used in a symptomatic way, driving the fruit to places it may not have wished to go. The combination of that and volatility not in check leads this down and artificial and medicinal path, as a result. The ’21 Bianco Superiore is glorious but the Rosso is a miss. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

Barone Di Villagrande Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Monte Ilice 2020

Monte Illice 2022 is in better steading than the Rosso 2021 because its volatile compounds lay low and do much less to distract from the prize. Still the use of wood is heavy and so a resinous but also emulsified feeling is ascertained. Not quite soy but certainly lactic and creamy. A much better wine however and one that will age well over a five-plus year run. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Benanti Viticoltori Etna Rosso Riserva DOC Serra Della Contessa Alberello Centenario 2018

Benanti Viticoltori was founded in 1988, one of the pioneers on L’Etna. Two Piedmontese oenologists, Gian Domenico Negro and Marco Monchiero, along with Prof. Rocco Di Stefano of the Experimental Institute for Oenology in Asti and Prof. Jean Siegrist of the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique of Beaune combined to exert profound influence on Giuseppe Benanti and his wines. Oenological consultancy has molded and developed Benanti’s wines, from Salvo Foti to Enzo Calli, now with Benanti for 25 years. Serra Della Contessa is a field blend of the two nerello out of a 100-plus year-old bush vine vineyard (documents say 1910s), own grafted and original, bit of a unicorn for Benanti and a pioneer, just like Giuseppe Benanti. Not labeled as pre-phylloxera because “it’s difficult to prove,” but surely from resistant vines. The same vineyard (Monte Serra) also makes for a Contrada wine from the younger vines. Large barrels for two years, one in tank and then finally two in bottle, not unlike a Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. There is a chalkiness and serious structure here but the Grandi Botti do little to distract, thicken or overarch any semblance of density to this blend. Serra della Contessa dates back to the countess that owned the state in 1472. Cleary one of not only L’Etna’s but all of Sicily’s most important structured and age-worthy red wines. Would love to see this agin in 2033. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted September 2024

Benanti Viticoltori Etna Rosso Riserva DOC Rovitello Alberello Centenario 2018

From North Etna, as opposed to the sister Serra della Contessa label that comes from the home-front vineyard on the mountain’s southeast slope. Picked two weeks later from a cooler location and still the same concept, that being a field blend of nerello mascalese and cappuccio, planted in the 1920s and yes it’s possible there are other varieties mingling in the ancient material of these bush vines. Essentially pre-phylloxera and here Rovitello is softer and cooler, almost gelid and less warmth meets weight, though Monte Serra is not what you would call a wine of density. The acids, harmony and understatement are really fine but to be honest the Contessa is showing better and with more impressive structure today. And yet Rovitello is a magnificent red blend from old DNA in its own-right. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted September 2024

Viticoltori Benanti

Benanti Viticoltori Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Monte Serra 2022

From L’Etna’s southeastern sector on the mountain’s semi-circle and one of fine if also light glycerol texture. Truly pretty and delicate for Rosso, the kind we tell people about in the way we often describe pinot noir from the Côtes de Beaune. This is indeed as closely resembling that kind of varietal-appellation relationship as any on this volcanic mountain. Really fine, precise and softening though structure is not a problem. The feels are of older lava flows and how they effect nerello mascalese. Obviously not pinot noir. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted September 2024

Benanti Viticoltori Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Calderara Sottana 2022

Benanti is not just a southeastern Etna specialist but an estate that wrote the book on the making of fine, precise, finessed and structured wines from that sector aboard the mountain. There is more power (albeit restrained) from northern slope Calderara Sottana and a sense of rich chalky liquidity that speaks to the age of lava flows and how vines are raised on older volcanic soils. Also the 700m of elevation and a place that works best with nerello mascalese, especially with north-facing plantings. The transmission is purposed, trenchant and near formidable. More chewy texture here and more favourably or gainfully nerello mascalese but when you think of it alongside Monte Serra than the options laid out are yours to choose. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted September 2024

Franco and Giusi Calcagno

Calcagno Etna Rosso DOC Calderara 2021

Ah such an intoxicant of Calderara perfume coaxed and on exhibit just the way we would hope it should. Mind you there is some wood to deal with though high standard used will become quality worth resolved. More liquid chalky an Etna Rosso than many but again the execution will beget harmony because the wine is already expressive and frankly distinguished right there. Give this promising 2021 another 18 months and its canto will warble harmonic, pure and long. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted September 2024

Cottanera Etna Rosso DOC Diciassettesalme 2022

Solo nerello mascalese, made with the grapes from all three Contradas, 10 months in steel, followed by six months in bottle. Dictionary entry though it’s just the first vintage of this specific Rosso without Cappuccio. These are nerello plants grafted onto the old cappuccio and to be honest there is more purity and focus this way. Spicier, in a way and more energy. Will take a few vintages to find its solo artist stride. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May and September 2024

Cottanera Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Feudo Di Mezzo 2020

Only nerello mascalese from 35 year-old vines, big barrel for 14 months. Even though Feudo di Mezzo is the largest Etna Nord contrada there is such consistency and a thread of wine effect that runs through the 20-plus producers. Cottanerà heeds and abides by the vineyard to produce a balanced FdM worthy of the name. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May and September 2024

Cottanera Etna Rosso Riserva DOC Zottorinoto 2019

Nerello Mascalese

Plants are 85 years of age on four hectares but this wine is a selection from three tonnes of grapes to make only 1,800-2,000 bottles. Riserva, so it remained in cask for two years plus two more in bottle. Depth, breadth, spices and richness, the most full bodied and textural Rosso, tannins sweet and long-chained with time still needed to resolve all that is here. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted May and September 2024

Donnafugata Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Marchesa 2020

Marchesa 2020 seems to tell a contrada story in a most positive light with its effusive, fresh and yet also concentrated way. A specific style to be sure and a layered one but those layers are closely knit with their weave of ultra specific fibre. There is some reduction which is not a surprise and then some good old-fashioned structure to see this age quite admirably. A different charm and a good one from this well made Rosso. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2024

Federico Curtaz Etna Rosso DOC Il Purgatorio 2020

Bold and trenchant Etna Rosso from the one and only legend that is Federico Curtaz and one to take great time getting to know. Ripe to be sure but also acids in stride with fruit influenced by Etna’s newer (relatively speaking) northern lava flows providing the freshness and finesse. There are some herbaceous moments that put this in a savoury place and in the end the diversity and complexity renders this a potent while oh so intriguing iteration of Etna Rosso. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted September 2024

Federico Curtaz Etna Rosso DOC Il Pukkaria 2020

Consistency and a thread of similarity runs from Purgatorio through Pukkaria but the latter is not the bold expression that is the former. Sweeter perfume, more glycerol texture and emulsified acidity make this closer to the heart and without the same level of grip by structure. Still the herbal-herbaceous feels are there and some reduction to hold a part of the wine back. Give it a year and the ties that bind will loosen to free this wine of brine and tang. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted September 2024

Federico Graziani Etna Rosso DOC 2022

Pretty much what they call Classico as far as Etna Rosso is concerned with a nerello mascalese of concentration yet delicate and shiny enough to speak generally if abidingly for an appellation. Wood is not nothing and will need some time to melt in but this is clearly a Rosso for Rosso sake, raised properly and equipped to live comfortably. A five year example that could be poured for anyone to explain the combination of style, varietal and place. Feels just a bit natural with faint Brettanomyces noted in the end. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Federico Graziani Etna Rosso DOC Rosso Di Mezzo 2022

A sturdy and well wooded Rosso from Feudo di Mezzo labeled as Rosso di Mezzo because why not though the nomenclature could suggest a second wine to some. Like Rosso di Montalcino or even lesser, Rosso di Toscana. We know the intent but when you look at some other Italian denominations this becomes somewhat perplexing. In any case this travels down the middle of the Mezzo road (wink, wink) to deliver a Rosso of medium body, acidity, structure and finish. On par with Graziani’s Rosso DOC, both good wines though with little to distinguish between the two. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Fischetti Etna Rosso Riserva DOC Gran Conte 2014

An alberello-trained, pre-phylloxera nerello mascalese of century vines. A survivalist, having been through at least one world war. A mature, oxidative and fully resolved Rosso in secondary character with no going back. Gifts that old Amarone feel without the jam or density, but age has put this in a known time frame for they who fully appreciate old wines. Freshness is not part of the package. This ’14 is the current release and once again 700 bottles are produced. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Frank Cornelissen Etna Rosso DOC Munjebel 2021

As per the explanation of the erudite gentleman from Houston (by way of San Diego) the meaning of Munjebel informs us to be a “dialectal toponym for Mt. Etna and by the way akin to the Sicilian Muncibeddu or the Italian Mongibello, meaning monte bello or beautiful mountain.” And so it truly is in Etna Rosso form, of a purity and clarity that bemuses but also pleases us so. Chewy Rosso with that natural settling on the palate like a savoury salve slowly dissolving without dissipating or disappearing from consciousness. Stays with our thoughts and feelings for a good long time. Fine 2021, as expected and confirmed without a single moment of having conformed. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted September 2024

Giovanni Rosso Etna Rosso DOC 2021

Quite the bright and ultra fresh nerello mascalese number with what feels like fruit taken from young and impressionable vines, and as of yet to deliver full out structure. Easy access, fresh and free drinking, no big questions posed and a Rosso that simply drinks really well. The length and consistent presence of flavours and textures speak to the maker’s affinity with mutually relatable red varieties, in this case nerello’s spiritual and physiological connection to nebbiolo. Then again Davide Rosso’s work with both Domaine Jean Grivot and Domaine Denis Mortet have no doubt influenced and introduced the treatment of pinot noir towards his work with mascalese. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC ‘A Rina 2022

A very warm and dry vintage making for a taut, chalky and savoury nerello mascalese (with 10 percent cappuccino). This next ‘a Rina takes off where 2021 left off and only Feudo is as consistent an Etna Rosso as this. Chalky red cherry, a leathery aspect and drying tannins that speak about 2022 in both toasty and positive ways. Crisp ’22, of bay and liquorice, salty volcanics and good length, though not in the league of Feudo and San Lorenzo. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May and September 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC San Lorenzo 2022

The gifts of San Lorenzo are of a slow release ilk the other cru and vineyards of Girolamo Russo are not, but this from 2022 is so full of riches it brings early joy. A great pleasure to have a glass even now with gregarious perfume and readied flavours, of red berries, liquid chalky to candied palate swaths and immediacy from this bottle of wine. San Lorenzo shows off the most glyercol and silken texture – it’s almost candied but of course it’s not. Spicy on the back side, sneakily structured and all the while with a glass we’re feeling fine. Can only improve and integrate with a couple of years time. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted May and September 2024

Girolamo Russo Etna Rosso DOC Feudo 2022

From the highest section in the Feudo di Mezzo vineyard, bush vines, very old. Delivers ultra light and conversely powerful di Mezzo freshness, but from this elevation at a much higher rate and with an extension of vibrancy plus energy. More verticality and sweetness of nerello fruit like almost no other. Resides in a state of grace upon the palate and though it hovers just a millimetre above, there still feels like the fruit, acidity and finest tannin are collectively making full contact. Remarkable. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted May and September 2024

Graci Etna Rosso DOC 2022

From estate vineyards at 650-750m, fermented and aged for 18 months in concrete though once in a while a little bit of big barrel is used. Linear, stoic, restrained and serious Etna Rosso for Rosso’s sake but also trenchant intention. Crispy and crunchy, vertical and youthful. Fresh, even a bit reductive, so peppery and a year away from that open window. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted May and September 2024

Graci Etna Rosso DOC Arcurìa 2021

The home vineyard, great vintage and that should not be questioned because frankly it simply can’t be denied. If nothing else the intensity of purpose comes through from the start. More depth and crunch, further concentration and breadth, still austere and working through its tasks, machinations and intentions. Big wine from 2021. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted May and September 2024

Graci Etna Rosso DOC Arcurìa Sopra Il Pozzo 2019

Longer maceration because these are stems that ripen better than anywhere else and so Alberto Graci tastes and decides how long to go. Usually 60 days and 2019 was right around that number. You can feel them, mostly though not 100 percent ripe and yet that savoury-verdant note works so well to create a spice mix and seasoning that extends the breadth of the fruit. Do not come here for heavy concentration or weight because there is restraint but also expect some austerity. Really needs time and will eventually settle into it’s technicolor skin. A compact wine that will deliver a slow release of energy. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted May and September 2024

La Gelsomina Di Colombo Maria Adalgisa Etna Rosso DOC 2021

A blend of 80 percent nerello mascalese with (20) nerello cappuccio, raised in 500L cask. Ascends with warm grape must character, fresh fig and tree pod fruit. On the warmer and darker side for Etna Rosso, already into some maturity with an almost Ripasso-like feel on the palate. Less typicity for Etna Rosso without a real sense of place. Either the grapes need to be picked (even) earlier or the winemaking will need to scale back and press as gentle as possible. Times have changed. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

Massimo Lentsch Etna Rosso DOC 2021

Spice and resins on the aromatics, wood-derived and unresolved. Earthiness, of fresh laid sod and a chalky undercut of stone. A bit rustic, as they say. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted September 2024

Sebastiano Vinci – Mecori

Mecori Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Muganazzi Duo 2022

They are Serena & Sebastiano, Mecori’s “Duo,” reiterated from the special Muganazzi Contrada and vines planted in 1927 as a reductive one, protected and insular, unresolved and therefore undefined. Air is a friend of this nerello mascalese from one (soon to be two and a half) hectares and agitation an even more important accomplice to release what charm lays low and behind. There is real richness and layering beneath the shell which more than accidentally and incidentally defines the contrada and what it can achieve. Spicy and spiced, chalky, massively tannic and the kind of structure few Etna Rosso are wont to hold. A big wine so far away from ready, currently grippy and austere, tension in charge and time the operative to effect any kind of significant change. Average production is 4,000 bottles, soon to reach approximately 10. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted September 2024

Giulia Monteleone

Monteleone Etna Rosso DOC Monteleone 2022

Fine perfumes and just as promising spirit turn upwards with even further generosity from an Etna Rosso of fruit as pure as any. A wine of harmony and like a well-written song sung with grace. Not the most complex or complicated Rosso but who would not bask in the glow of a glass any place and any time. Clarity and purity are what matters for Etna Rosso with its feet on the ground. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Monteleone Etna Rosso DOC Rumex 2022

Rumex, a.k.a. Dock or Sorrel, a perennial culinary herb. Also Rumex, Giulia Monteleone’s sister Rosso to Qubba, of 100 percent nerello mascalese grown at 680m in the volcanic sand and gravels of Contrada Pontale Palino. The vineyard is a natural “clos” encircled by Sciara (mounds of magmatic scoriae formed along lava flows). Rumex is not Qubba what with its brighter entry but also high tonality and elevated acidity. This also means volatility, in check and important for the style and effect of this Rosso. While Qubba is a Rosso for which to peer through ornate windows, Rumex offers a converse approach with much to chew and mull upon, many facets to look deeper into, parts to unravel and feelings to unlock. Must wait two more years before more answers are provided. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted September 2024

Monteleone Etna Rosso DOC Qubba 2021

Perhaps the most famous Islamic architectural example of a Qubba is the Green Dome in Medina, a cupola-shaped shrine built in 1837. In a way Monteleone’s Qubba feels like the representation of Giulia Monteleone’s short history aboard Versante Nord, a journey that began in 2017 and perhaps this Rosso’s extra year in bottle has contributed to the story. A nerello mascalese from a fine vintage that has come to a very great place. There is charm but even more so there is depth to this ’21. A structured wine just about arrived though not quite ready to open its doors and yet we feel like we are peering through the stained glass window of Jerusalem’s Qubba al-Sakhra. Or more realistically the nerello’s aperture but this is clearly coming from fine northern Etna terroir that ripens fruit, maintains acidity and give generously of its vines. Fully developed flavours, plenty of grip and many years are left to give. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo DOC Etna Rosso Nero Di Sei 2021

Nero di Sei 2021 comes quicker to the point with near-immediate gratification because of vintage and also by way of the team allowig and even encouaging this to happen. Or abided more like it, with red berry fruit aromas that nerello mascalese can gift when the conditions are right. This is not to say that 2021 will fade into early light because it is in fact equipped with volume, concentration and backbone. A truly exceptional vintage that will appeal to all. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo DOC Etna Rosso Nero Di Sei 2020

A nerello mascalese that sees 24 months in the troncone wooden vats from a vintage with its specific challenges but there is volume and depth. A Rosso that draws from all the available plots farmed by Palmento Costanzo. Spice and that feeling you get when you bite into dried fruit tree pods like bokser or carob. The finish is Etna balsamico, a mix of wild fennel, oregano and mint, but also some other dusty gariga. Last tasted September 2024

Spicy and floral, aromatically crisp and taut, wood a factor with plenty of seasoning. A bit sappy and edging into tang with flavours quite sharp and also dense but time will settle the score for all parts involved. A big and inky version of Nero di Sei and one to really sink your teeth into. Wait two years to do so. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted May 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2020

Always promising and spirited Rosso from the combination of producer and place which take full advantage of both its elevation and particular lava flow to effect beauty and age-ability. A swirl of glycerol comes away from sweet perfume and leads toward real time austerity to indicate not only a wine of substance but also one of aging probability. The concentration is buoyed by acidity and tannin in the ways of top shelf Etna Rosso. Fine vintage and work from the Palmento Costanzo team. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted September 2024

Palmento Costanzo Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Santo Spirito 2019

Three further months in and no further changes or gains but just the status quo of primary fruit and a Rosso come from vineyard health with thanks to organics and this 1879 eruption derived volcanic terroir. Last tasted September 2024

Evolving nicely, now nearly ready to go, fruit still fresh enough and structure beginning to subside. A full bodied Etna Rosso from Santo Spirito in delivery of what the contrada and the vintage held in hand. Tasted May 2024

A vintage out of which the pre-phylloxera was produced from the contrada so just imagine the possibilities as they come from this all in for the vintage nerello mascalese. Feels like an extended maceration because the glycerol and unctuous textural pool are both at the crest of Etna Rosso heights. Oranges and cherries but more than anything old vines spirit and what just happened from out of these volcanic sands carried through to century and a half vines is something wholly and unequivocally other. Hints at balsamic reduction but the tannins and also acids are so fresh and so years is what it will take to take this anywhere new. The finest chalkiness imitates the soil and puts this in a league with some of Italy’s most important red wines. Up to you too decide which they are or don’t bother at all. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted May 2023

Palmento Costanzo Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Santo Spirito Pre Phylloxera 2020

Same grapes, different style of vinification from the pre-phylloxera section of the vineyard, therefore from material grown on the oldest vines. The extended skin contact is followed by a great and instructive polymerization of the phenolic compounds and when the skins sink down in the troncone the wine is racked and sent on its way into Stockinger Foudres. The tannin quality from the grapes coming off of old Santo Spirito vines are a velvet crush of plush fortified by exquisite volume. The wine moves fluidly and in harmony from start to finish, pausing only to see if you are paying full attention, then continuing to command attention seemingly without trying at all. Rosso this fine is deserving of its own place and time. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted September 2024

Papa Maria Cuore Di Marchesa Etna Rosso DOC Cuore Di Marchesa 2020

The work of Pietro di Giovanni who also happens to be the oenological consultant to La Gelsomina. Papa Maria refers to first name and surname of the maternal grandmother and Pietro has been producing Cuore di (Contrada) Marchesa since 2016. From nerello mascalese grown at 750m near to Solicchiata with a look at varietal character in the vein of nebbiolo and sangiovese but the aging here is one third each steel, tonneaux and amphora. There is some depth to its hue but also proper Etnese transparency and being 2020 there is a sense of maturity on the nose. Amphora will add such an element, not to say the Rosso is passing over into secondary character but it is made with a specific style. Wood spice and amphora texture make this unique, again because Pietro di Giovanni is a winemaker free to choose his whimsy. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Papa Maria Cuore Di Marchesa Etna Rosso DOC Cuore Di Marchesa 2019

The work of Pietro di Giovanni who also happens to be the oenological consultant to La Gelsomina. Papa Maria refers to first name and surname of the maternal grandmother and Pietro has been producing Cuore di (contrada) Marchesa since 2016. From nerello mascalese grown at 750m near to Solicchiata and 2019 show no further maturity as compared to 2020. Speaks not only to vintage but Pietro di Giovanni’s abiding by his contrada and climate. The vineyard is small (1.5 hectare) and the yields extremely low (4 tonnes per hectare). There is surely a style and an honesty here though with time these wines should become exceptional when they are designed with a just bit more restraint. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Passopisciaro Etna Rosso DOC Passorosso 2022

Properly reductive, a redacted quality to hold back the tears and also the years. Concentration and aura are the cards held up by the artistic austerity held out with the final hand yet to play because bets are still arriving on the table. My goodness what structure and intensity so please, stay focused and patient because many years are needed to settle the score. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted September 2024

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC 2020

Fine perfume, handsome and inviting to set this up as a muscular yet taut and lean Rosso. Reductive and herbaceous, such a savoury and earthy example of a place within a place. Tannins are somewhat austere and gritty but they should settle and resolve. Palate presence does not follow a direct line from aromas but again, time will bring them closer and eventually together. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted September 2024

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC Santo Spirito 2020

The 2020 nerello mascalese from Contrada Santo Spirito is a meaty and gamy bruiser, sanguine and yet lifted with some fine volatility to nose. The right amount because the aromatic volume, palate depth and tannic freight are all equal partners working towards a common goal. That would be a full-bodied Etna Rosso with the stuffing and planning to age very well. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted May and September 2024

Pietradolce Etna Rosso DOC Barbagalli 2019

A unicorn Etna Rosso and here from 2019 there has been some development though the wine is still ways away from full integration. Talking formidable structure, inclusive of tannins of a tight and variegated grain, running crosswise and painless because they usher fruit and urge acidity to always be a part of the fray. A total weave of Rosso sentiment, bringing emotion and pleasure without fail, to exult a vineyard as special as any in the world. One only need to stand over it to understand its power, insistence on restraint and the keys to unlock potential. Will turn heads and remain in light for a good long time. “Facts are nothing on the face of things. “Still waiting, still waiting, still waiting, still waiting.” Drink 2026-2037. Tasted May and September 2024

Planeta Etna Rosso DOC 2022

Not a contrada specific Etna Rosso but more than 70 percent comes from Feudo di Mezzo in Passopiciaro. As juicy and glycol notable Rosso as there has ever been and silken would best describe the quality felt aboard the more than pleased and nurtured palate. Another wine that improves each vintage under the guidance of Patricia Tòth, in part because her favourite dogs hang around that winery next to the vineyard. Also because her experience and abilities have come to a most profound place. Love the spice masala on the finish. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted May and September 2024

Quantico Etna Rosso DOC 2018

“Tough vintage,” admits Giovanni Raiti, with rain at harvest in October and lots of it. Selection was essential, careful maceration and pressing as well. What has resulted is a glycerol glide through texture incarnate with a fab silken palate holding court and more concentrated strength than thought possible. A wine to nose quickly and move forward to linger on that mouthfeel. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Rosario Raciti – Rupestre

Rupestre Etna Rosso DOC 2022

The name Rupestre refers to the 3,000 year-old Palmento found on the estate’s site in Contrada Pietramarina and the word essentially means “ancient.” Rosario Raciti worked in Portugal, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, Tuscany and Puglia before returning to the family farm in Castiglione di Sicilia. The style is so very much Rosario’s, reductive and closed, yet from Contrada Pietramarina the glycerol, silky organza texture and length are what make the case for potential greatness out of such a wine. Again vine age is less than 20 and so the best days are still to come. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2024

Rupestre Etna Rosso DOC 2021

This just the third vintage for Rosario Raciti’s Etna Rosso from Contrada Pietramarina in in Castiglione di Sicilia. A perfumed nerello mascalese, unadorned and pure with glycerol marking the mouthfeel. Sweet and savoury spices and just a lovely natural swirl to not just the fruit but the whole composition. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Pianodario 2020

Lighter of body but not aroma as it now enters with the volume turned up, a feeling of idiosyncrasy and high-level curiosity. Wild and exotic spicing owing to a 17th century lava flow now in a state of degradation to make certain the nerello mascalese growing in its sands are the recipient of its mineral profile. Last tasted September 2024

High-toned, spirited and transparent nerello mascalese from Tasca’s L’Etna Tascante out of Contrada Pianodario. Red berry shine, acids excited and fruit a willing participant. Tarragon and Basil herbal, so very basaltic stony and truly a wine of place. Crunchy and ever so slightly resinous with balsamico mixing into the sweetness of fruit and acidity. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted May 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Sciaranuova V.V. 2020

Old Sciaranuova vines are the impetus for concentration and experience in this soil-driven contrada specific Rosso for Alberto Tasca’s Tascante of L’Etna. A wholesome, fulsome and fully formed Rosso with the verity of a nerello mascalese-ness here that delivers the entirety of mountain experience with earthy, austere and drying tannins sure to elevate the long term goal and gain. Big Rosso but one of medium body that sets its heights and peaks to points achievable and five years forward will see real things indeed. Bravo to the team for getting this estate and this wine to where it needs to be. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted September 2024

Michele Brusaferri and Vittoria Cerniglia – Tasca d’Almerita Tascante

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Sciaranuova V.V. 2012

The inaugural vintage for the Tasca family’s Etna project and a more intense result because of initial experimentation with longer macerations. A very promising and in retrospect top quality but also age-worthy vintage, with lingering freshness battling against developing cherry stone bitters. As for overall maturity the ’12 has hung in admirably though wood and the pressed style have added up to this. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Etna Rosso Doc Contrada Rampante 2020

Rampante is the biggest and broadest of the three Contrada Tascante, less ethereal and with more gainful force but it does so with impressive pronouncement. A comparative study however and still thus Rosso is transparent like its brethren. The fullness is a matter of contrada soil and subsequent style. Really quite unique for Etna Rosso, glycerol and silken texture in delivery of mouthfeel that few others will gift. Rampante yes but also Tascante, a way of raising and looking at nerello mascalese fruit with an eye to expression and fineness of tannin. There is some grippy austerity in the last part of this Rosso but one can’t help but feel the promise in its ways. Should age beautifully for 10 years easy. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC 20° Anniversario 2022

A single contrada Rosso from Terre Nere from the young vines within Calderara Sottana, to celebrate Marc de Grazia’s 20 years of delivering nerello mascalese from his Etna estate. “The young vines have a vigour and an enthusiasm,” he says. “Bless them.” A blend of these precocious parcels and a cuvée that he surely feels is representative of what has been accomplished thus far, without diverting too far way from what has already been done. Their cumulative hue is always lighter and brighter than the rest of the wines. A fine design and effort that stays true to purity and finesse. Fine wine indeed. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted (twice), September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC 2022

Aged 18 months instead of the usual 12, which the reds will almost always receive going forward. “The son of our vineyards and also neighbours that follow our protocol,” explains Marc de Grazia, “or those who are so good in their’s they don’t need to follow our protocol.” Fine introductory lesson in Etna Rosso now in session. Not so much a dictionary entry but more like the instructor itself to test our mettle and knowledge, to see if we are paying attention and gaining what we need to now and feel. Bright red fruit, some grip and structure with tannins that dry with preferable, positive and proper distinction. A wine that will see the single contrada wines of Terre Nere move from strength to strength. “A watershed vintage” says de Grazia. “The finest (non single contrada) Rosso we’ve ever made and will improve with age.” Last tasted September 2024

The “Villages” Rosso, blending youngest vines fruit from the various 50-plus parcels comprising half of the total production, including some cappuccio. There could be some montellado and other smallest quantities of red grape varieties involved. Interesting in that this effects a richer and naturally sweeter character than most Contrada or Cru wines. So getable and crushable, also a dictionary entry and teaching moment for what it means to be and taste like Etna Rosso. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted May 2023

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC Feudo Di Mezzo 2022

Always the first to be harvested, almost certainly on October the 4th, give or take a few days of course. “Begins with harmony when young,” tells Marc de Grazia, “and born perfect.” Not entirely true and yet also not disengenous to say that because it will age extremely well. Yes 2022 is pretty, immediately gratifying and seductively perfumed already. Underneath are layers of feudal structure that may lay low below, unseen and unspoken, but they are there. The nerello mascalese equivalent of a hierarchical social structure characterized by a small ruling set of tannin over fruit peasantry working in exchange for protection. Maybe half the grip as compared to the other single contrada Etna Rosso but do not sleep on this subjugating power. Needs two year to initiate its integrations. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC Moganazzi 2022

Moganazzi is a bit further east and slightly higher in elevation as compared with Feudo di Mezzo. All terraced, 70 year-old vines at 650-700m. Three parcels combining for one vineyard on the same hill. Marc de Grazia purchased them one at a time and he sees this wine in the vein of say Pommard or Nuit-Saint-Georges. In other words grip that needs two years to “mellow and obtain its luminosity.” True spirit of Etna Rosso’s grace and charm with as lithe and bright nerello mascalese as ever there could be. Fragrance and kick. Moganazzi is all that and secretly austere within the construct of its fine demure. A Rosso that makes you think but even more its makes you feel. Terrific emotion, control, concentration and expressiveness. Amazing wine. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted twice, September 2024

With Marc de Grazia – Tenuta delle Terre Nere

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC Guardiola 2022

Marc de Grazia considers Feudo di Mezzo and Moganazzi to be Premier Cru and while some producers feel that Guardiola is Grand Cru, he begs to differ. “Somewhere between the two,” he says. On the right hill and yet not quite there, maybe like the split opinion on Monte de Tonerre. Elevation up in the 900s transmits up as aromatic heights, expanse of perfume and yet also this sense of maturity. “A soprano of Rosso, a separation of crus with identity that implies discretion.” Refinement but also tannins that are compact, austere and like the bouquet, irreplaceable, in other words, not replicable. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC San Lorenzo 2022

From 70,000 year-old soils which makes a connection with other Rosso raised on the same terroir, like Calderara Sottana. A place that consistently provides quality for fine wines, from Premier to Grand Cru. This is the oration from Marc de Grazia who repeatedly uses Bourgogne as the reference point. “San Lorenzo of all the wines is the one that requires more patience,” says de Grazia. “To reveal its glory.” There is an aroma that reminds of Guardiola as well, a mix of restrained bursts and maturity which tells us the wine will be more expressive after a bottle is open for 24 hours. Youthful is the understatement. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC Dagala Di Bocca d’Orzo 2022

The tiny vineyard that survived the 1981 lava flow, a parcel that only produces a maximum of 1,800 bottles with a connection to San Lorenzo on the other side of the 100m wide lava swath. An old vines Monopole block dating back a century always made and the one that drinks with immediate distinction, maturity and acumen. Dagala di Bocca d’Orzo also deals in the sneakiest of tannins, more structure than you would surely think and that sort of Etna Rosso that arrives somewhere fast but stays comfortably in the same state for a dozen years. All that said it’s precision and beauty allow us to enjoy its charms straight away. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Delle Terre Nere Etna Rosso DOC Calderara Sottana 2022

What Marc de Grazia considers to be the finest contrada on the north slope and yet there are micro plots within the eight parcels that can only be made into Rosato in humid vintages. This comes from the oldest vines, more than 80 years old and just one look sees a brightness and transparency inciting the senses as they take in a bouquet not having yet nosed in the other Rossi. Calderara Sottana is the most demure, the finest of sound and vision, the one you take in slowest, without haste, to allow unfurling and length to travel as far as it wishes, evocatively so. “It asks delicate questions,” says de Grazia. “Rose petal perfume and tannins that don’t cut off your palate.” Even more is this elastic meander, not aimless but with purpose and our palates follow every step. Like Giuseppe Russo’s (though de Grazia sees little comparison) this provides the exception to so many Etna Rosso rules. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted September 2024

Tenuta Ferrata Etna Rosso DOC Frevi 2020

From the area of Castiglione at 680m with 100 percent nerello mascalese. Aging in grandi botti for two years and then 10 months in bottle before release. A richness of style, liquorice and dried tree pod fruit, the wood very much in play and acidity less intense than many. A liquid chalky presence on the palate, still needing another year to resolve. Chewy example, confident and a slow delay of fruit, which is never really all that fresh. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May and September 2024

Tenute Bosco Etna Rosso DOC 2021

Big French tonneaux, second passage and older for eight months. No recipe but that is this vintage, not as powerful as 2022 and Sofia sees it like 2016, but perhaps a different kind of balance, though not as ideal as 2016. The restrained power of the volcano runs throughout and you really feel it. Remarkable Etna Rosso in balance and of a grace that speaks to all there can be. What these wines are want to express and how they carry themselves, non-plussed, confident and free. The ripeness factor at the top of what is normal and beautiful without excess or greed. Sweetness of acidity and form-fitting structure but neither curves nor angles are exaggerated, nor drawn with any concentric circles or sharp lines. The wine flows and reaches the limits of what is right and proper. Just that much and no more. And we say thank you. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted May and September 2024

Tenute Bosco Etna Rosso DOC Vigna Vico Pre-Phylloxera 2017

From Sofia Ponzini in the area of Passopisciaro and her cru vineyard called Vico. Own-rooted, pre-phylloxera vines, more than 100 years old, nerello mascalese and also cappuccio. A reminder that 2017 was cooler than most of Italy, especially the centre and north, but still generally sunny and warm on Sicily, including aboard L’Etna. Just now beginning to open and emit its magnificent perfumes, followed by a textural weave of vinous fabrics and finally the much expected, energizing and aligning archetypal volcanic saltiness. Drink 2024-2030. T asted May and September 2024

Tenute Nicosia Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Monte San Nicolò Biologico 2020

A 2020 and so a few years in though the Monte San Nicolò is a bit quiet – somewhat aromatically subdued. Needs some coaxing to see and feel its joy, but fruit nor florals are what drive or cause the beats of the heart. In part because it’s somewhat reductive, of pencil shavings and notable botanicals, like an artiginale tonic water if you get the herbal drift. Solid if currently missing some spirit but time will make a difference. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Rosario Raciti – Terre Darrigo

Terre Darrigo Etna Rosso DOC 2022

Proper and correct northeastern Etna road taken in terms of extraction and transparency, A good volume (upwards of 30,000 bottles) that will repeat in 2024 after the disastrous 2023. Real cherry fruit but also the stone that speaks to what Contrada Arrigo is want to lend in mineral terms for nerello mascalese. That mixed with some fruit from other sources but our palates get the drift. Good Rosso that will improve with vine age and agronomist/winemaker Rosario Raciti’s familiarity with this farm. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Terre Darrigo Etna Rosso DOC C. da Arrigo 2022

Etna Rosso from the single contrada (Arrigo) where Terre Darrigo’s amphitheatre grows nerello mascalese in a most beautiful rustic setting on southeastern facing, tightly packed terraces between the volcano and the sea. You can feel the great difference between this wine and the classico Rosso though if you are from this place you say it with sentito, that is with feeling, shouting out this is “the wine from L’Etna!” This single contrada wine elevated from that appellative discourse, softens the bitter cherry stone and smooths transitions. This because it’s a very well made Rosso from a place of great potential. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Tornatore Etna Rosso DOC 2021

The most understandable and straightforward Etna Rosso there could be, mature and layered, of riches and earth, fruit and soil all in the mix. A volcanic paint by numbers canvas of realism and beauty, easily accessible and generous to a perfectly reasonable degree. Entry point for the DOC and once in, never to look back. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted May and September 2024

Tornatore Etna Rosso DOC Pietrarizzo 2020

Some very ripe fruit here from Tonatore’s Pietrarizzo Rosso in the ways of late picking and good solid pressing. Makes for a chewy nerello mascalese that will ready itself for consumption quite a bit earlier than quite a bunch of its peers. Plenty of flavour and attraction for a wine that should be consumed over the next three years. Last tasted May and September 2024

North slope of Etna cru of nerello mascalese put to 50hl foudres, blended and then settled in concrete ahead of bottling. Consistently one of the finer Rosso values in Contrada-specific Etna and here the fruit ripeness and maturity is as fulsome as it ever gets. Makes for a drink really early proposition and provided that advice is followed there will be perfume, heady flavours and good acidity in your glass. A wine to lead off high-end tastings and dinners here, there and everywhere. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

Carmelo Vecchio and Rosa la Guzza – Vigneti Vecchio

Vigneti Vecchio Etna DOC Rosso Sciare Vive 2022

The work of Rosa La Guzza and Carmelo Vecchio in Solicchiata on L’Etna’s northeastern slope and a blend of several contrade. The signature Rosso of highest production that sees concrete, botti and fibreglass. Some of the vines date back 150 years and there are many varieties involved in what is a true field blend, including the likelihood of ancient red and white varieties; minnella, inzolia, carricante, grecanico, catarratto and malvasia. But when it comes to grapes (if not perhaps location and elevation) the Etna DOC offers an inclusive and forgiving discipline. Rosa admits this Rosso to be “a little rough,” Carmelo nods in agreement and while also tumble there is just so much flippin’ personality. It may blow your mind and also lash your palate, but in the end nothing else on Etna, or anywhere else tastes like this Rosso. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Etna DOC Rosso Contrada Friera 2022

Contrada Friera is Carmelo Vecchio’s Etna Rosso from Lingualossa, of 95 percent nerello mascalese and a smattering of various endemic varieties (minnella, inzolia, carricante, grecanico and catarratto) from vines as old as 120 years of age. Less than one hectare provides this antediluvian hodge-podge of the varietal wild and the maker’s job is to simply gather and come what may. His vineyard is basically a monopole and so there is no frame of reference save for what the eastern Etna spirits might whisper in his ear. Material this old will do what it pleases and while there is a rusticity similar to Sciare Vive there is also more concentration, complexity and most importantly intuition. There could always be the possibility of importune happenstance but Friere knows what to do. It would seem. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Malpasso 2022

Classic and that means arch-classic texture brought forth from a Carmelo Vecchio nerello mascalese. Without a doubt the purest and cleanest Vigneti Vecchio Rosso to date made under his tenure. A challenge of vintage but a test passed with flying colours and sweet spot found. Allow this 2022 to rest on the palate for 20 seconds, to take in its weightlessness and ability to hover just above the senses. A signature of Malpasso that will repeat and be recognized going forward. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Etna Rosso DOC Contrada Malpasso 2020

As with Friere, the Etna blend from Contrada Malpasso (literally “bad step”), is a Rosso of 95 percent nerello mascalese with bits and bites of various indigenous varieties like minnella, inzolia, carricante, grecanico and catarratto, here from vines in the 120 year-old range. A Rosso that pulses, still with some residual CO2 and it feels like carbonic maceration was a part of the deal. Carmelo Vecchio in fact started with the method in 2020 so family and friends could get together and make a party of it. Malpasso shows great energy, fabulously so, alive and kicking. It is said that one wrong step can change everything but a mal passo might just result in a wildly entertaining wine like this. Drink this sooner than the other VV’s while this candle still burns. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Etna DOC Rosso Contrada Crasà 2022

Contrada Crasà for Etna Rosso is composed of 90 per cent nerello mascalese and a field blend of (10) local white varieties, in this case inzolia, grecanico and catarratto. The hectare and a half was planted in 1930 and so 92 years is the number for this vintage. Call it even and just say century vines because 1930 seems a bit arbitrary at this point for a vineyard that sits just one km away from another where vines are 130 years of age. Carmello Vecchio likes to use stems, co-ferment and give 15 days of skin maceration. The acts of pigeage and remontage are done lightly and so the sweetness and purity of fruit is kept in tact. Like the Malpasso this buzzes with energy but with more control, less wildness and yet remains very much alive. All the red berries are imagined to be represented and once again Vigneti Vecchio presents a unicorn wine. They always are. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted September 2024

Benanti

Other Wines

Benanti Viticoltori Nerello Cappuccio 2022, Terre Siciliane Rosso IGT

A rare varietal nerello cappuccio, without oak since 2014, not always made and says Salvino Benanti, ”not a wine you can make a business from, but it’s worth showing to the world.” A versatile red to chill, very gamay like, or if you ike to compare locally, in the vein of frappato. Does not grow (perfectly) well in every vintage and there is surely a rusticity but you can see just how well Benanti tames the edginess, softens the structure and maintains a sweet herbal profile. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Tasca d’Almerita Tascante Chardonnay C’eragià 2021, Sicilia DOC

Tasca’s Etna interpretation of chardonnay comes from a one-acre vineyard in Contrada Rampante and no shock to sense the scents of barrel fermentation. There is vanilla, white caramel, honeysuckle, fennel pollen and lightly toasted biscuits with an autolytic wind ‘a blowing. A still chardonnay imagined as being subjected to a secondary fermentation in bottle and a sparkling method wine should be so lucky to have this fruit as its maker. The flavours feign sweetness accented by spice., energy runs high and in the end C’eragià which translates as “it was already there” is a fine interpretation of chardonnay. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted September 2024

Vigneti Vecchio Donna Bianca 2018, Terre Siciliane Rosso IGT

With fruit from outside of the defined DOC yet in Carmelo Vecchio’s world a most important vineyard at 820m of elevation. The mix of soil and climate make for a poignant and prescient nerello mascalese named for Donna Bianca, the snowcapped “lady,” a.k.a the volcano at 3,000-3,300 metres above. High-toned, free-spirited, big acid bomb and half the glycerin of some of Vecchio’s other reds. Far from volatile despite the lightning style with great potential and a truly high ceiling. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Dessert wines

La Gelsomina Di Colombo Maria Adalgisa Moscato Passito Di Terreni Vulcanici 2018, Terre Siciliane IGT

A moscato (bianco) but the variety is muscadelle, not moscato di alessandria, a.k.a. zibbibo. Dried fruit, never crushed, always infused after the stainless ferment and finishes at 110-120 g/L of residual sugar. Uniquely Sicilian if not defined or expressive of being from L’Etna but still a tradition is followed. Clean as Passito will be, without formaggi or yeasty notes, of apricot and fig, acidity enough though unassuming. Serves a purpose, preferably with a good bite into biscotti. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Visits with Planeta and Serra Ferdinandea

Planeta Syrah Maroccoli 2020, Sicilia Menfi DOC

Just the syrah facts, “in purezza” as they say, from an Ulmo site with a proviso for as much varietal perfume as anywhere in Sicily. “We were expecting some kind of natural catastrophe, “says Winemaker Patricia Tóth, “because it was 2020 – but it never arrived.” Good winter precipitation was followed by months of pleasant weather, much like 2014. Succulent acids and tart idealism combine to elevate, buoy and celebrate fruit. A syrah of a rising, balanced, long and true. Has already entered the drinking zone. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted September 2024

Planeta Burdese 2020, Sicilia Menfi DOC

A cabernet joint, of 70 sauvignon and 30 franc, each noticeable and notable for this Sicilian play on words. Burdese, as in Bordeaux for a wine grown on the left bank of the man made lake, once a river flowing through the valley below Ulmo in Sambuca di Sicilia. Forget the mimic or simulation because place supersedes idea with a mix of juicy and dusty fruit, succulent acids and fine tannins. No grittiness or grippy intensity but really more a matter of verticality and integration. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Planeta Merlot Sito Dell’Ulmo 2020, Sicilia Menfi DOC

A 100 percent merlot from the Ulmo Vineyard, owned since 1694 and a first harvest in 1995. From this part of Menfi where the sun shines bright and the breezes blow every day between the massifs to the north and Monte Cerami that separates the vineyard from the sea. Menfi where the typical reds of merlot outlast the opposing greens by 10 to one and so fruit is everything with the local limestone streaking through. Succinct wine, linear and direct, credibly structured and the cohort involving fruit and wood seamlessly integrated. Fine stuff, veritably reasoned and seasoned. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted September 2024

Planeta Cabernet Franc Didacus 2020, Sicilia Menfi DOC

Should there be a finer and more appropriate place to plant and raise cabernet franc on the entirety of Sicily that information should immediately be made public. Planeta’s Ulmo vineyard brings the grape to singular light, here 25 years after its introduction and it has become abundantly clear how it resides at the pinnacle and signature for reds out of Menfi. The 2020 is just now settling in and acting perfectly comfortable in its skin, fruit still swelling and always with the potential to burst free at any time. These are near perfect acids, sweet and sumptuous, allowing for movement and at this ideal stage, also development. There are hints at secondary character in the chiaroscuro shadows slow to reveal themselves. Sumac and pomegranate, a lightly browning and caramelizing eggplant before finishing with a wood encouraged dusting, as if by cocoa and clove. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted September 2024

Planeta Cabernet Franc Didacus 2019, Sicilia Menfi DOC

An extra year in bottle and at first there seems not to be the great difference that might have been expected when tasted side by each with Didacus 2020. In fact 2019 is a much more tannic and structured vintage with its intensity cross-examined by austerity. Indemnity for cabinet franc with an upwards trajectory of extending verticality and still it requests for more time. The fruit is far less succulent and lush as compared to ’20 and so when the wine falls into place there will be a faster intern into secondary character. Expect quicker to arrive fungi and a masala of spice directed by the wood. Wait another year at least and then drink this Didacus ’19 before the ’20 finishes its own run. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted September 2024

Serra Ferdinandea Rosato 2023, Sicilia DOC

First vintage of the 100 percent nero d’avola Rosé was 2020, grown aboard the serious limestone at 400-plus metres subjected to the south sea, Saharan and Mistral winds that blow through the Sambuca di Sicilia Valley. While southern France might seem to be the precursor that may no longer be the case, if namely because a blend now becomes a varietal wine. Better for the decision and change, now a step up in rich flavours, texture and presence. Fine and elegant. Last tasted September 2024

Next step taken for Rosé on the south coast at Menfi with this upright and linear ’23 inching towards the profound. A balance and a confidence with 100 percent nero d’Avola that defines the idiom and begins to perfect the workmanship. Satisfying and also delicious, inciting the salivary glands and asking for more. Will gain interst and intersect with further complexities after 18 months further time in bottle. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted May 2024

Serra Ferdinandea Bianco 2022, Sicilia DOC

Mezzo e mezzo, 50-50 grillo and sauvignon blanc grown at elevation like the nero d’avola, only stainless steel for fermentation. The grillo has always been a natural fermentation of a pied de cuve way, while the sauvignon follows dutifully along. A true bianco joint, friendly and smart, sapid and salty, phenolic and grippy. Brat not nat, not bratty and certainly not natty. Crisp and edging into herbal with a what just feels like place, that being Menfi. You can forage for salads in the fields and vineyards, reflected in the flavours of this Bianco. Last tasted September 2024

Mix of 50-50 grillo and sauvignon blanc, for now the only two white grapes and making up a third of the 17 hectares total. The most recent planting was 2021, the first back in 2015. All about freshness and salinity with just a bit of wood thanks to 25 percent, none of it new. The wood is present by only in subtle and oscillating tones on the mouth. Some phenolic presence yet again, not overdone or even remotely aggressive. A bit buttery at the finish, graced by piquancy and the sort of scorrevole that drifts slowly away. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Serra Ferdinandea Rosso Sicilia 2022, Sicilia DOC

Another 50-50 blend, here from nero d’Avola and syrah, equal partners in crime. The wines used to be 70-30, including the Rosato and now half an half makes much more sense for Rosso. And in turn it makes the Rosé that much better as a varietal nero. More syrah brings more spice and also meatiness matched by mineral, spice and elements of the earth. A hit of sanguine, a hint of iodine and then the floral nero kicking in. It continues with its freshness and necessary mix of sapid meeting salty, from limestone, sea and wind revivalist nature. The most complex and frankly interesting becoming delicious red blend in the winery’s short history. Just FYI the Serra Ferdinandea catalogue lists the wines from Rosso to Bianco to Rosato, in that order. Just the way tasting wine should be and yet we taste in the opposite order. Maybe we’ll switch that around in 2025. Last tasted September 2024

Equal parts syrah and nero d’Avola, straightforward, clean and with the idea being to make the purest iteration that exults two very important grapes. Increasing the concrete involvement though this is all done in wood with subsequent vintages to go in that cemented direction. Already croccante so imagine the freshness and crunch going forward. Purple violets, light chalkiness and what feels like sandy soil-effected freshness. Piquant and toothsome. Delicious. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted May 2023

Good to go!

godello

Versante Nord, L’Etna

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Montalcino Previews 2023: Brunello DOCG 2019, Brunello Riserva DOCG 2018 and older vintages

Feb5

Benvenuto Brunello 2023, Montalcino

Benvenuto Brunello 2023 in Montalcino and Toronto, the 2019 vintage, extreme climate events, preventative agricultural measures and 285 wines tasted

This lengthy report is Godello’s most comprehensive coverage of Montalcino to date. On November 28th, 2023 Benvenuto Brunello events took place worldwide, including in the two Canadian cities of Vancouver and Toronto. It was Godello’s honour and indeed his privilege to present the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino DOCG and 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG to more than 150 sommeliers, trade, media and staff at Aria Ristorante in Toronto. The tasting was a big deal. There were many attendees in the room room who had heard Godello say this before. “No one of sound mind passes up the opportunity to taste Brunello from Montalcino.” The Toronto event received more than 350 requests for seats and those who secured a spot were afforded the opportunity to taste more than 70 Brunello di Montalcino in a very civilized way. A dozen sommeliers were on hand to pour and allow every taster to get through all the wines in the most efficient manner, to discover two vintages of these profound wines. The sangiovese available were an impressive collection from 34 archetypal producers.

Presenting at Benvenuto Brunello at Aria Ristorante in Toronto – November, 2023
Image (c) Draga – Front Row Images Inc.

Godello’s presentation happened less than a week after returning from eight days spent at Benvenuto Brunello in Montalcino where he tasted more than 280 sangiovese. Of that number 60 percent were from the 2019 vintage, including the Annata split between the Classica, Vigna, Etichetta and Altra Tipologia. He also tasted two dozen 2018 Riserva along with some older vintages at estate visits to Biondi-Santi, Canalicchio di Sopra, Cortonesi, Gaja – Pieve Santa Restituta, Giodo, Il Marroneto, La Magia, Le Chiuse, Le Potazzine, Podere Le Ripi, Poggio Anitico, Salicutti, Talenti and Valdicava. At the anteprima in Montalcino 118 producers were represented with multiple wines available from each, including for the DOCs of Rosso di Montalcino and Sant’Antimo. Less than half that could have been there but there are several reasons for the absences. For some producers the quality of the wines do not arrive at peak form when the November anteprima comes around. Many bottle their Brunello in May because “that’s when the Annata are ready” but it also allows a rest period for six months in bottle ahead of Benvenuto Brunello and eight before a January release. Then there is the control factor – not being able to test each bottle yourself and to trust other professionals to make sure your wines are showing at their best. It’s tricky and is not a system or timing that works for everyone.

Benvenuto Brunello at Aria Ristorante in Toronto – November, 2023 Image (c) Draga – Front Row Images Inc.

Extreme climate events and preventative agricultural measures

Montalcino is just 73 kms to the seaside village of Marina di Grosseto and so while it may be an inland growing area it’s proximity to the sea and its protection to the immediate south from Monte Amiata do create a recognizably prominent Mediterranean climate. It will snow in the winter and it will get oppressively hot in summer. Rainfall numbers have lessened but they have not reduced to a trickle. What has changed are the extremes of climate. Consider a few recent vintages, 2017, 2021 and 2023. In 2017 there was no precipitation between January 1st and August 31st. That is full on drought. In 2021 there were April 6th and 7th frosts that wiped out vast tracts of just budded vines. The current vintage is an unmitigated disaster. Some frosts early, again in August which also experienced a heatwave that caused a significant rise in PH. From May 15th to June 15th rainfall every afternoon made the control of the Peronospora fungus almost impossible. We call this Downy Mildew, oomycete microbes that are obligate parasites of plants induced by an unrelated fungus called Plasmopara Viticola causing the powdery mildew.

Montalcino’s Upper Orcia Valley

The problem in ’23 was that the mildew by-passed the leaves and went straight to the flowers on the bunches, but the fungus also chooses to not discriminate between the organic and conventional producer. Some areas escaped, especially that of the Sesta Valley between Castelnuovo and Sant’Angelo. The estates in this area (Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona, Collosorbo, Agostina Peri and Piancornello) were very fortunate to enjoy a good quantity of healthy grapes. Nothing to do with organics mind you, perhaps specific airflow coming from the Orcia Valley, or just dumb luck. Other estates were not so lucky. Fabian Schwarz of La Magia siad he would normally spray copper and sulphur eight to 10 times per season – in that 30 day stretch alone he had to spray 20 times. Maximilian Hildebrandt of Salicutti noted that production was down 35 percent because of the Peronospora and two hailstorms in August and so no Sorgente Vineyard Brunello was made. The challenges faced made it hard to reach their aim “to create the wine on the plants” from a vintage when the usual four sulphur and copper treatments per year were increased to a staggering 22. That’s more heavy metal on the ground than Wacked Open Air. If you missed that reference it’s the most famous Heavy Metal festival held in Germany.

New Alberello plantings at Valdicava

The combined losses of these extreme climate events has been heavy. Up to 90 percent in northeastern Montalcino and anywhere from 10-50 in most other parts. At La Magia the number was 40 percent due to the Peronospora, but also hail. The 2023 vintage was also higher in pH at 3.7, mainly due to a very hot August and the number is normally down at around 3.3. “Maybe winter will see it drop,” said a wishful Schwarz. Vincenzo Abruzzese of Valdicava shrugged off the disaster. “I’m sad of the situation, but I’m not cutting off my arms.” Resiliency is strong, the people and plants will rebound and so much has been learned. Alberello planting is on the comeback “because you are working with three dimensions and every plant is by itself,” explained Fabian Schwarz, “including how it reacts to wind and rain.” But unfortunately that does not include dealing with animals like wild boar and deer. For Abruzzese Alberello vines require less water and can improve sangiovese’s ability to combat climate change, especially at a density of 6,000 vines per hectare. Guyot is replacing Cordone Speronato in many vineyards and almost no one is shoot topping anymore. Giampiero Bertolini of Biondi-Santi elucidated the concept of how plant structure and canopies are managed in a new way, with two parts coming up and together, to have the ability to change trajectory, to open and or close depending on the needs in relation to the weather. At Salicutti they are no longer cutting off the tops of the plants. This to protect them and keep the arches down, “like having a picnic under a big tree,” explained Hildebrandt, “so your butter is not melting.”

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse

Lorenzo Magnelli at Le Chiuse is looking at creating micro-oxygenation in the soils to promote vine root growth. Cover crops help with this. Also less passages with the tractor to avoid compaction. Fabian and others have begun a two-step pruning process, the first in winter and the second after Easter, well past the time when the first buds had already emerged. This helps to delay the total number of buds before the typically potential Easter frosts though it will not help if a freak occurrence comes in May. And the way climate is trending that will surely happen. However “when you speak about quality,” reminds Schwarz, “it is not because of training systems, it’s from soil and micro-climate.” At La Magia he is also experimenting with anti-fungal activity using Bacillus Amyloliquefaciens, a root-colonizing biocontrol bacterium. “You buy one package and replicate it with a bioreactor,” explains Fabian. He makes a solution to spray in the vineyards as an organic way to ward of odium. The machine was originally purchased to replicate indigenous yeasts for fermentations but now serves a dual purpose.

Bioreactor at La Magia

A territory of four slopes

The northwest slope of the Montalcino hill is where poderi like Cortonesi’s La Mannella, Capanna, Pertimali from Sassetti Livio and the lower side of the Montosoli hill are located. There is great interest in this quadrant because the soils are some of the most variegate from farm to farm and places where really fresh wines are made. The southwestern slope is where you will find producers like Pietroso, Il Palazzone and Le Ragnaie but also the gateway further west to Castiglion del Bosco, Le Potazzine, Corte Pavone and Romitorio. And further southwest you reach Pian delle Vigne and Pieve Santa Restituta.

Poggiarelli Vineyard

The northeastern slope is a unique location with the Orcia Valley spread out to the east and the south. These are the wide-open spaces and rolling hills of Montalcino where the clays are less compact, the calcaire can be quite prevalent and the elevations relatively lower. Here you will find producers like Il Marroneto, Casanova di Neri, Le Chiuse, Ridolfi, Canalicchio di Sopra and Franco Pacenti. The southeastern slope covers everything south and southeast of Montalcino, characterized by steeper slopes, profound changes in elevation, thick forest and windswept plateaus. These are where estates leading down to the villages of Castelnuovo dell’Abate and Sant’Angelo in Colle are located. The highest concentration of farms are here, beginning with Constanti and Biondi-Santi. Then there are Talenti, Salicutti, La Magia, Poggiarelli Vineyard, Fanti and Poggio di Sotto, among many others.

Montalcino

Andrea Lonardi is Italy’s most recent MW and joins Montalcino’s Gabriele Gorelli with that unique distinction. Andrea is the COO of Angelini Wines and Estates and during Benvenuto Brunello week in Montalcino he led a vertical tasting of four vintages from three crus for Val di Suga Brunello. Three different locations, three micro-climates and soils. Lonardi asked “how many places in the world have such a change in landscapes around such a small area?” It tells us that Montalcino producers are focused on Cru, on Vigna and this pinpointing of how and why sangiovese comes away distinct from which place.

With Andrea Lonardi MW

During the final November weekend Godello made a tour of the combined five vineyards worked by the Brunello boys: Lorenzo Magnelli of Le Chuise, Tomasso Cortonesi of La Mannella and Francesco Ripaccioli of Canalicchio di Sopra. The purpose was to join them for a look at soils and taste the wines of each place. Francesco talked about La Casaccia as a place of high (8.2-8.3) pH characterized by the clay. “For me it’s sleekness in the wines,” he says “not opulence and less heaviness than from (a vineyard) of dense clay.” Walking the vineyard of Poggiarelli and the windy landscape overlooking the Orcia Valley within the forests will tell you so much about the freshness and also power of those Brunello. Tomasso Cortonesi says “it’s very important for me that a producer has to exult the identity of each single vineyard, including the Rosso.” Montalcino does not like to talk in terns of frazione, Villages, MGA or UGA, but they do like their cru. There motto is that great wine has a secret: “Vineyard, vineyard, vineyard.”

Vines at Talenti

Soils and Sangiovese

All of Montalcino is predicated on sand, clay and stone, like all of Tuscany but the sandstones are its predominant feature. These are mainly Arenaria, which is about as pure as sandstone gets and also Pietraforte, a much harder conglomerate rock that will contain other elements like schist, clay and calcium carbonate. But Montalcino has much less limestone than a region like Chianti Classico. There is some Alberese (and Palombino) stone but the sands are key. Everyone uses the term Galestro but it is not a type or epoch of soil – it’s a type of structure. The term Galestro refers to a manifestation of sedimentary soils at the surface as flakey outcroppings. Galesto mainly comes from schists but also sandstones and appears as flakes of those rocks in layers that fall to pieces, like bits of stony sand. We can say that Galestro soils have a great effect on these sangiovese – but true geological origins matter most.

La Casaccia Vineyard, Canalicchio di Sopra

The thing about sangiovese is that it loves rainfall but does not love really hot seasons. That messes with its natural acidity but Montalcino lives and dies by the variety as the only denomination where every wine is 100 percent sangiovese. There are other grapes grown around Montalcino but only sangiovese makes Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino. In Montalcino sangiovese vines don’t really produce as they once did after reaching 50-plus years of age. But there are many who care to preserve the memoria storica, that is the historical DNA and character of the vines. So they do so with massal selection. Keep in mind that Montalcino was a place where today’s producer is the grandchild of wine producers who woke up the morning, walked to the market to sell some form of goods, walked back down the hill to attend school and then worked the vineyard and the cellar for the rest of the day. Two dozen of them formed the Consorzio – both their descendants and their vines’ descendants are what make Brunello today. The village was along a Roman trading route and everyone knew Montalcino as the place where great wine was worth stopping for. Clemente Santi produced the first true commercial bottling in the 1880s, the Consorzio was formed in 1967, DOCG status awarded Brunello in 1980 and DOC to Rosso in 1984.

Godello, Benvenuto Brunello in Toronto – November, 2023
Image (c) Draga – Front Row Images Inc.

Rosso di Montalcino

Culturally speaking Rosso di Montalcino is the most important wine. It’s what the Montalcinese drink daily. Many winemakers will tell you that Rosso must reflect sangiovese’s character more than any other wine. In today’s Montalcino one’s Rosso is another’s Brunello. It’s now more than ever a matter of location, soil and altitude. There are many ways to skin a Rosso but these days it is always a wine treated with respect. There is enough Brunello to go around and the world needs a lot more Rosso di Montalcino. Godello was able to taste three dozen Rosso that week, covering vintages 2022 going back to 2016.

Benvenuto Brunello in Toronto presentation – November, 2023
Image (c) Draga | Front Row Images Inc.

The “top” 2019 vintage

Which brings us to 2019. Ah yes, the already famous vintage and for many reasons, 99 percent of them good. Comparable to 2016 in the sense in that quality and quantity were both running high. The very famous oenologist Carlo Ferrini of Giodo described the weather as calda but not caldissima. A statement of the obvious says that the key to a great wine in Montalcino is the relationship and balance between phenolic maturity and acidity. Achieving this kind of success was challenging in the two previous vintages. The problem with climate extremes is rising pH numbers, loss of acidity and when this happens you can’t make adjustments after harvest to correct deficiencies. This vintage was a literally a breeze. All the correct winds blew through and yes it was a warm vintage, but with no heat spikes upwards of 40 degrees as there had been in 2015 and also 2016. That is why producers are very happy with and also relieved by 2019. Terms like quality and quantity, easy, uncomplicated, fresh and substantial were tossed about. Even the usage of “The Goldilocks vintage,” not too hard or too soft. Not to dry and not too wet. It was just right. Francesco Ripaccioli noted that on September 15th there was 45-50 mm of rain. “It didn’t affect the vintage,” he insisted, “but the rain cleaned the grapes before they came into the cellar. Tomasso spent three weeks at the beach.” He was joking. Mostly.

Tasting through 426 bottles of Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019 at Benvenuto Brunello in Toronto – November, 2023
Image (c) Draga | Front Row Images Inc.

If 2018 was the vertical vintage then 2019 was one of breadth and depth, this as far as Riccardo Talenti is concerned. What a vintage like 2019 allowed a Montalcino winemaker was the choice and the chance to make individual wines, not just good wines. To celebrate the spirit living within each vineyard and farm. To find richness from an uncontaminated place, because climate did not get in the way. To make a style of sangiovese leaning towards the oxidative and not the reductive because the fruit was so untainted. Brunello that carries the DNA of each farm and levels of acidity to see the prospect of the best examples aging for 30 years or more. Alessio Sostegni of Poggio Antico said “you should taste the freshness and concentration, especially because of the winds. The days may be have been hot, but the sea winds blew in each afternoon.” He added that “after a late August rain what followed were high daytime temperatures and nighttime lows. In fact the optical sorter at harvest eliminated almost no berries.” Higher temperatures but no major spikes and rainfall came at all the right times, first in the winter and then with that spike in mid-summer that cooled the vines but happened after the potential danger of funguses like Peronospora. A vintage that Gigliola Giannetti of Le Potazzine said was simply regolare and thank goodness because these days that is increasingly rarer and rarer. Sebastian Nasello of Podere Le Ripi said “it is also rare to find a vintage where both the western and eastern sectors performed in a positive way.” Vegetative growth was slow and steady and harvest stretched over a few weeks of time. The end result was slow and even ripening which could not be said for either 2017 or 2018.

Francesca Granelli Hakulinen and Alessandro Mori

What about Riserva 2018?

The wines are not the most concentrated, at times edgy and volatile, but their transparency makes them some of the most terroir-connected of the last 15 vintages. Twenty eighteen is a pure sangiovese vintage and there is nowhere for the wines to hide. There are many that could be referred to as sneaky structured. Many writers were and remain skeptical. Godello holds much respect for the hard work put in, the selective processes and the potential of these wines. Less Mediterranean as a vintage, lit from behind. Of course there are more impressive and also structured vintages but the guarantee here is in the consistency of farming and winemaking teams with a dedicated set of values. Today we are dealing with Riserva as a wine that only nature can decide whether or not it will become one. Alessandro Mori of Il Marroneto said that “it has a to be a monster to become a Riserva.” His might have been the outlier and not the norm for 2018. Giacomo Bartolommei of Caprili noted that the weather was the complete opposite of 2017. Winter snow, even in the southern part of Montalcino, cooler temperatures and consistent rainfall. “Lighter wines with potential for aging, not unlike 2013. They are showing well right now. We think 2018 will be the same. Even expecting greatness.”

The Brunello Boys: Lorenzo Magnelli, Tomasso Cortonesi and Francesco Ripaccioli

Tommaso Cortonesi: “A vintage where you can recognize the link between the producer and the terroir. The vintage does not show potential during he first two years in bottle. The wines of 2007 were like this. I taste the real Galestro of southeast Montalcino in Poggiarelli. Usually the northern areas do this but in 2018 the southern sectors do this and in balance.” Francesco Ripaccioli of Canalicchio di Sopra: “The first harvest was September 10th – a green one, to concentrate the best bunches. Then heavy rains on September 16th, followed by strong tramontana winds to dry out the vines and keep mildew away.” Producers needed to wait a few days and so harvest began on the 20th, at first looking for what Francesco calls “dimension in the bunches.” Phenolic ripeness and acidity were not developed chronologically but in a more chaotic way. Francesco puts the average ripeness number at 7.5 or 8 out of ten. “Ten doesn’t exist and if it did I would not want it because pH levels would be way too high. Maybe 8.5 is perfect.” This is really important information. Just as picking too early in a hot year is problematic, the chase to optimum phenolic ripeness is also wrought with dangers. High pH, low acidity, over-extraction, which depending on the season can bring exaggerations, mainly astringencies. Balance, that’s the key, regardless of what that equates to in any given year. And place.

The Italian Sommeliers of AIS Siena at Benvenuto Brunello in Montalcino

The sommeliers, consorzio and tasting notes

The success of the Benvenuto tastings would be impossible without the Italian AIS Sommeliers and in Montalcino that means the women and men of the AIS Siena division. These are the professionals who serve the wines in Montalcino. They are a tasters’ best friend because they quickly become aware of a taster’s needs even before the taster knows that their needs are needed. Being nice, patient, courteous, friendly and respectful of them is everything. They are there to help in the the best way they can.

Godello presenting at Benvenuto Brunello Toronto, November 28, 2023

The Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino President is Fabrizio Bindocci and the Director is Andrea Machetti. Giacomo Bartolommei, Riccardo Talenti and Enrico Viglierchio are the three Vice-Presidents. At the top of the list of those who put in the greatest amount of dedication is Carlotta Salvini who just might be the hardest working person in Montalcino today. Collectively they and their staff make Benvenuto Brunello one of the most important and best organized events on the anteprime schedule. If you would like to jump past this 40,000 word report and straight to the highest rated wines in order, please click here. The 285 wines reviewed are broken down as follows: Brunello di Montalcino 2019 (96), Brunello di Montalcino Vigna + Etichetta + Altra Tipologia 2019 (72), Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2018 (23), Other Vintages and Campione di Botti (4), Older Vintages (45), Rosso di Montalcino (36) and Toscana IGT (9).

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Agostina Pieri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

An Ontario mainstay over the last two decades and as of late a move into ethereal wines from Agostina Pieri. In the old days the cost was affordable and to an extent still is but these latest vintages should fetch much more. Case in point the elegant beauty of this 2019 with floral perfume that is in a Montalcino league of its own. Flavours and texture are no different or maybe they are as they move with such fluid grace. This may come as a surprise to some tasters and then there are those who already know that Pieri’s sangiovese is movement and tension together in one lovely Brunello package. Will look forward to a glass 10 years forward, much in the same way many 2013s are delivering with poise today. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

Altesino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Irrefutably Altesino aromatics with that extra bit of ripeness and stuffing though for 2019 a very rounded expression. Purity of fruit as sangiovese once again in the clear Altesino style. Modern and plush though neither opulent for lush. The ease of vintage makes for naturally sweet Brunello that is clearly 2019 and also Altesino. That last comment is everything you need to know. Drinking well already and will continue this way. Will be a great restaurant bottle choice for six years easy. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2023

Armilla Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

In 2019 terms this from Armilla offers up as much if more fruit than many with a swirling of multifarious masala seasoning and spice, but also wood resins and extracts. Vanilla from the French component but also that which is bled from nuts – almond namely while blossoms are floral here and also there. A very promising Brunello that can actually be enjoyed in the present tense though a decant and pause will be needed to open up the grit and chalk of the tannins. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

An important sangiovese here for Argiano out of 2019 because Vigna del Suolo is once again a wine named as a Brunello of the Year and so what remains of its unsold and unallocated bottles will be the most difficult to find. Which leaves the world with this Annata in their glass, of a grounded, seasoned and fruitful Brunello that opens the door to the estate, memories in history of a castle up on another hill nearby and as a general dictionary rule, to the rest of the territory. It is a beacon and the dictionary entry for the vintage and while it may seem like hyperbole to say, also the simple existence of the appellation. Fruit, lift, perfume, tart red fruits, chalky tannin, sandstone, a Galestro feel here and there and finally balsamic. Vintage direct. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2023

Belpoggio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Cherry fruit more black cherry quite ripe and also aromatic, including the pit with some nutty bitters. A bit too much Brettanomyces unfortunately which both distracts and turns the palate with brittle to hard tannins. A bit too much I’m afraid to ever feel clean and free of itself. Tasted November 2023

Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Quite a rich, macerated, fruit developed and well formulated Brunello from Camigliano that celebrates vintage with distinction if traditionally up and along the middle of the road. Nothing austere about this sangiovese with clean, pure and chewy red fruit. Fresh but of a leathery fruit texture, more than ample and fine acidity before allowing some tannin to take charge. A hint of green at the back end and so the contrast makes the aromatics and flavours come across as jammy in the end. More than solid and representative enough. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2023

Tasting at Canalicchio di Sopra

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

The most recent plantings at Canalicchio were executed in 2009 next to the 1990 La Casaccia vineyard. These vines are maturing and will likely seek entrance into the Vigna label but for now they are picked for this classic Brunello. They may not be grapes of enigma or mystery but they are the epitome of purity and the Brunello represents a high-casted estate style to explain so much about the house of Ripaccioli and Canalicchio di Sopra. The 2019 Brunello is a wine of silkiness but not opulence. A sangiovese that is an extension of a producer’s hands and there is no separating the wine from its maker. As for place well yes because all the vineyards are close enough to one another to combine for unmistakable identity. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2023

Canneta Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Wildly aromatic, fruit for the most part ripe and dripping their running juices. Mature fruit however and that is too bad because the wine will turn and move Ito secondary notes before too long. Will feel stewed and roasted within two years as noted by the drying tannins. Tasted November 2023

Carpineto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Carpineto is classic in every vintage because well it’s the scent of Carpineto but 2019 expresses hyperbole of all that is this estate’s Brunello. The winds and high elevation brush upwards of 500m, the herbs and plants that grow around the hill and lift, above all else it is lift that makes this sangiovese what it can never help but be. One sip and the truth is clear because here is a vintage from which Carpineto wishes to take full advantage with sour cherry at the fruit core and new leather hides everywhere on the backside and finish of the wine. More than solid and agreeable, of fullness and fine lines, as precise as it gets for the producer. This will begin its best days in 18 months or so until it begins to morph and express secondary notes five to six years ahead. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2023

Capanna Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

The 2019 Annata by Capanna comes from solid reasoning and sweet seasoning with a gentle touch. A matter of the Montosoli area as iterated through a savoury liquid sangiovese in surround of a great core of fruit. Though the tannins are important what stands out in this wine is lift, elevating the wine to a place of brightness and more lightness than many of the vintage. Restrained and of subtleties to allow more complexity a chance to emerge as each of these next eight years pass by. When food is ordered and Brunello is desired this by Capanna will act accordingly and deliver super amenability. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2023

Capanne Ricci – Tenimenti Ricci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Rich and mature 2019 from well developed sangiovese of a warm and arid place. Spicy notes are those that fill the aromas without hesitation or trying too avoid getting too hot and heavy. The volatile acidity presents high, even if it’s a factor in relative position to fruit yet it distracts from the overall experience. The heat keeps coming and peppers the palate. All in all a tiring Brunello. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2023

Tasting in the Chiostro with La Morris

Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Fine and red chalky Caparzo 2019 that brings its mix of soil and climate origins to layer beautifully in fruit, for acidity (especially) and finally tannin. Trim in one sense but impressive nonetheless because of its purity, with well orchestrated pitch and motion. Delicate but that acidity is the core of the wine. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Very curious to taste Annata 2019 by Caprili side by each with its 2018 Riserva because style matters and the matters of heart are inseparable. That ’18 Adalberto is seriously unctuous sangiovese, as is this ’19 Annata, two peas in a pod, two ripe cherries together forever. No matter when you decide to open this wine and also the other you will see their connection, feel their familial pull and intuit just what matters for this estate. Beauty above all else and fruit. Tannins are fine if unresolved, length is very good and the future surely bright. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Casanova Di Neri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

A major aromatic triumph from the Neri family out of 2019 with the signature, multi-plot cuvée of Casanova Di Neri standing vertically tall as the spokesperson for the estate. Actually quite traditional for Montalcino as far as that is considered in terms of bones, structure and heritage, but the flesh is all modern juiciness. More understood culture comes by way of the gentle swirl of swarthiness that gives this a most natural feel, as if the wine simply made itself. The chalky underbelly in the lower architecture tells a different story that concerns a Brunello to wait on, age for five or more years and then share with those you care deeply about. That is the dearth of this wine – it requires attention and company. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2023

Casanuova Delle Cerbaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

More than curious and singular aromatic profile from the Casanuova Delle Cerbaie Annata and location just has so much to do with the style. Quite herbal with an Amaro note, but also pencil shaving, graphite and other infiltrate smells that the botti are want to provide. There is pleasure on the palate and very good length to this wine. Feels like it may be polarizing because it is different, but with two years it should likely settle and come back to the centre where many 2019s exist. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2023

Casa Raia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

A firm and dusty if very floral aromatic sangiovese with balsamic in every nook, crick and cranny of this Sant’Antimo proximate vineyard. Richer and darker than memory serves to some recent vintages. Classically styled, raised like Brunello of heritage with high rising acidity and no wavering from the mean. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2023

Castello Di Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

The widest cuvée breadth of vineyard hectarage accumulation for Montalcino sangiovese is Castello Banfi. What other Brunello (along with Frescobaldi’s Castelgiocondo) over the last three decades has helped to spread the gospel and form the map? Banfi is a matter of consistency of course and said in plurality – locations, locations, locations. Of course a masters in blending with 2019 resting at the pinnacle of these kinds of machinations. There is richness and there are layers from fruit but also the many vessels involved, making sure to include the sweet emotion of wood tannins, saps and resins. This may be the most rounded Castello Banfi with the most accumulations and while it shows little austerity it will surely gain complexity with some age. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Very present Brunello from Castello di Romitorio, grippy and firm in aromatics so that it’s a bit of a tough nut to crack. Not an open book here from Filippo Chia’s 2019 but one where graces are hidden in the shadows of the wine. Very structured for the vintage and the upper reaches sector within a clear sky’s view of the village’s west side fortifications. A wine of passion and emotion, chiaroscuro and a full cupboard of spice. Not a toasty sangiovese but a meaty one, surely specific to place and also weather, as it happened at Romitorio through the course of 2019. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2023

Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Open, generously modern and very available aromatics of western Montalcino fruit and forest. The scent of wet and fresh Spring woods, plummy fruit and a creosopte-graphite-tobacco mix. Some austerity and verdancy on the palate, in part because of location but also because of an ambitious style that maceration and aging conspire to effect. Solid, well built with that ever so slight brittleness in the tannic profile. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Celestino Pecci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Celestino Pecci’s is a high-toned, lifted and fiery 2019, a bit acid elevated for the vintage if on par with the idea that perfume, seasoning and lighter styling is correct for very specific areas of production. Here is a Brunello that’s meant for food, aching for the right pairing and equipped with the sort of tannins that request this kind of planning. Some dusty cocoa and chocolate shavings to resolve and yet there is good promise for the next seven to 10 years of this proper vintage exploration. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2023

Cerbaia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Cerbaia is so very curious and aromatically candid though we really do have to think for a few minutes before we figure out what we have in the glass. The estate is present and accounted for, as Cerbaia, grippy and firm in the aromatics, if consciously and accurately so. Not exactly wide open as far as a 2019 goes, nor one whose graces hidden in the structure are quick to emerge. Yet another one of those structured sangiovese for the vintage, here from mid-slope Montalcino elevation within a short climb up the north facing rise up to the village. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2023

Chiusa Grossa Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

High toned and spirited Brunello here from Chiusa Grossa with wild strawberry and more so like than many. The acetone wins because it runs so high while the balsamic is notably hot and heavy. Crunchy Brunello, acid is everything and fruit concentration just does not keep up. Imbalanced though the length is very good. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2023

Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Will admit to a personal conundrum with the two previous vintages of Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona’s Brunello but 2019 comes back to connect with a carefully selected, thought out and restrained Annata. Speaks to the vintage and the estate vineyards in what is an ideally structured, thematically orchestrated and hermetically sealed nutshell. Just the right amount of salumi cure, musky fruit, earthy drama and volume. Unequivocally Ciacci that reminds so much of 2016 if just a bit more spiced and seasoned. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2023

Col di Lamo di Giovanna Neri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Col di Lamo’s is a plumb of concentration and unction from a vintage so bright and generous you may need to don shades while sipping through a glass (or three). No lack for substance or texture because the season put it out there and a Brunello like this took full advantage of weather, ripe fruit and tannin. There is some wood to resolve here but density and emotion run high for a sangiovese that is sincere, always ready to provide hospitality, enjoy the company and give of itself. There is a softness in this wine and who could not want to spend quality time with it, any time and any place. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Collemattoni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

The place comes first and so one nose into Collemattoni’s 2019 is as if the strike from glass could be from Sant’Angelo in Colle itself. Rings a bell for to gain such an important initial impression leading to profound understanding. Their’s is one of aromatic vintage richness but also the kind of lift that’s not only possible but necessary to see this Brunello age for a good length of time. Collemattoni’s is the sort to make a taster feel guilty for wanting to share a bottle today because the bones are strong and the flesh well developed for a decade and a half of age worthiness. Tasting this 10 years forward will show just what all this all really means. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted November 2023

Collosorbo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

An aromatic masala of spices here with all the nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, coriander and cumin that can be imagined on the nose of a sangiovese. Plenty of fruit for those spices to pique and accent so happy we all are they are part of the mix. Sense of place for sure but also a toasting they receive from the casks. Complex Brunello no matter how you see this and one to have fun pairing with complex braised meat preparations. Guinea Fowl and also cinghiale come first to mind. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Godello and La Fede at Poggio Antico

Corte Dei Venti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

We often talk about distinct expressions of Brunello and few stand alone as does Corte die Venti, not for any idisosyncratic reason but just because their’s are perfumes unlike neighbours’ or other sangiovese near to far. This from 2019 stays that course and expresses south-central Montalcino proximate land just as it always has, with fragrance, roses, red fruit and lift. A crispy Brunello and that is said with great praise because the truth spoken is unchallenged in a 2019 that does not stray from what came before, nor will it likely roam too far from home. Heritage and tradition are integral to this wine and the taster who dreams of such Brunello will have come to an exact location and at a frozen moment in time. Because this is timeless Montalcino. That’s just a fact. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted November 2023

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

There are several Corte Pavone expressions of Brunello produced by the Loacker family and this is the cuvée, of fruit that does not make its way into Campo Marzio, Poggio Molino al Vento, Fior di Meliloto and Vigna Poggio Molino al Vento. This could mean lesser sangiovese quality but when all your fruit is high quality from high elevation vineyards – the standard is a relative one. The Annata is pure and if straightforward then so be it because this should be the Loacker 2019 to get at as soon as the wine will make itself ready. That said there are some tannins that could use settling, refreshening and integration. At the end of the day 2019 classico is both amenable and promising, which means the Etichetta labels should be exemplary. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2023

Cupano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Cupano’s is truly concentrated, consolidated and far from restless sangiovese with all the necessary elements of the vintage in place. A Brunello very much set up for success and one to seek because the vim, relish and vigour are all on side. The wood is a bit aggressive and in charge if only noted this way because the acid lift and energy run high alongside. Let this settle and integrate before rushing not opening your bottles. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2023

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Finding the Donatella Annata quite a different sort of Brunello than the Primedonne, not necessarily surprising and yet they are two sangiovese children of the same mothers. Plural because their makers are collective nurturers to prepare them for equality, equanimity and also surprise. You just never know where they will go but this much can be said. The 2019 Donatella Annata is perfectly clear, clean and handsomely beautiful in a way that may have never been noted before. The fruit is pure, managed to be ready as a tough and grippy sangiovese, but so very pure. Just that typical and knowing swarthiness lays low, gentle and subtle as a reminder of the who, where, what and why of this wine. Squadra davvero straordinaria. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Elia Palazzesi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

As 2019 Brunello goes this from Elia Palazzesi is expressive of as much aromatic grip as any, with great seasoning infiltrative of the perfume. Not so much a matter of luxe et volupté but more so this masala of peppery spices that create a most frank and vivid sangiovese experience. What follows is full mouthfeel with a sappy mix of fruit and barrel but also an intensity that the acidity effects up, down and across the palate. A glaring example of sangiovese and the kind that should and likely could never be confused with any other variety. Full capture here of 2019 by Palazzesi. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

From 2019 Fanti does what Fanti does, staying a course that makes modern wines from traditional means and most importantly out of a heritage of heart. Though the fruit is admirably developed what makes this sangiovese tick is its high quality acidity, neither sweet nor savoury but one that leaves another sensory impression best described as that of umami. Clearly complex Brunello from 2019, high caste and stylish but never abandoning its profound roots. Bravo Fanti, come sempre. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2023

Fattoi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Lovely, forthright, juicy and full vintage generosity capture here from Fattoi. Hard not to see this as (and it must be said out loud) how much one will almost surely want to drink this sangiovese without waiting for it to age. It really is that perfumed and open up front so don’t feel guilty if you feel this way. There is no lack of substance and structure so keeping bottles is obviously a smart idea but my how this seduces quickly and without hesitation. It is also clearly, credibly and more than ostensibly Fattoi, a classica of red fruit liqueur, gentle lift and composure. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2023

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

The first two concepts that arrive in mind for Fattoria deli Barbi’s 2019 Annata are respect and tradition because this insistent sangiovese is just what has been and should always be. Fruit and acidity straight away, together and equal which means there will almost certainly be balance in effect all the way through. That is in fact the case for a 2019 that pays duty to vintage and homage to history. The wood is a bit aggressive mind you and that too adheres to lines of necessity to see a sangiovese from a very good Montalcino vintage with the ability to age. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Ferrero Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Notably perfumed up front, jumping from the glass with fruit confiture like few other 2019 Brunello. Rich and unctuous in that regard without the immediacy of knowing or imagining this to be a vertical or structured sangiovese. The acidity is grand while the jammy nature continues on the palate. Quite mature when added up and not a Brunello to hold for even another two years. Make haste people. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted November 2023

Fossacolle Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Truly proper 2019 Brunello from Fossacolle, simply assembled for an uncomplicated look at and pure enjoyment of the positive vintage. Fruit is ripe and well managed, acids maintain freshness and the construct is a solid if easily accessible one. Never austere if just some drying moments late to indicate a year or two is needed before this sangiovese rises to its peak. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcinio DOCG 2019

Fuligni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Fuligni has always been, will likely continue to be but also thrive as its very own Brunello di Montacino animal. Classic, cultural and traditional as it is but finding a way to ever so slowly and incrementally sidle forward with the times. There are austere vintages and this is not one of them so come into a glass expecting some generosity – which this 2019 philanthropically provides. Crispy vintage and that is written with greatest compliment because that’s just what biting into this sangiovese feels like you are doing. Tannins are a bit grippy so time is essential towards coaxing out the best in Fuligni’s 2019. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2023

Giodo Estate

Giodo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Yes, the famous vintage, already and for many reasons, 99 percent of them good. Comparable to 2016 in the sense that quality and quantity were both high and weather “calda” but not “caldissima.” In other words no highs or lows but just what you need and when you need it. From the word nose you get the Giodo Località Casanova in Sant’Angelo in Colle spice and terroir components; herbals and herbs, all the scents, exotic and even those suspected of being exotic. “Molto profumato,” such beauty and a glass of Giodo that conjures imagery, like walking on a dusty Montalcino road as it enters onto grounds scattered with freely manicured perennials in rosemary, lavender, thyme and sage. Nor can the ripe cherry and note of liquorice be missed. Here Brunello finds itself in easy, ideal and effortless harmony while the French wood in particular needs to settle in and allow the optically perfect fruit to be the star. This will happen in two or three years. Just that hint of late balsamico adds to the reminder of what this is and where its from. Drink 2025-2035.Tasted November 2023

With Jacopo and Alessandro Mori

Il Marroneto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

“This is the historical line of Il Marroneto,” begins Alessandro Mori. “The wine that has always been made,” beginning in 1994, originally under the tutelage of Giulio Gambelli. Each vintage should and in fact increasingly will show the evolution of Mori’s work as a pupil and winemaker now in his 28th vintage. A real life and truth for Brunello, never a participant as a designer or connected to trends but achingly out of a mix of passion, lunacy, sagacity and devilishly boyish attitude. This is what you will taste from Mori’s ’19, carried in its DNA from the farm that holds acidity at a level unparalleled and Montalcino secrets only known to this family. The sweet structure will see this sangiovese live 30 years from the deepest of vintages as good as it gets for modern times. This because its makers do right by fruit and not by what markets ask it to chase. Hard not to be moved by this sort of glaring truth but it can’t be helped. The knowledge of evolution is already there, the feeling that this Brunello has already arrived but won’t mature with any obviousness or in any way over the next 10 years. It’s true – keep some bottles for 30. Drink 2026-2040. Tasted November 2023

Il Palazzone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Quite recognizable as Il Palazzone, in fruit and style, here a step forward in concentration but also phenolic maturity as far as sangiovese grapes are concerned. The vintage allowed for a highly traditional vinification process because such a regular, easy and stress-free growing season (so unusual these days) meant no major adjustments or reactions needed to be made in the cellar. Saw 38 months in Botti, followed by a few more in neutral or raw (“crudo”) cement tanks for refinement. A spontaneous vintage and so all the usual aromatic, flavour and textural aspects are present in the wine; brushy herbs, fennel pollen, vanilla and balsamico for a true to form and place Il Palazzone Brunello di Montalcino. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Il Poggione Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Straight off the top great work from Il Poggione 2019 with all the aspects and gains of the vintage on full aromatic display. Fruit as ripe as should be, seasoning, perfume and a saltiness in the air. Fruits of labour and perfumes that indicate red drupe we recognize and also that which is a bit exotic. From plum through corbezzolo and also the musky quality of skins equally ripe and lending character to true blue sangiovese. Acids right there, some good and proper tension, plenty of energy and then finally an austerity that indicates age ability. Finest Il Poggione in quite some time. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2023

La Casaccia Di Franceschi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Plenty of fruit concentration from this edible 2019 with a note of Ribena and roses moving from freshness to desiccation. Also a note of Brettanomyces that puts the tannins under some drying distress, turning hard and brittle so thankfully the fruit is in a good position. Will look forward to trying another bottle. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

A rich and developed fruit set from 2019 and one to make sure you know exactly where you are and what time of history you are tasting Brunello di Montalcino. An intensity of floral perfume, a well organized trilogy of that fruit with sweet acids and fine tannins all conspiring to make this a most generous and also promising wine. Pure and respectful sangiovese, significant of place and no gratuities taken. Brava. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

La Fornace Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Bright and top fruit capture for vintage without going over to put a 2019 in a light that shines demure if bright. White peppery heat on the nose so just some imbalance in that regard but stuffing is elastic and quite seamless throughout. Crispy vintage here for the furnace and in a good place, without tannins or tension too demanding. That white pepper through – it is a little distracting. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2023

La Fortuna Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Nothing shy or held back about 2019 La Fortuna in a wine of great vintage fortune because the layers are all texture and more. Some sappy and resinous wood to qualify and integrate so time will need to be the ally. Good fruit is substantial and the structural parts are supportive. Wait 18 months and keep for up to a decade more. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2023

La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

A bit extreme lift and acetic tone from La Gerla, more than usual and so some air time is necessary here. A great balsamic stress, pomegranate and currants hard juiced and their levels turned up to the max. The wood here is sappy and resinous for a Brunello that arrives with high acidity if other parts also vivid, glaring and overly substantial. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2023

La Lecciaia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Quite a luxe and rich sangiovese from La Leccaia’s 2019 Classica which bodes really well for what will almost surely follow in extrapolation by way of Vigna Manapetra. In some vintages the Vigna can cannibalize the normale but when the latter is this well developed the opposite will occur. This is pure and succulent liquidity because by the grace of the vintage acids melt and lift fruit where it wants to be. There is a bit of excess “grasso” texture and wood on this sangiovese but it too will melt into the fabric of what the aromatic and flavour profiles have showed in the first. Ideal mid-term Brunello. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2023

La Magia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

“It was a very easy vintage,” echoing what most producers have said but you can see in his eyes that for Fabian Schawrz this was the truth. Floral is the understatement and distillate expressive might be an over, but there is real liqueur on the nose of this 2019 Brunello. “A normal vintage” he reminds and normal sangiovese means classic, once upon a time style of wines. This includes lift, a thing that’s disappearing from Brunello and better today when purity and clarity are just as strong, but also important. Surprise is a good thing but so too is recognition and the aromatics of La Magia are just that, earth fragrant and brush savoury with fruit a willing participant in the agrarian game. The aromatic rising will surely settle because the palate is more that way and so it sure feels like everything well eventually get together. The work of Fabian Schwartz in on and in motion with this a matter of 2019 sangiovese fruit that leaves an impression. The wood is very much a part of the activity and the wine needs a few years to integrate but that it will with spices and seasoning always the accents to exact intricacy and entanglement. Fine work here, well received with a look forward two to three years. Classic 10 year Brunello if not one to lose in the cellar for 20 or more. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2023

La Rasina Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Brushy and savoury Mediterranean scented sangiovese is really exactly this and La Rasina fulfills its classica 2019 course in the delivery of this sort of aromatic profile. The palate follows suit and balsamico is everywhere, infiltrating all pores and punches of this wine. Very specific style, not ancient but traditional to say the least. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2023

La Serena Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Tight and wound, tart red fruit led Annata from La Serena. High toned with acids creating the lift and a white pepperiness that also leads, if thankfully does not dominate the nose. The quality of palate mouthfeel is high though the back end of the wine shows some greenness in the extracted tannins. As a by-product of this phenolic presence this does come across as a bit of a jammy Brunello separated from its structure. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2023

Montalcino from Le Chiuse

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Le Chiuse separates from the pack in many ways but first and foremost by levels of precision and purity to condition its sangiovese’s profound character and concentration. Always remember and keep in mind that there is no Vigna Brunello from Le Chiuse so Riserva aside (which was made in 2019) the finest small to medium-sized berries are chosen for this classica Brunello. The top of top level substance and so much profundity packed into the body and flesh of the wine. The kind of sangiovese that will take decades to unwind and yet the sleekness but also the purity are appreciated from the very first stages. The quality and sophistication of the tannins in Le Chiuse’s 2019 are nearly unparalleled. This is the truth and finally it is time that will help this vintage to continue to show the individual identity of the zone where Le Chiuse is born and raised. Drink 2028-2043. Tasted November 2023

Le Gode Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

A corner has been turned and a next epoch for Le Gode comes into view with this Brunello 2019’s purity of fruit and a newfound clarity that makes the sangiovese sing. Feel the coolness of northerly fruit and a liqueur of really gentle maceration in such a sweet spot you feel like all is right in the world. While the acidity is right in line and well beyond the threshold of being openly lifted it is the tannins that show a sweet softness and demure nature. Most important is the fruit and how it has been coaxed with a gentle if fulsome touch. Structure is not most prescient from 2019 Annata and that seems to matter little. There should be many who seek Le Gode out in its first five years of fresh and primary life. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Le Macioche Famiglia Cotarella Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

As spiced, spicy and exotically charged aromatic entry as any from a 2019 Brunello. Also a thickness of palate texture, wood that feels grainy and dark chocolate, yet within reason. There is a minor note of Brettanomyces that turns the tannins a bit hard. Not egregious though a bit separated from that rich textural fabric. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2023

Le Potazzine’s Viola Gorelli, Sofia Gorelli and Gigliola Giannetti

Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

A vintage Gigliola Giannetti says was simply regolare. Thank goodness because in these days that sort of respite is increasingly rarer and rarer. Which means that fruit and phenolic ripeness are just about as good as it gets, never a 10 out of ten because what is that, but this gets close. Also a sangiovese of concentration, full and substantial amplitude, while clearly built with some stuffing that certifies its appellative, cultural and heritage status. What you won’t quite find in ’17 and ’18 but surely will out of this ’19 is succulence as a by-product of varied fruits and acidities. This precocious Brunello will not quit, comes at the palate in waves and yet the Potazzine perfume pervades and outlasts all else. As fine as there has ever been bottled from this estate. Seems a shame to open and consume a bottle this young but how to stay away? There is no fault in wanting just a sip today. The sangiovese epitome of forbidden fruit. Drink 2025-2036. Tasted November 2023

Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Would always expect Le Ragnaie to express its conditioning through estate elevation (on par with the village itself) and that it does, regardless of vintage. Yet this is 2019 and so depth is noted from the word go even while freshness, pitch prompt acidity and fine tannins are clearly present and dutifully accounted for. Sanguine if less so than some sangiovese in vineyards a bit further south on the same road that winds down towards Sant’Angelo in Colle. Youthful as Brunello here in the sense that the perfumes have yet to fully rise and pronounce their floral-herbal-mineral mix. Some glycerol makes for a mouthfeel that is the talk of the vintage. This is so correct for a Riccardo Campinoti Classica Brunello. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted November 2023

Lisini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Ultra fresh and aromatically juicy Brunello for 2019, not unusual though this is a particularly expressive level of pulchritude through perfume. Feels like the nose is possessive of glycerol though we know it is what follows that really delivers such a vintage sensation. Yes the repeat on the palate is an act of contiguous sensibility with more transitions seamless and very good natured. There is restraint in power and grace under pressure. Fine 2019 that should have been easy to make happen though it truly never is. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2023

Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Lovely adherence and respect shown here from Mastrojanni with crisp red fruit notes and herbals complimentary and sweet. Quite a modern take because the mouthfeel is quite silky and there really are no angles or unnecessary tension in the wine. Quite amenable, spiced by wood but here is nothing extraordinary or austere about this 2019 whatsoever. Early drinker in any case. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2023

Máté Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

A very specific sort of red fruit makes a Máté and 2019 is the epitome of that kind. It being layered and citrus scraped, of orange to blood orange, zesty and piquant with more red citrus notes arriving and joining the specificity of this sangiovese mix. The palate brings wood and more than expected quite frankly but not as cakey texture, no its just an espresso-cocoa powder that will eventually stir into the liquid and emerge as a fine cream of 2019 Brunello. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2023

Molino Della Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

TCA. Second bottle also laden with Brett. Tasted November 2023

Padelletti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Impressive showing for Padelletti’s 2019 with great perfumes and an airy breeze blowing through the light, bright and transparent red fruit. Just the right level of tart and acidity though not the most structured sangiovese from the vintage. No matter because there are some needed to service in the first few years after release while the bigger wines are finding their legs. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2023

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Darker if transparent within that notation and a deeper well of macerated red fruit is what comes from Brunello 2019 by Patrizia Cencioni. Sangiovese of really well developed ripe fruit in singular and volumetric dimension. The cask is really well integrated, the acidity well forged and one that should continue forward for a decade plus. The length on this vintage is really quite outstanding, freshness and purity as well. Improves with each moment in and out of the glass. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2023

Pian Delle Querci Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Quite a tart set of red fruit scents, of pomegranate and blood orange in this very citrus forward Brunello. On the lighter side in terms of substance and concentration to speak of location in the northern and veering western side in relation to the hill. The evergreen note seems to confirm this contention and the wine never fleshes but instead stays the citrus course. Will likely develop some amaro and mint notes with age. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2023

Pietra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Higher tonalities out of a Pietra sangiovese heightened by the 2019 Brunello vintage. Dusty quality to the fruit, not deep enough to imagine plum but more so citrus in a fresh squeezed pomegranate way. There is balsamic everywhere, a piqued accent on the nose, a reduction on the palate and a richness at the finish. Speaks to the multiplicity of acidities involved which may peak to a threshold for some. It’s right there, keeping the freshness and though I believe this to be a specific kind of Brunello it will be one that remains preserved for a very long time. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2023

Pietroso Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

There are five vineyards from which the Pietroso Brunello cuvée can be made, they being (Casa) Pietroso, Petroso, (northerly) Montosoli, Fornello and Colombaiaolo near Castelnuovo dell’Abate. For 2019 only the older part of Montosoli and Petroso are not in here. Plenty of discussion and tastings about the hottest vintages and how the regulations for the elevation limits for growing sangiovese need to be adjusted but then along comes a vintage like 2019. A season so ideal and unassuming we might all think that everything is perfectly OK. On the contrary, but the focus is this fine 2019, half a point less alcohol (maybe more) than Rosso 2022, ebullient of perfume and so harmonic with all its voices in synch. It’s funny to say but today the perfect vintage is the one that’s just normal. Nothing out of sorts, no highs and lows, agreeable, in delivery of amenable fruit, happy acidity and tannins powerful yet in great restraint. This is Pietroso from 2019, a mix of Montalcino sectors, micro-climates and soils stacked and layered for all that could be wanted. Crispy, crunchy, a freshness incarnate, expertly judged and adjudicated. Have not tasted more than a handful of Pietroso Brunello and while all thus far have made an impression, this 2019 is in another league. Drink 2025-2036. Tasted November 2023

Pinino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Spicy and toasty nose on Pinino’s 2019 with so much wood resin, sap and spice. Hard to see the forest through the trees here and this will not likely change. Unusually heavy handed feel, especially for the vintage which likely indicates a troublesome bottle, which is a bit of a pity. Will hope to re-taste. Tasted November 2023

Podere Brizio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Brizio 2019 is great expectation met through a sangiovese of red fruit multiplicity, like a cuvée of citrus, currant and corbezzolo, juiced and stirred with freshness incarnate. Tart and at the maximum tang for the vintage with expensive wood working so well to nurture, raise and release the precocious fruit. Stylish and well made in every way. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Poggio Alle Forche Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

More than what should be needed wood on this Brunello takes centre stage to shroud and cloud fruit and create a milkshake of a 2019 sangiovese. Hard to figure where in the territory this might come from because its ubiquity, make-up and made character just won’t allow it to talk freely. Seems like a yeoman try but it comes across sappy, sweet and thick textured. A work in progress perhaps and later vintages may tone it down to see the Montalcino light. Tasted November 2023

Poggio Antico

Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

The Annata is a blend of all estate sangiovese blocks except the lowest vineyard which goes to Rosso. The classic Poggio Antico Brunello of the past were always concentrated and substantial wines but in many vintages they softened relatively early, say after five to seven years before secondary character and creaminess would set in. This is changing for an estate possessive of vines at some of Montalcino’s higher elevation and this 2019 is proof of how increased solar radiation bathed by great technical (and also intuitional) work has equipped this sangiovese with more accumulated structure. Nothing against past vintages but we are here made privy to a wine that will not truly begin to morph in the first 10 years post harvest. The intricacies are many, the intertwine of fruit and sweet acid-tannin layers something other, or better still something next. This is a new epoch level style for Poggio Antico in the hands, minds and hearts of a team moving in a most profound but humble and well spoken direction. The attention to detail and respect for different blocks is evident. The 30cm of winter snow followed by perfectly timed quantity of rain in Spring when warm yet not too hot temperatures prevailed all added up to a near perfect start to the vintage. After a late August rain what followed were high daytime temperatures and nighttime lows. In fact the optical sorter at harvest eliminated almost no berries. “We will have to check the evolution over the next two years,” says Alessio Sostegni, but he’s quite sure it’s the best he has seen since taking the reigns full time starting back in 2012. 40,000 bottles were produced. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2023

Poggio Di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

There are but a few dozen Brunello teams that show this level of restraint and respect for their properties and despite the potential for ambition it is Poggio di Sotto not straying from that ideal. The vintage is great but that does not mean extraction and aging should try to max out on weight or power. This does not and instead delivers purity, refinement and grace. Its great charm is born of details, focus and a high regard for clean, clean precision. Hits the correct località notes and processes the quality of fruit through an acid to tannin information continuum like an artist with a keen sense of science. So expertly judged and designed. Once a sketch, then a stencil, now in full animation. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2023

Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Renieri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Renieri’s is reductive of pepper and rubbery aromas above average for the vintage. The alcohol also stands out on the nose which makes for a rough and tumble experience. Time will settle and heal some wounds but as a rule 2019 Brunello should show more charm and grace. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted November 2023

Ridolfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Brunello from a cooler Montalcino sector and always a savoury one, with more verdancy in brush and evergreen than many. A bit of stem sensation as well, some variegation in the fruit but also the tannin. Crunchy sangiovese, plenty of buzz and energy, then real length. That is a traditional Brunello’s strength. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2023

Roberto Cipresso Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Rich but not powerful, fulsome if not exactly exploding and overall a very complete Annata sangiovese from Cipresso. The great liquidity by way of glycerol red fruit and structural components that are quite similar in potency, surely out of design. Fine and giving, steps up from the “normale” norm and a satisfying mouthful in the end. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Salicutti’s Annata 2019 is quite restrained, a bit closed, somewhat demure, fresh and youthful. Perhaps surprisingly so but this is no fruit bomb or Brunello of immediate gratification. I have the distinct memory of tasting this fruit in October of 2019 within two weeks of it coming off of the vines and there is little surprise that it’s showing four years later in this way. Fruit comes from the three single vineyards off of 4.5 hectares; Piaggione, Sorgente and Teatro and this is the first vintage out of which no Rosso di Montalcino was produced. Tension above all else and tightly compact structural parts that keep the freshness and fruit locked in tight. Just a touch of swarthiness and even a moment of Brett are noted on the back palate but there is no compromise to tannin. It’s austere but not drying so time will most certainly aid, abet and break the tie to see this drink well after a few years of time. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

Salvioni – La Cerbaiola Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Not so difficult to establish the range of Brunello from a vintage like 2019, from the traditional to the ultra modern, the ambitious from the respectful. Salvioni’s is a complex matter, of the first and then the last, a sangiovese of heritage imperative and one that listens to both the vintage and also località wind. Most wines do not exhibit this kind of elastic tension but 2019 by Salvioni is exacting in its measure, focused in pliant ability and capable of eliciting a wide range of emotion. Catches the light in just the right way, makes ideal use of ripeness met by equal and supportive acidity and seeks something further than most that try to capture a vintage. This is the correct season experienced in a world where that gets harder every year. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2023

San Felice Campogiovanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Not so much a bright 2019 Brunello but ones that breathes quite free and easy. A wine so comfortable in its warm skin and a result for the vintage that is just what should occur from an estate moving forward with more vertical wines year after year. Wood is well managed and there is a lightness this time, a,k.a. freshness, without ambition or excess. Great result for southern Montalcino. Last tasted November 2023

An anteprima but bottled six months ago and the vintage to be shown at Benvenuto Brunello 2023 before being released in January 2024. Near to Argiano and Il Poggione below Sant’Angelo in Colle. Massive wine in ever respect with fruit that has not been seen in a few years, matched effortlessly by sweet acids and high caste tannins. Hefty throughout, sleek, silken and full throttle. Wait seven years to seek the open window of gratification. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted October 2023

San Guglielmo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

As for Brunello by Ilaria Martini and her Transylvanian husband Michael (Mike, or Michele), well this may just be the launching point for their tenure as seriously important Montalcino producers. Ilaria’s heritage is entrenched in the founding of the Consorzio, of which her grandfather Guglielmo was an original member. Here they are three to four vintages in, at 470m at elevation in a micro-climate and terroir shaped by and contained within its own bubble, where the Galestro and Palombino litter the surface at Località il Chiesino. Where feels like the middle of nowhere the land is a local matter of “macchia mediterranea,” the brushy Mediterranean scrub that these wines can’t help but express. If the smell of schist and soil could be noted in a wine then this would be it and so San Guglielmo’s is sangiovese born of the earth. Red fruit and clarity but never a Brunello that imposes its will. No, it simply translates and transposes the vineyard. Hard not to fall in love with this dirt. Drink 2024-20230. Tasted November 2023

Sanlorenzo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Traditional, lighter and brighter sangiovese in the Brunello idiom, tart red fruit and structure. The construction is like an immovable natural stone terrace of Pietraforte to control erosion and that is the design for where this is going. It’s not that Brunello di Montlacino as a rule is a mineral wine per se but if any were to be described as one to imitate the geological nature of this land – Sanlorenzo may just as well be one of those such wines. Top vintage for the estate. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2023

San Polino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Rich and spicy nose for San Polino, red cherry fruit so ripe, spot on and comfortable within its skin. Freshness from those skins, no musk or must and simple divinity as it pertains to sangiovese. Such a well judged and rounded Brunello with just enough tension to create elasticity between that fruit and fine tannins. Acidity is the driver to see this live longer than the average, if not a few years more than that. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Middle range of elevation on a high plateau where winds blow softly and weather comes in great waves is the place where San Polo’s Annata get its wings. Some of the reddest cherry fruit of the appellation, swiftness of foot and smoothness of consistency put this in great, amenable and correct steading. There is also a soft sappy sapidity to the interaction and resulting texture yet it too will effect a lovely result for the consumption of this wine in its earliest years. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Sassetti Livio Peritamali Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Oh my what sweet and seductive perfume from Sassetti Livio’s 2019 that is simply beautiful hyperbole of the previous six vintages having arrived and culminating at this. Some will note the fact that matched against those gorgeous fruit aromas is a mild amount of Brettanomyces that to others will take away from the beauty. There is quite a bit of concentration out of extraction and tannins follow suit with confident steading. They are austere as well, drying quite measurably and so time will tell if the minor distraction will hinder or fade to allow the best of this sangiovese to shine. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2023

Scopone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Not one of the most luxe or lush fruit substantial 2019 Brunello di Montalcino but in this instance a seamlessly fluid one. Fruit is good quality though hard not to intuit some greenness extracted in the tannin. Either some of the fruit was not quite ripe or the sangiovese was pressed with a bit of force. Either way the dichotomy is noted and the wine will always play as two parts. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2023

Sesta Di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Bit of a brooder this ’19 by Sesta di Sopra, neither dense nor pressed but a matter of soil it seems. Must come from a place of compact clay and hard stone as opposed to a soil of sand and Galestro. The structure is formidable and the wine sinks into its own maceration but also its phenolic austerity. More than ripe enough and serious sangiovese, built for aging and not in any sort of comfortable place at this time. A wine of potential and a certain part of 2019 is achieved here. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

Sesti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Ah Sesti, demure, soft-spoken, elegant, all descriptors not used lightly or taken with any gratuity. Sesti’s Brunello, understated and sure of its place, even while it wonders and we consider about this and that. Pensive and thoughtful, not the same thing, but one that follows the other. A beautiful example of lightness and grace, fluidity as it glides across the palate, turns to smile and moves away. There really does not need to be much more said save for the idea that this will live for decades. Drink 2026-2039. Tasted November 2023

Siro Parenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Pacenti’s is wisdom from Montalcino with experience for Brunello that starts and finishes with sangiovese at the crux and heart of the matter. A 2019 that captures the entire history, style and function of Siro Pacenti in one bottle. These are wines of a period that do not depart from their own fashion because they are the creator of what they are. There is no chase of design or trend but just the depth and plumbing of cool, savoury liquidity for this kind of sangiovese. Pacenti’s is what you expect if you know what Pacenti is. Like the 1997 recently opened it is this 2019 that connects that wine threaded to all that were produced in between. They are all one. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted November 2023

With Michaela Morris and Riccardo Talenti

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

If 2018 was the vertical vintage then 2019 is one of breadth and depth, this as far as Riccardo Talenti is concerned. Specific to this Talenti vineyard cuvée which means all nine plots from every location, some obviously more than others. A mix of all five soil types and micro climates and no other recent vintage has layered, complicated and concentrated like the 2019. Variability sure but how seamless is this? Freshness and fulsome character are in synch as much as these two disparate ideas can be so that the Annata will express all that Talenti’s fruit has to offer. Good liquid peppery grip and length as long as the road from Montalcino to Amiata. Grande Riccardo. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted November 2023

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Can’t miss the warm location result on the aromatics of Tenuta Buon Tempo’s ‘19 with a wisdom and maturity of fruit notes. Plum and pomegranate of a citrus intensity, a molasses of other juices if you will, with a drizzle of reduced balsamic. Like a sweet meets savoury plate, ying and yang, king and queen, balanced and dry as the desert despite the natural sugars that persist – even as they are not ones of residual effect. Some will find the resins and others will see the flesh. ’Tis is southern Montalcino effect from out of a warm vintage. There is no other way. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2023

Tenuta La Fuga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Plenty of up front stuffing noted straight away from La Fuga’s Annata, a heavy set of fruit and fuel to see this ’19 travel a good distance. Bing cherry and orange, a reduction of fruit with a citrus angle and the sense is of a sangiovese subjected to a long maceration. Has brought about the glycerol feel while tannins are also of a fully developed nature. There is weight and also length, some astringency as well but time should be an ally. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2023

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Nardi’s 2019 Annata is a big and proud one, macerated long and brought into a place where it seems to be enjoying having consumers embrace this very moment of largesse. Plenty of sweet barrel flavours but also spiciness that take centre stage. Here and there the scents of roses and a return of the seasonings makes sure to remind abouth the matters of sangiovese, sense of place and ultimately what Brunello di Montalcino is all about. That wood needs to melt and disappear some and when that happens the real Nardi sangiovese should do what it was intended to do. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2023

Tommasi Casisano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Casisano presence and perfume, big gains from 2019 and a sangiovese feeling through fruit and all the things that give it its silken texture. Glycerol and pectin for natural emulsification to coagulate all the ripenesses developed by a vintage. A bit salty this one and that is not perfectly indicative of vintage or style, but there it is to make this a most unique and also complex Annata. This must be the place. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2023

Uccelliera Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Uccelliera is wisdom and it is experience but most of all it is a Brunello of agriculture. The 2019 feels like a solid rock of sangiovese with emotions in check and this essential understanding that Brunello di Montalcino is half heritage and half longevity. Immediate gratification is not the sum of these fresh, youthful and organized parts, but long-term gains should be a great part of your purchasing and tasting goals. This is serious and expertly produced Brunello, tight and compact, lending or rather insisting on the feeling of soil, climate and human touch. All intrinsically connected and so this my people is a fine wine of terroir. It is purely and significantly Montalcino. Drink 2026-2039. Tasted November 2023

Valdicava Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Valdicava, literally the name of the località, “valley of the cave.” Dates back to 1953 when Vincenzo Abbruzzese’s father Bramante Martini founded the podere. He would walk up the hill to sell farmed goods at the Montalcino market, return for school and work the fields in the later day. A cow breeder who sold his early grapes to Biondi-Santi. Brunello is a mix of all parts of Valdicava’s 10 parcels, “something unique and complete,” tells PierFilippo Abbruzzese. The ’19 has been in bottle six months, from a vintage of good production, doubly important because there was no ’18 and just 10 percent of ’23 produced. Refined in cement vats lined with fibreglass, for a result that is neither reductive nor oxidative and to maintain balance. Prominently profound in so many ways, magnanimous of character, substantial fruit in waves, solvent acids, brunet complexion and sombre finishing tones. Shadows of Bretty-yeasty-toasty character, complexities in and out of every pore and a specific character that is simply Valdicava’s. “We choose to make individual wines, not good wines,” insists Vincenzo. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2023

Val di Suga

Val Di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Plenty of perfume and impressive stuffing from the classica Val di Suga 2019, a Brunello open and lifted, fulsome of fruit times acid squared. Shows these elements with great energy and then the barrels though not with tannins loading up as a result of its elévage. There are some, but they are not from the wood – only from super ripe and proper skins. Truly well composed and promising Annata – especially considering there are three more etichetta/Vigna wines to discover in the Val di Sugar portfolio. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Ventolaio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Ventolaio has a lot of aromatic goings on that tease and titivate the olfactory senses as much as any Brunello from the vintage. Richly perfumed, seasoned and spiced, piquing with peppery jolts and red lightning fruit strikes. But it’s deeper than that and the palate wells with macerations, moves through machinations and delivers a full vintage effect. Some chaos here but things will eventually settle down and come together. Drink 2026-2032.Tasted November 2023

Voliero Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Like Uccelliera there is wisdom, acumen and experience gained from Andrea Cortonesi’s Voliero. While perhaps a bit less concentration there is indeed more energy and mineral sear in this sister label. More sweetness of fruit, less but still solid tension and higher acidity thus the buzz puts this in an earlier drinking window but still there is longevity in the fire. Really solid and proper Brunello, respectful of place and vintage, expertly put together and a perfect Brunello to drink while Uccelliera readies itself for the future. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2023

Riccardo Talenti

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019 Vigna + Etichetta + Altra Tipologia

Alessandro Rossi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Aisna 2019

Some reduction and vinyl shower curtain on the nose in what is not the most perfectly clean Brunello di Montalcino. Too bad because both fruit and acidity are right there in equal if opposing ripenesses but the distractions are at the head. Give it some time to clean itself, integrate and soften. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted November 2023

Altesino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Montosoli 2019

Altesino’s part of the Galestro-strewn Montosoli hill is one of the bigger blocks in a very small area (of 30-plus hectares) where 10-ish producers create Brunello labels within the cru. A special northerly part of Montalcino that benefitted greatly from the vintage though truth is 2019 was good for everyone just about everywhere in the denomination. This is Altesino and the connection with the Classica is noted, but being Altesino-Montosoli there is more, something other, unnamed yet founded, underlying, streaking and trussing through. A sticking of soil and micro-activity that makes this wine and the others from this place a band of brothers and sisters. These are sangiovese and Altesino’s are included that have “been workin’ every night, travelin’ every day” to arrive at a vintage like 2019. It’s never been this calming to make a top quality wine from the hill that are not glaringly different than others in Montalcino. That’s both but not importantly good or bad because Montosoli as Altesino pleases the palate and sets up for long life. This is but one vintage that hints at the future which will brighten if perhaps tighten less and less. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2023

Antinori Pian Delle Vigne Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Antinori’s foresight looked at this southwestern section of Montalcino where elevation is high and austerely savoury wines used to be the order of business in vintage after vintage. That intelligence has led to and seems to culminate at this 2019 because sweetness of fruit and acidity like never before transform Pian delle Vigne into a new epoch of the estate’s Brunello. As substantially ripe and full as never before and something so modern in construction it will attract a large audience, at least from they who can afford such wines. There are many and if marketing succeeds they will be found. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Antinori Pian Delle Vigne Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vignaferrovia 2019

As for the single Vignaferrovia the exaggeration and hyperbole for modern terms in Pian Delle Vigne is wrought times two with density, thick texture and also thankfully a wild side. No estate vineyard sangiovese from Antinori has ever reached this pinnacle of luxe, not Tignanello, not Badia a Passignano, not Pian delle Vigne. It just has to be a triumph for the team and Piero Antinori’s vision. Once again those who seek the modern style and can afford such a sangiovese will be very pleased with this top 2019 result. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2023

Baricci Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Montosoli 2019

Baricci’s Montosoli is indicative of the northern hill but perhaps the most singular of all the expressions from there. Their fruit darkens, feels at first aromatically baritone but then brightens and turns soprano on the palate. It’s an amazingly curious dichotomy of expression while the transition from one to the other is both seamless and appropriate. All the notes are in place, connected and complimentary but there are fills and subtly added transitions both inside and outside of the main frame. Cool, savoury and yes mineral even if those who wish this concept be eliminated from the Montalcino lexicon. The finish shows quite a bit of wood and so Baricci’s Montosoli should be held for a few years, to see expedited integration ahead of further investigation. Drink 2027-2039. Tasted November 2023

Castello Di Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Alle Mura 2019

The scent of south by southwest Montalcino in a perfect bubble is here captured by Banfi’s storico label “Poggio alle Mura.” So intrinsically sangiovese aromatically and vintage uttered with a 2019 of high tonality and quite obvious lift. All the tart red fruits and more, especially the balsamic finish blowing in the winds of Banfi’s magnanimous vineyard holdings. A classic. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Alle Mura Vigna Marrucheto 2019

High hopes, well actually expectations from Vigna 2019 and this is Banfi’s top iteration in that regard. Vigna Marrucheto owns itself and its perfumes open the discussion, ringing and singing of what is right and recognizable. There is clear depth and intendment from Marrucheto, of tannins so austere and unyielding yet they speak in unequivocal terms. Terms to request for time and only patience will exact any semblance of reward. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

Three estate tasting at Canalicchio di Sopra

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna La Casaccia 2019

La Casaccia is a brown clay with a prominence of calcium carbonate that gives this single vineyard sangiovese its colour. A place of high (8.2-8.3) pH characterized by the clay. “For me it’s sleekness,” tells Francesco Ripaccioli, “not opulence and less heaviness than from (a vineyard) of dense clay.” La Casaccia from that calcareous clay is no simple Rosso or classic Brunello for that matter and it is immediately apparent that concentration and depth of all parts manage the wine’s breadth at levels those drink earlier propositions do not. Similar grip to Riserva but not the same power although without tasting Riserva at the same time it would be hard to imagine how this could be improved or extrapolated upon. Simple but crazy complex and a most evocative elucidation to see this Brunello wooing with as much substance and intensity as it does – but these are the 2019s. A matter of deliberately annotating sangiovese and Casaccia through this interaction with a Brunello that enhances a taster’s understanding, recall and reaction to the vintage. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted November 2023

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Montosoli 2019

A 1959 vineyard was no longer delivering any significant production and so it was re-planted in 2009 though this fruit joins the classic Brunello. The Montosoli fruit is from 1995-1996 vines and the total quantity is usually 35-40 hL of juice. Canalicchio di Sopra shares the hill/cru with several others including Altesino, Baricci, Caparzo, Casanova della Cerbaie, Le Gode, Le Ragnaie and Pietroso. The 2019 is not the most open expression of sangiovese but it is crunchy and saline Montosoli. Admittedly so young as a Vigna Brunello so take as much time as needed to breath in the air. Montosoli is clearly exceptional out of 2019 and tasted against La Casaccia it feels much more savoury and even a bit brooding. This is the relative assessment that makes Montosoli feel a bit salty. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2023

Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG La Casa 2019

La Casa is the fortunate recipient of intensely factored and woven Montosoli fruit from some of Montalcino’s greatest Galestro-strewn vineyards. The levels of red scintillate-lightning fruit and mineral acidity here are simply off the charts. Magnificence and munificence, all pertness, no pretence or gratuity, simply definition, assembly and intendment. A trenchant wine that speaks in pure, unequivocal and grippy vintage voice. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2023

Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta Nuova 2019

Tenuta Nuova is something next level and you know this from the moment you put nose to glass. It consumes the senses straight away with its intoxicating perfume as deep as it is strong. Muscular in that regard and exponentially so at the intersection of palate and structure. The stuffing, intensity, power and layers are what we call “off the charts” and there are but a few vintages that create, instil and then leave this kind of impression. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted November 2023

Casanuova Delle Cerbaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Montosoli CdC 2019

A most curious and intriguing Montosoli hill sangiovese out of 2019 and one to spur the debate as to whether the northernly hill fares best in cooler, wetter, more challenging or easier vintages like this. The answer is complicated and always dependent on estate but Montosoli the cru is shared by many so most pertinent to the discussion. In this case the vintage makes for positivity because the phenolic character of this sangiovese is right there at the precipice between fruity and sapid. They can coexist so that the words adds up to flavour and that is this case in a nutshell. Acids are of a supportive quality and while wood lends just a bit too much sap and toast – these extras will dissolve and eventually become allies to the important matters of the wine. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Filo di Seta 2019

Same vintage but another matter altogether from Romitorio’s 2019 fantasy of Filo di Seta. The Annata is a meaty, darkly sanguine and almost brooding affair while FdS breathes with more marine salty air which means freshness is its introduction. An embarrassment of aromatic riches is one thing but definition and precision are another. Filo is expressive of all this and the romance on the palate plays with heartstrings but also empirically evident emotion. You could calculate a sangiovese algorithm by the numbers, exponential extrapolations and physical science of this greatly structured sangiovese. A profound sangiovese and while the classic is a very good wine its holds no candle to the Seta. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted November 2023

Celestino Pecci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Al Carro 2019

The single vineyard (or Vigna) Poggio al Caro is near and dear to a Celestino Pecci heart and so the name rings clear and true. A focused sangiovese as ever has been cleared for tasting from this Montalcino house. A vigna sangiovese of great perfumes and seasoned to the hilt. This is the thing about 2019 Vigna out of which producers of a sensitive focus were able to coax clarity and finesse. This example hits the high notes and plays cool chords so that the wood stays background tough its drying notes will need a few years to integrate. Should hit its stride late in 2025. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2023

Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Campo del Drago 2019

Heavy set fruit, sappy wood notes and plenty of forest all combine for a weighty, complex and ultra open-knit Brunello for the vintage. Nothing held back from Campo del Drago in fact it’s one of those all in 2019 Brunello that deliver up front seduction, even at the expense of long term gains. The goal here is an expression of impressive character that can be poured at tables where guests will be impressed by the size and star power nature of the wine. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2023

Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Pianrosso 2019

The single entity Pianrosso (the red plateau) is a clear and very present extension of the very classic 2019 with more grip, girth, intensity and power, though it too shows admirable restraint. This is southern Montalcino richness incarnate without heat, overarching weight or transgressions of the flesh. A very fine Etichetta labeled Brunello should be like this – confident and strong but never demanding too much from our palates. We the tasters are keenly aware of this sangiovese condition and respect what’s in this bottle. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2023

Coesioni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2018

A three-part blend between three Montalcino producers and friends; Riccardo Talenti, Tomasso Cortonesi and Francesco Rippacioli, with the proceeds of their projects going to local hospitals. Three farmed plots in very different parts of Montalcino and so whether the fruit comes from La Mannella, I Poggiarelli, Montosoli, Canalicchio di Sopra, Sant’Angelo in Colle, Castelnuovo dell’Abate, Ciacci Piccolomini, Collemattoni or Giodo is not the point. The combinative fruit sources will change from vintage to vintage but they are always high quality fruit sources. Here from 2018 the linearity and verticality of the vintage is captured and expressed as a Brunello that is a true cuvée composed by three studious Montalcino minds. There are times when three men like this could and likely should not agree how to layer and stick their fruit to create something special, but this is the exact opposite. It is a seamless wine with three-part tannic harmony (though not yet resolved) and all parts falling along a line with one trenchant purpose. Plenty of savour, a classic balsamic finish, some resins and drying notes too. This may as well be Riserva because it carries itself in such regard. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2023

Col di Lamo di Giovanna Neri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG A Diletta 2019

“A Diletta,” dedicated to Giovanna Neri’s daughter and a Brunello of one vineyard only two hectares in size. The fruit is indeed richer, deeper and in a way more vibrant than the Annata but it’s also equipped with finer tannins that stand up to the fleshiness of the sangiovese. There is also more wood involved and that aspect will need a few years to melt, settle and resolve. Could be five or more before that work is finished. This carries a feeling that is usually one from Riserva conceived Brunello so that should give you an idea of where it is and where it will go. Milk chocolate on the finish. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Conti Costanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Colle Al Matrichese 2019

Take a moment, reflect even before this has even begun, focus the senses and prepare for a long connection with a 2019 from Andrea Costanti. A Brunello di Montalcino that graciously requests full attention paid because vineyard, experience and vintage have taken no liberties as it pertains to what is the necessary requiem. Aromatic wealth void of force and punch without gratuity comes out of the glass like an apparition gliding through the halls of a medieval edifice. They are sweet, flowing and casually swift. The palate and mouthfeel are one in the same – in most wines made everywhere around the world this is simply not the case. Acidity is right and it is bloody correct – whatever that means but in this case it’s true. Costanti tannins are always their best self but then there are 2019 tannins which elongate with elastic ease, always stretching forwards and return they will though it is hard to say when that will happen. It just does not happen on the finish, which is something impossibly so. Who would not wish to be frozen in this youth, impeccably fresh, limber and athletic? May act this way with generosity and charm for decades. Drink 2026-2040. Tasted November 2023

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Campo Di Marzo 2019

Singular, unassailed and yet availing 2019 Vigna from Campo Marzio that may just be the most mature fruit set from a Brunello that digs deeps into sangiovese’s Montalcino depths. Fleshy yet not exactly unctuous and certainly far from cloying but this leaves an impression of red fruit aromas followed by substantial mouthfeel. Tannins are layered, variegate and in their grippiest moments severely intense. Does not mean austerity but does indicate several years are needed to untether ties, unfold creases and embolden bonds that will make this the Vigna 2019 it surely wants to be. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Fiore del Vento 2019

Fiore del Vento is not Campo Marzio, nor should it be and yet their connection and bond are what put them in the same family of Vigna Brunello from vineyards that share location but also elevation and winds. As in this one where Fiore thrives and so Brunello di Montalcino is represented from a unique perspective. Fiore delivers more natural fruit sweetness and less lift, similar wood texture and in the end a softer, rounded and quicker to enjoy experience. Drink this ahead of Campo Marzio, though after the classico label. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2023

Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Fior di Meliloto 2019

Fior di Melioto is almost entirely unique though of course the DNA is shard with the four other ‘19s by Corte Pavone. This is expressive of the greatest aromatic perfume and lift of them all in a sangiovese of so much accumulation and concentration. It would appear that the sun and the best of the vintage shone on this parcel, not to the defect of others but this just shows more. Everything falls into place with Fior di Melioto and here is the Brunello that breaches the line to put Loacker’s deep dive into vineyard investigations into a whole new light. The next is here, the impression left one that will linger for longer than memory ever remembers and in the end we are moved by this next level of transformation. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2023

La Mannella Vineyard

Cortonesi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Mannella 2019

Tomasso Cortonesi’s quip is messaged through the mouth of Francesco Ripaccioli: “When you have no space you have money. So you build a cellar and then you have space – but you have no money.” Appropriate irony from a northwestern Montalcinese winemaker whose La Mannella history has been one of Tetris – but that will soon change. The quality of his wines from this property arrive at peak form with an outstanding 2019 and going forward new cellar space will help to raise the bar. A bar set by these two Brunello boys who bottle in May because “that’s when the Annata are ready.” Also allows a rest period for six months in bottle ahead of Benvenuto Brunello and eight before a January release. Tomasso’s ’19 is fragrant but the kind at dusk on a cool November day in Montalcino, just like an hour ago. The most natural sweetness in a La Mannella sangiovese that has ever been noted and that makes for a Brunello you can find early gratification, but deeper down is the understanding concerning a sangiovese with fortified structure. Purely, expressly La Mannella, fresh and of a Brunello with great purpose. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted November 2023

Poggiarelli Vineyard

Cortonesi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggiarelli 2019

The artist formerly known as I Poggiarelli dropped the “I” in 2012 because, “like Facebook,” jokes Tomasso Cortonesi. These vines were planted in 1990 by father Marco and the original block furthest northeast in the vineyard from 1972 was put in by Tomasso’s grandfather. A windy place overlooking the Orcia Valley and surrounded by heavy forest. A fresh location and from ’19 comes the uncanny scent of a just bitten into fresh peach. It’s almost unfathomable how openly aromatic Poggiarelli is, for itself and also for any that have been tasted over the years. Walk the vineyard (which we did today) and the landscape within the forests will tell you so much about what is needed to know. Worth noting this is the first vintage with 15-20 percent of whole bunches in the fermentation (lasting 15-20 days). The bunches are small and the stems come out brown and dark. This was the suggestion from consulting oenologist Paolo Caciorgna. “If we don’t try, we never know,” says Cortonesi and the purpose is to induce some more volume on the wine. A risk because Brettanomyces can creep in to munch on sugars trapped inside the whole berries, especially when you rack. The attack can occur in the blink of an eye so timing and the quickest transitions must be executed, some sulphites added, all the while keeping care of pH. These are the actions that can be done to keep the microbes away. Success in 2019 without any doubt because the clarity, purity and precision of this Vigna Brunello are all in peak form. May be the earliest accessibility of a Poggiarelli yet longevity should not be questioned. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted November 2023

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Progetto Prime Donne 2019

Sidestepping away from the Annata here into the Primedonne for a Donatella sangiovese that is their vintage Brunello incarnate, rich and seasoned, vertical and expressive because it is made with reason. Lends credence for an example of what Brunello can be if more importantly become out of a gathering fixed into a moment in time. This is exactly the kind of 2019 that will act, look and taste differently each and every time because it is fickle, emotional and the most moving target in Montalcino wine. Note the acidity is never warm or cool, but always clean. For now the structure locks fruit tight and shows no sign of movement. Important for the vintage because there are many that did not find this gear, nor the potentiality of targets. Primedonne owns some and looks at many. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2023

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vallocchio 2019

Vallocchio the vineyard is a prized hillside block and expectation calls for excitement ahead of a taste, if also because the vintage should likely deliver top quality fruit. That it does but also supplies a structural set dubitably more serious from Valocchio for ’19. A verticality imagined as statuesque and so curious because many Brunelli of the vintage are ones of deep fruit impression, yet this is clearly not. There is austerity and trenchant intendment from Fanti, not entirely out of character but it shows that the family really wanted to make a serious sangiovese of longevity from and for the vintage. In this regard the classicism and heritage are followed so be aware, stay alert and exercise some patience. Drink 2027-2039. Tasted November 2023

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna del Fiore 2019

If the large quantity label of Annata-Classica will show youthfulness, wood and structure to need a few years further age than the single vineyard sangiovese will require two times the amount, at the very least. Vigna del Fiore fruit is deeper but also darker, richer in terms of texture and full of parts more developed. More than that are perfumes and spicing that demand attention while the interaction between fruit and structural parts are working through their motions. Having tasted the 2015 just the night before and finding it just beginning to reveal scenes two through four within act one notes tells us that 2019 VdF is likely 10 years away from that launching point. Sure it can be enjoyed to the fullest in five to seven years but the best will be a few more after that. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2023

Fattoria La Magia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Ciliegio 2019

Substantially increased concentration and suitably more depth from the canasta of Ciliegio while we understand that specific vineyard fruit is responsible for such a sangiovese excitation. If 2019 classica is youthful and not quite ready then getting a load of these sangiovese laces pulled tight in a Ciliegio is impossibly immovable. Some minutes in the glass makes a good difference but not nearly enough to coax out full grace and charm. There’s that lift once again but this time the acidity is both sweeter and dustier so that balsamic really makes a play. The style is modern that much is known and the riches luxe because ripenesses and extractions are each their partner for what is a very focused plan. Mouthfeel is exceptional, neither too silken or emulsified but somewhere elegantly hovering in the space between. Feels like air or space above and also below but also to both sides because this is not a round but rather a linear constructed wine. There is no happenstance but there is coincidence, as a La Magia Brunello and also as it connects and expands from the Annata label. An extra year would be preferred and the end point looks further ahead, as it must. More solid work from Fabian Schwarz. Should outlive the classica by five years at minimum. Only 2,000-2,500 bottles are produced, on the higher end with thanks to the vintage. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted November 2023

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcinio DOCG Rosildo 2019

Frescobaldi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Castelgiocondo 2019

Such a lovely and forthright perfume to Castelgiocondo with fruit well extracted if judiciously so. This means balance from the get go and that is most appreciated with knowledge of there being ambitious potential from a vintage so high in quality. Yet the Frescobaldi team stays the course and delivers another consistent Brunello di Montalcino for loyal consumers and then to the budding adoration of a new generation alike. Such a solid wine of fruit, acid and tannin each equally and naturally sweet, one after another around the circumference, in perpetuity. Just a touch sappy at the finish but that is neither a distraction nor is it a crime. So well representative of the denomination and vintage. Quantity and quality. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Pieve Santa Restituta

Pieve Santa Restituta – Gaja Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Rennina 2019

For Angelo Gaja Rennina is akin to Barbaresco while Sugarille is like Barolo but this is Tuscany, the grape are sangiovese and so the wines are each their own entity. This Rennina is from a classic vintage when such a thing is rare these days, which means true località savour, cool herbal notes and wood that does not obfuscate Rennina’s reality. A pied de cuve alcoholic fermentation, followed by a week or two (as in 2019) of malolactic fermentation, “to fix the poly-phenolics” explains winemaker Nicola Vaglini. This happens half and half in wood and steel but the former is preferred to fix colour and stabilize the wine. Tonneaux is very much involved and bâtonnage has created an emulsified, filled in mid palate but overall the expression is from a mix that works empirically out of a sense of place. A richness and an impeccably dressed quality about this Brunello but it’s the more grounded and accessible of the two. You really do have to appreciate the freshness of the sangiovese. Feels warm on the finish which is the tannin speaking so allow two to three years for Rennina to find its calm. After that it should linger for 10 more without really changing much at all, with thanks to its terrific tension. Should also outlast Sugarille because it’s more elastic. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted November 2023

Pieve Santa Restituta – Gaja Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Sugarille 2019

Sees 24 months in wood (tonneaux and 30-60 HL botti) then six months in concrete. There are vintages however, especially warm ones when the wines need to be put back to tonneaux for a few extra aging months, given further bâtonnage and back to Botti again. This happened in 2019. The bigger, broader, more muscular and also austere of the two Brunello is Sugarille, the Barolo if you will but again Tuscan sangiovese is emphatically not nebbiolo. The truth is at first in the pudding of the aromas, sweetly herbal and floral, but then the palate is another matter altogether, built with layers upon layers of micro-oxygenated fruit and the kind of tannins that are compact, demanding and as mentioned – austere. Everything is elevated and magnified in Sugarille – you can surely see why it will age longer or more importantly once that happens it will change and move through secondary motions with greater haste then Rennina. Oxidative notes will usher in bosco, the forest floor, porcini and tartufo after 10 years or so. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

Gianni Brunelli Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Le Chiuse di Sotto 2019

Classic perfumes from Laura at Gianni Brunelli and its Le Chuise di Sotto origins where red cherry fruit and balsamic accents coexist, heightened and fortified with 2019 fruit. A vintage of both intensity and also layering, seamless integration of all parts that can’t help but be rendered into some form of ethereal liquidity. Juicy and of a particular Montalcino twang because place and vintage come together for this tart red fruit molasses with singularly exotic spiced accents. Style and necessity are in the house for Gianni Brunelli. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted November 2023

Gorelli Giuseppe Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Il Marroneto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Madonna Delle Grazie 2019

The label of Alessandro Mori’s Madonna Delle Grazie had not ever changed but today the name of the farm is more prominent than the denomination. This is now essential to Mori because things and times have changed. In his opinion too many Brunello di Montalcino are not representative or respectful of heritage, familial and estate culture but especially the genius loci of place. Too many that have lost the way and are brands, built by marketing and hollowness. The question here and of more importance with respect to Madonna Delle Grazie is do we like the wine? The answer is an emphatic and quite frankly epiphanic yes. The MdG’s power is not about killing you softly but instead holding onto and gripping the senses by explaining with unequivocal doubt what it means to be sangiovese grown at 420m on the northeastern slope of the Montalcino hill. This 2019 gains your full and complete attention at first with scents kicked up from underfoot on a moonless November night, but then by truth explained through differences made abundantly clear. Depth and profundity exceeding the majority of wines from this vintage, even while many of them would try to sku the mind to want to believe. You may until you taste a Brunello like this and Alessandro insists that you shouldn’t allow “50 percent of the wines make you think think the vintage is not great, because 2019 is fantastic.” He would of course be correct and his Vigna is hyper real but also generous. Acidity is essential and here dominant to help keep this sangiovese see to decades of enjoyment. What’s so incredible is how we don’t even talk about tannin in Il Marroneto’s Brunello, not because they are not there, nor are they taken for granted. They are pure and woven into the fabric, as they should be. Keep in mind this is not Riserva. “Only nature can decide what will become a Riserva. It has to be a monster.” Drink 2027-2045. Tasted November 2023

Il Palzzone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Le Due Porte 2019

Le Due Porte is the name of the vineyard taken from the località of that name and the vineyard geology is unique, based on two variations of sandstone. One is Arenaria, ubiquitous to Tuscany and the other Pietranera, the Montalcino way of saying Pietraforte. Just like what happens from vintage to vintage with the Annata (classico) the same occurs for the “two doors.” In other words an exaggeration of Il Palazzone riches, from scents specific to these lands through silken glycerol mouthfeel and finally the knowable balsamic that is this place. More wood is felt to no surprise from truly traditional Brunello di Montalcino that sticks to its heritage in the production and refinement of sangiovese that could only come from this estate. The age abilities for Le Due Porte will indeed be long and fruitful. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2023

La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Fiore Di NO 2019

Notably next step up and level for 2019 sangiovese with more aromatic presence and especially seasoning which is clearly the calling of Etichetta and even more so Vigna-designated wines. Shows off more and more special parts, expresses more feelings of place and doubles down on culture with respect to heritage and tradition. This too takes nothing for granted and so Fiore di NO should and will be respected for its gentle and restrained nature. Fine sangiovese is a good thing. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

La Fortuna Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Giobi 2019

Etichetta labeled 2019 Giobi is a fine step forward and up for La Fortuna, fruit of a similar if surely richer ilk. You can really feel the extra levels and layers of constituent parts that form, build and mold this sangiovese into the full and substantial edifice it is. Should drink well for a decade and a half from now. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2023

La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino DOCG La Pieve 2019

More settling and caution comes from La Pieve of fruit quite proper and well utilized in a dozen ways that best the Annata label for La Gerla. Still the tones and lift run high but that fruit is respected and the cask aging of much less distraction. This would be a very solid classica and as a Vigna Brunello it’s serviceable if unexceptional. Not the most ideal vintage for La Gerla where some challenges were surely faced. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2023

Le Gode Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Montosoli 2019

Single sight stage presence is Le Gode’s 2019 act, of ripeness, cooling effects, sweet savour, clarity and purity. Like the Annata but a bit more concentrated while also expressive of the place, that being the important hill just to the northern sector of the higher and more historic centre. Everyone wants a pice of Montosoli and the Ripaccioli part in the hands of precocious makers like Carlotta Ripaccioli is a big deal. It’s real responsibility and this 2019 shows just how much care, sweat, passion and especially maturity are how collective respect is being shown to these crucial Montalcino vineyards. Once again tannins are not the driver and acidity lifts fruit up higher but still within a sphere of influence, gentle touch and style. A well made and frankly volupté Montosoli if not really one to lose in the cellar. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

La Lecciaia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Manapetra 2019

As expected and predicted Vigna Manapetra takes up where the classica label leaves off and squares the parts for an ideal extrapolative extension that speaks so well this young. The fact that such substantial fruit comes swelling out of vineyard and into glass means that wood and tannins act calmer, sweeter, finer and more developed. Here is just lovely and full Vigna Brunelllo that will drink well as early as La Leccaia and also longer though it will be hard to avoid consuming whatever bottles are ever popped and whenever that happens. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2023

La Rasina Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Persante 2019

Lovely swirl of fruit richness in Le Rasina’s Etichetta Brunello 2019 and acidity that marches along stride for stride. Gentle swarthiness as well, an effect of all kinds of soil, weather and conditions but in harmony no matter the sidestepping of subtle sauvage. Chewy wine with crispy edges, angles if not sharp ones and some proper austerity in the drying tannins. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2023

Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Casanovina Montosoli 2019

There is the temptation to say that northern Montalcino vineyards are no longer cooler, even while they are surely that as compared to the south. Montosoli is still a cool place and the sangiovese may be ripe from 2019 but its structural backbone is one of austere tannins and near raging acidity. Though this is true the vintage gifts some pretty succulent and fleshy fruit with orange zest, tart peach and red citrus running amok. Bit off a wild vintage for Casonovina, not in a sauvage, funky sausage or swarthy way, but the austerity meeting juicy tang and a feeling of “animale” makes for a seriously notable act of sangiovese intensity. The potential is for the whole and the profound so exercise patience, come back in three years and then let the games begin. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2023

Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Passo del Lume Spento 2019

Passo del Lume Spento is the newest addition though by now an experienced Vigna Brunello from 620m which puts it at the perch of elevation for sangiovese in Montalcino. No surprise there is more light, extreme freshness and also tightly wound sangiovese which means that of the five Brunello made by Riccardo Campinoti it is this that seems the least vintage obvious. Consistency is ingrained into this sangiovese’s nature and perfumes are what define not only its entry but its destination. That and tannin which is drying, austere and profound – this is what puts this near unicorn of of Montalcino wine in vintage light because fruit, flesh and texture will almost certainly keep up for what could be a very long and slow process on the path to maturity. This is a really ideal vintage for this wine to find its next gear with a coursing mineral mix of karst and also flesh from bone. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted November 2023

Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Petroso 2019

Petroso is the newer of vineyard plantings at the estate just to the south of Montalcino village and like Passo del Lume Spento is now coming into its own. High elevation though not quite like PDLM but still height matters in terms of solar radiation, day for night temperatures and freshness incarnate. A deeper tone here both from clay and sand but also vintage with 2019 delivering all the goods so that plenty of flesh hangs on these sangiovese bones. This has so many layers to peel away and to reveal what more there is to be discovered. It would be wise to point out how many people will likely fall in love with this most unctuous of Riccardo Campinoti’s Petroso but it currently lacks the complexity of the other Vigna wines. Just a bit of chalky bitterness at the finish suggests the tannins need to resolve to bring in the question of age. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2023

Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino V.V. DOCG 2019

Yes V.V. stands for Vecchie Vignes, old vines in other words and so come for the concentration, stay for the vintage party. Richness out of ripeness squared and yet acidity preserved for freshness kept no matter the Brunelllo by Le Ragnaie. There is that blood orange juiciness again, not quite 2013 sanguine but it’s there in an almost succulent and mouth-watering way. Though there is austerity there is so much to back it up and the parts are each in their correct place. Makes for a focused sangiovese with great potential. The tannins here are riper and less chalky than Petroso, the finish cleaner, again fresher and the final result quite satisfying. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2023

Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Loreto 2019

A similarity or thread comes into the single Loreto vineyard label though this is clearly amplified and more substantial sangiovese. Fuller and also more tannic with some tension between the fruit and its structural parts. More wood obviously and the modern sort that needs to dissolve before occupying new areas of a Brunello that shows really good length. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Schiena d’Asino 2019

Top parcel for Mastrojanni on two adjacent slopes in declension from a shared ridge between with 360-390m of elevation. One faces southeast and the other southwest, planted together in 1975. Just about 45 years of age and in 2019 picking was on October the 2nd. Sees 42 months in 16hL Allier barrels though you’d never know it because the French wood is so beautifully integrated. Surely herbal, brushy and balsamic on the nose but that is just a fraction of the generosity and the complexity this Vigna (or in a sense Vigne) Brunello is wanting to give. Crunchy sangiovese is just this type and if it’s not yours then you may not be paying attention. A serious glass of Brunello here, layered with variegate stony terroir feels and fruit captured in its veritable essence. Vigna Schiena d’Asino is one of the wines that define the vintage, especially for the southern reaches of Montalcino. Those who choose to afford a bottle should purchase at least two because the temptation is real and one may just have to be sacrificed early to see what all this fuss is about. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted January 2024

Máté Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Veltha 2019

Veltha is altra tipologia as in a fantasy name for a Brunello that essentially means a “selection” of vineyards, vines or casks. Imagination kicks in because this is what Veltha (from Etruscan mythology, Voltumna or Veltha was the chthonic – relating to or inhabiting the underworld deity) who became the supreme god of the Etruscan pantheon, the deus Etruriae princeps, according to Varro. Essentially a more calm if luxe, suave and silken version of a Máté Brunello with more juiced orange and blood orange than the classica. Veltha’s structure is already softening and so the drinkability is high though agea-ability less so. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2023

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Ofelio 2019

Ofelio is altra tipologia as in a fantasy name for a Brunello that essentially means a “selection” of vineyards, vines or casks. Clear, present and devilishly dangerous sangiovese because like the Classica there is volume, dimension and great acidity. What takes it further is the spice component and the intoxication of fragrance. A much fuller expression but also one with great fantasy. This Ofelia will age and it may be really important to let that happen. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

Pinino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Pinino 2019

Vigna Pinino of an iteration that was gifted all the best vintage fruit so that the classica label is really all wood and not much else. The Vigna is a better if still spiced and toasty example. Still it’s more wood than anything else and quite lactic within the overall mix of wood and lavender paste. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2023

Podere Giardino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Le Tracce 2019

Highly unusual for a 2019 Brunello and in this case also for the declamation in general. Sappy, resinous and artificially constructed aromas indicate faults, non-traditional style and suspect winemaking practices. From southerly vines near Sant’Angelo in Colle and a long (36 month) aging time spent in French wood. Soaked up too much, clouded the fruit and in the end there is high alcohol and a lack of balance.Tasted November 2023

Sebastian Nasello

Podere Le Ripi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Cielo di Ulisse 2019

A team of 33 strong manages a 100,000 total bottle production for Francesco Illy’s Podere Le Ripi. In 2016 the estate grew from 12 to 34 hectares and is today under the guidance of CEO and Winemaker Sebastian Nasello. Two terroirs for Brunello, to the east Castelnuovo and Camigliano area in the west. Cielo Di Ulisse is Brunello from the latter, bottled back in May. This alluvial terroir is shared with Antinori’s Pian delle Vigne, of lower elevation down by the river with a surround of forest. A place that struggles in rainy seasons with an average yield of 6-7 tonnes per hectare. Other estates here are Cupano and Elia Palazzesi. This is a terroir where the ancient retreating river moved and left behind sand, outcrops of Galestro, erosion and run-off down from the hill of Campo del Drago and Capanna. Some Pietraforte is also found. Has settled in with six months refinement and the vintage is one “where both the (western and eastern” sectors performed in a positive way.” No real stressors, quality and quantity, higher yields in their alluvial area where that schisty Galestro and also the Pietraforte have their place. Fine, clean and precise for Montalcino, a transparent red juiciness and succulence that shows early picked sangiovese and captured acidity, both at their ripest for the time and place. There is an underlying earthiness, neither chalky nor sous bois but something sweetly vegetal. Fine and also a beef bone marrow quality, a bit grasso” grassy and oily. Flows naturally and lingers long. Likely some this label’s better to best tannins though pH is under control and the aforementioned acidity stays strong. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2023

Podere Le Ripi Brunello di Montalcino Amore e Magia DOCG 2019

At Castelnuovo in the east the challenge is in the hot vintages where the silty, sandy calcarativo terroir is not high in limestone nut more like a calcareous dust. Also a calanico of clay so the geology is quite diverse. The key overarching plan is to find balance between phenolic maturity and acidity. “We are one of the first to pick,” tells Sebastian Nasello, starting at the beginning of September, even the end of August. “I want to work on the pH as best I can and not lose the spicy acidity.” He also insists on capping alcohol at 14.5 percent, especially when working with natural ferments and low use of sulphites. “Amore E Magia” is Brunello from Le Ripi’s estate vineyards, specifically the single plot of Magia and so here is a label that combines love and the place. A warmer place and because of the easy and low stress vintage this would have been picked very early, right at the advent of September when acids ran high, pH had yet to rise and tannins were still just a bit green. Fermented in foudres, aged in grandi botti (by Bozen) for 28 months, followed by concrete for eight or nine more. Shows fuller body but also depth of fruit than the Cielo though less brightness and excitability. It’s a matter of place and it should be supposed also style though cousins are kin and these wines know one another very well. The variegate tannins express character and lend this Brunello its personality. Mixed geology at this farm has much to do with the wine’s final result. Ageing should be long. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted November 2023

Tasting Poggio Antico

Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino Vigna I Poggi 2019

Poggi is the cru within the cru, the vineyard at the highest point of the estate (upwards of 600m) and planted in 2005. “Ten years ago the wines that came out of this vineyard were too fresh,” admits Alessio Sostegni. The evolution of the vineyard has come to act out a meeting of concentration and acidity for a guarantee of freshness and so deserves to be a Vigna-designate Brunello. Aging includes some 23 hL Stockinger botti and this is a wine that shows the recent beneficial changes made at Poggio Antico. Speaks to climate change but also higher attention paid to organics, sustainability and the fact that the estate is an isolated one and every vintage is very different. Replaces the more ubiquitous Altero label which was a barrel selection and now Vigna is both a reflection of change but also necessity, if only because PA doesn’t need to rely on the idea of barrel selection to make a next level wine. It means the team is evolving and doing what is right today. Lots of limestone and schist derived Galestro, poor soils and the sangiovese delivers citrus, like blood orange (including zest and pith), the idea of bergamot, but also a very unique mineral chalkiness that streaks through the entirety of the wine. That is the language of soils talking and it is a taster’s imperative to pay close attention. The days of Altero were those that tried to impress but I Poggi changes the discourse and now the wine is about making an impression. This is very worth getting hands on a few bottles. There are not so many available. Approximately 7,000 bottles produced. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2023

Ridolfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Donna Rebecca 2019

Donna Rebecca Etichetta Brunello 2019 is a sangiovese of great hyperbole as it pertains to the Annata of the same season. More of the cooler climate perfumes, upticks in acidity and lift, uptakes of seasoning and all the green elements from low lying bushes and high arching trees. Also an element of glycerol and unctuous texture. Finding the VA and the wood resins a bit over the top in this vintage. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2023

Ruffino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Greppone Mazzi 2019

Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Piaggione 2019

The estate was sold to Sabine and Felix Eichbauer in 2017 but all four Brunello (including three single vineyard labels) continue to hold great respect for the work of Francesco Leanza. Piaggione was Leanza’s Riserva and while the Eichbauers have transferred that power into Teatro, there is no loss of love for this single vineyard. Not hard to notice the extra layer of concentration and fruit layering from Piaggione and so that austerity and compactness in the Annata is lessened and forgiven through this Brunello. A finer expression that feels rounder and more natural but recent history does remind us that Piaggone’s tannins are sneaky ones waiting in the wings and shadows of the hidden meaning of the wine. Once again I am reminded of tasting the freshest pre-alcoholic fermentation fruit from the vat and with this kept in mind there is power in the knowledge of prediction. Piaggione also shows the slightest lift and Bretty moment but its tannins are sound and the sangiovese stays juicy from beginning to end. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2023

Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Sorgente 2019

The most substance and power comes from Sorgente, much more than Piaggione and clearly as compared to the classica Annata. What’s also evident is the tension between parts, all elastically tied in tether to one another, stretching, expanding and contracting on what seems like an endless or perpetual basis. Moments of acting crispy, chewy and crunchy are on the cycle and so fruit, acid and tannin all take turns, one after another, then back to the beginning again. The wheel keeps on turning and we don’t know where Sorgente will be tomorrow but the ferment, elévage, aging and now bottle time have all gone extremely well. This will age somewhat indefinitely and become a Brunello for the ages. Drink 2028-2040. Tasted November 2023

San Polino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Helichrysum 2019

More volume and substance of course when you taste Helichrysum side by each with Katia Nussbaum’s classica but still the restraint and the stream of consciousness charm is what you seek in this fantasy of a wine. The cask is yet to fully integrate and the piques of spice fill the spaces in between, but given four years this will show its grace. At 10 it will accompany you for a memorable meal. Drink 2027-2034. Tasted November 2023

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino Podernovi DOCG 2019

Podernovi takes perfume and aromatic seasoning to another level for a San Polo Brunello and 2019 answers the call for such effect-reward. Spiced with salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, an almost kimchi spiciness and complexities running hither, thither and amok. A fine example of Etichetta from a prized vineyard location and all the possibilities in effect for probabilities going forward. Really well made. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2023

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vignvecchia 2019

Next level richness and concentration from the old vines Annata, above and beyond both classica and Podernovi. That said the Vignavecchia also holds cards for things Podernovi does not and lacks parts that its sister uses to great effect. The old vineyard knows experience and makes use of that acumen for a sangiovese of depth and complexity. It misses the precocious nature and liveliness of Podernovi but truth is this wine is years away from being ready and will outlive the others for a long and generous life. The tension in this wine tells us about these matters and so put them away, forget about them and return in four or more years time. Drink 2027-2037. Tasted November 2023

Siro Parenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Pelagrilli 2019

There is some surprise in the higher tonality and lift out if Siro Pacenti’s Pelagrilli because as an Etichetta label the expectation might have been richerm more baritone and somber style. Not the case in fact it’s the purity and transparency that sets this sangiovese apart from the Classica bottle. There is in fact more wood that is noted on the palate and the wonder will be if more than just Botti are used. The lavender, graphite and violets suggest otherwise and while major complexities are emitted there is this sense that a grand amount of time will be needed to integrate the parts of this ’19. A full expression of Brunello indeed, oscillating and moving in circles, especially on the palate. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2023

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Piero 2019

Always bears reminding that Piero is a single vineyard at the estate below the village of Sant’Angelo in Colle that spends 24 months in tonneaux (new, second and third passage). The finale becomes a blend of these vessels in whatever increments are necessary to invoke and cement harmony. This vineyard designate wine also delivers the greatest sweet acids that make the fruit seem as ripe as is conscionable but the truth is something different. A marriage of cherry and peach with spicy pomegranate and it is the freshness of this sangiovese that piques the nose with a peppery tickle. It’s uncanny how Piero’s concentration always seems to have this effect. Solid if ever so tantalizingly salty, micro-climate conspicuous and then you add in this omnipresent quality of near perfect grapes out of a season that gifted everything – the consensus attitude and conclusion is of a wine that speaks in the clearest Montalcinese vernacular as if it were the language itself. Hard to find any fault or letdown in its presentation and architecture. The tannins are just about 100 percent ripe and as for issues, well there are none. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted November 2023

Tassi Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tassi Franci 2019

Rich, spicy and developed fruit with high if cooling acidity for a full aromatic complement that does just that for the vintage. Notable wood to assimilate and resolve before Tassi’s 2019 reaches its goal. Fine work once again and a sangiovese that speaks in very correct terms for its place and time. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2023

Tassi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Colombaiolo 2019

One of a few Colombaiolo single vineyard sangiovese in Montalcino and from Tassi a high toned and mildly swarthy one with a note of Brettanoymces present. Not a large one but it does dry out the finish after what began as an aromatically gregarious sangiovese with knowable potential. Need to find the right food pairing, preferably a traditional cinghiale or coniglio braise with a rich, wine-developed sauce. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2023

Tenuta San Giorgio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Ugolforte 2019

Poggio di Sotto’s sister property lower down the hill and under the auspices of the Collemasari group has grown out of its adolescence into a southerly Montalcino adult. The 2019 Ugolforte is ripe fruit cumulate, sweet acid driven and quite structured as compared to most of its first vintages. Wood spice and also those in the cupboard are present in masala form, dried at present while slowly working their way into the rich liquidity of the sangovese. Promise and potential are high with a future that should develop some earthy baritone notes. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2023

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Doria 2019

Magnifying classica is often what Vigna and/or Etichetta will do, as here with Nardi’s Poggio Dora. Much more profound fruit richness and layers to peel away but what matters more is how well the concentration stands up to the wood it is more than willing to receive. There is great richness here and there is one much needed tension to see this travel several years into the future. A long finish speaks to that regard. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

With Vincenzo Abbrusseze of Valdicava

Valdicava Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Montosoli 2019

Up until the 1970s Vincenzo Abbruzzese’s maternal grandfather Bramante Martini owned most of the Montosoli hill but he sold it off and in 2008 Valdicava purchased a small piece back, later to make a first Brunello in 2015 with the cru written on the label. Full south facing 1.3 hectare plot that was originally only bottled in 1,500 magnums but the first Classica size comes with this 2019 vintage. It begins with Abbruzzese saying that all great wines have a secret. “Vineyard, vineyard, vineyard,” meaning location, location, location. Montosoli was bottled more recently than the “normale” but still at least a few months back. Considering it has not traveled anywhere (except to the next room) it is surely settled. One of Valdicava’s labels (of a character half man and half woman) is a depiction by the Sienese Renaissance painter Domenico di Pace Beccafumi who painted the Archangel Michele in that tradition. At the time the artist was at odds with his church commissioners. The Montosoli label is of Jesus in Limbo, a then blasphemous image because it was something that did not exist. Abbruzzese is passionate about horses (he owns 30 of them) and also the arts and so the allegories help explain when he says his sangiovese are made “to celebrate that spirit living in a place.” That being Montosoli which from 2019 is rich, structured and immovable, like a Beccafumi that hangs through the centuries. Seriously Galestro-Pietraforte flaky and chalky, so far away from its intended destination. Some yeasty distraction but nothing more, a Montosoli produced with respect to neighbour Elisabetta Gnudi and her holdings at Altesino. Many layers are here to unfold during what will be a long and steady climb before the true notion of sublime and ethereal can be discussed. True balance is in order. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted November 2023

Val Di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Al Granchio 2019

In the words of Angelini Wines and Estates COO Andrea Lonardi MW, Poggio Al Granchio from the eastern side of Montalcino is all about citrus and often unripe, angry tannins. In other words a Brunello of great potential. Poggio al Granchio is clearly high level Etiichetta-Vigna Brunello though in 2019 also rounder and less tension filled than Vigna del Lago. Here the smoothness of style and richness of parts gather for full and substantial sangiovese from which wood is a much greater factor. ‘Tis quite chocolaty and while time will help integrate that wood it will also continue to soften the overall impression we will get form the wine. Goo finishing spice and complex flavours remind us of grape and place but also season. Notable gaminess that is ostensibly and veritably Granchio take over the palate. A sanguine 2019, more than any of the others. a very good Brunello to try, especially in line with the other Val di Suga 2019s. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2023

Val Di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Spuntali 2019

Crunchy Vigna Spuntali from the southwest slope, a place of Mediterranean fauna, especially olive trees and Ginestra. Sols are sandstone and harder Pietraforte that deal in grapes that are spicy, with notes of orange candy and relatively softer tannins. Spuntali exists somewhere on a line between Vigna del Lago and Poggio al Granchio or maybe it is better viewed as a Brunello that combines the best of those other two worlds. Plenty of substantial fruit, more than notable wood, spice and seasoning but also great energy and focus. This Brunello is alive with the season and the fruit it was blessed to provide. There is a bleed of sanguinity but also lift from really high acidity. A cooler collection of sangiovese selected it would seem to result in a 2019 that both rises high and then seeks patience for time. This may just be the pearl in Val di Suga’s oyster and that of its wisdom. Hard not to notice the evergreen on the finish, typical of heavily forested western Montalcino and the always present mint at the finale. Drink 2027-2037. Tasted November 2023

Val Di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Del Lago 2019

It may be the coolest of the three vineyard locations but this 2019 Vigna del Lago is special. It is here hat fruit compounds, layers and develops great richness, like the skins of the grapes within the bunches, keeping the flesh within so fresh and ready to burst. These must have been grapes that needed almost no pressing or “svinatura” because the plumpness and exceptionally clean clarity is near the top of the echelon in Vigna-designate wines. More than ample to generous acidity and also wood takes this to another place altogether for Brunello 2019 that impresses but the next level of impression is several years away. This is as near complete a 2019 Vigna as they come – the future will be really interesting. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2023

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

Capanna Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

Capanna Riserva is just that from 2018, befitting of the appellative profile having taken full advantage of the best fruit available to adhere and to fix a style. This is unctuous and also luxe sangiovese though not as tannic and unforgiving as some. Less crunchy and more silken though those tannins do express a certain expectation as a request for at least two more years of waiting. When they resolve they will do so quickly and so there will be a five year window where this wine will be at its finest before submitting to notes dominated by tartufo and “bosco.” Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2023

Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Adalberto 2018

“To Alberto” is a fine ode of Riserva and while the 2019 Annata are shining bright it is important to appreciate these next year retrospective looks at a vintage of variability. Riserva from Caprili is true blue appellative sangiovese because its swirl and fruit ooze are part of the distillate liqueur style that define the operation. This is Riserva richness incarnate and anyone looking to be pleased by a style which is precisely how they see it, well ’18 Adalberto will satisfy. Unequivocally a wine that was made with the best selection in order to fulfill promise and gift reward. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2023

Carpineto Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

Highly stylized sangiovese from Carpineto and clearly worthy of the Riserva calling if impossible not to notice the place at elevation with as mush southern brassiness as there is in Montalcino. Richness from fruit, sweet acids and wood resins all combine for true Riserva capability and the effort is duly noted. Lovely and stylish ’18 by Carpineto and worthy of accolades to any degree that is wished to be forthcoming. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Collemattoni Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Fontelontano 2018

A healthy liqueur in this Fontelontano Riserva Brunello from Collemattoni and a sangiovese expressive of something more than Annata can provide. A Brunello of major fruit and near equal cask, swirling if also oozing with naturally sweet red fruit flavours and a complimentary sweetness that wood is want to provide. This is very specific and beautiful in its very own way, neither lifted nor austere but in a way rounded, smooth, creamy and as mentioned, highly distinct. Some are vertical and some travel the circumference of a circle, creatively and not on a strict line but with the ability to move as a pack of its parts. Such is Collemattoni and many will relish the fineness but also the softness of its style. The source may be from far away but it’s surely one of inspiration, fonte di ispirazione. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2023

Collosorbo Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

Like the 2019 Annata this Collosorbo Riserva from the previous vintage provides an aromatic mess of spice that dominate within the exotic perfume. Once again this combination of place and winemaking does everything to encourage such a wild masala emission. That would be a località most proximate to Castelnuovo dell’Abate and the abbey of Sant’Antimo is the southeastern part of Montalcino. A place of V-shaped valleys that might be compared to certain parts of Barolo where warm seasons are contrasted and tempered by soils that offer cool respite to vines. A crunchy Riserva here from Collosorbo that uses its spices to make sure the wine is expressed with great complexity no matter the austerity or mild astringency of tannins and the finish. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted November 2023

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Molino Al Vento 2018

The front label does not mention Poggio Molino al Vento, a.k.a. the windmill on the hill but that and this is Riserva with 2018 as its benefactor. A high toned one at that with fruit lifted by acidity that is without compromise a product of western Montalcino elevation and very exposed vineyards. To counteract and balance that effect there is quite a lot of barrel on this 2018 PMaV that trips the switch and transfers light onto the palate. Also a sappiness and richness of wood, not quite creamy but certainly gelid or thickened. Challenging vintage to effect Riserva when several Annata (and Vigna) are produced and this does well to find its legs. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Elia Palazzesi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Collelceto 2018

A wise and by now quite settled example of 2018 Riserva that presents with just about ready to drink amenability. Softening fruit and tannins are on the same page whereby a quick decant or aeration will ready this to be poured. Softer and simpler with easy and rounded corners, a caressing texture and nurturing glass of knowable red fruit sangiovese. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2023

Fattoi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

Next level fruit from 2018 Riserva but nothing out of the ordinary for Fattoi or the vintage and yet it’s hard not to see this as a most generous expression of that topsy turvy season. Just as 2019 Annata makes itself available the same can be said for 2018 Riserva. A fine wine of fluidity and brace, comfort and nurturing. Lovely swirl around and around, a round sangiovese but yet there are some tense moments because it is after all sangiovese. Fulsome and plenty of energy in the body politic to dance and please for years to come. Brava once again from the very philanthropic estate and always wine of great heritage. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2023

Frescobaldi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Ripa al Convento di Castelgiocondo 2018

Full ripeness, concentration and gravitas fills the bottles of Frescobald’s Riserva label for the historic edifice of Ripa al Convento di Castelgiocondo. Here is a Brunello di Montalcino so right and exacting for the times, full advantage of the best aspects of 2018 captured and disseminated by a team of experts. Readier than most ‘18s because of natural fruit sweetness but even more so acidity of a similar if even higher ilk. The tannins are surprisingly unaggressive which allow for access this early in a Riserva’s tenure. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted November 2023

Il Palazzone Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

Not all estates produced Riserva out of 2018 and yet those who did usually made the decision because their vineyard would have reframed better than many. Il Palazzone’s oldest vineyard of 50-plus years is such a place and worthy of gifting fruit for said purpose. This 2018 is blessed of both an aromatic and also textural liqueur that speaks to experience, concentration and finally refinement. There is almost no comparison between the Annata and Vigna ‘18s and this Riserva. Things are both heightened and finer in Riserva though the wine is far from dense. The mouthfeel is silken like organza textile and the fruit beautifully resolved. Acids are quite sweet and the only distraction comes from some vanilla candle-scented, as yet unresolved four and a half years spent aging in wood. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2023

La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

Fruit is worthy and wood is greater in Riserva from 2018 and memory says that Annata was just as expressive if more to the Montalcino point. Still there are important tenets and aspects to Riserva 2018, perhaps even some history in its shadows and things we just don’t know or understand. It’s a wine of the past, or feels like one and hard to predict when it will act more open in the future. Give it a few years to heal its tannic wounds and open up further. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

La Lecciaia Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

On a roll is how to best describe La Leccaia’s trajectory because retreating retrospectively back into Riserva 2018 there are emotions in reflections that speak about great Brunello from an estate that is doing yeoman work. Respectful work if modern and the kind of Brunello that appeal to the potential of a growing audience. If Brunello di Montalcino wishes to attract new consumers and lovers than La Leccaia’s wines are part of that plan. Riserva is beautiful, luxe and lovely. That is all. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

La Serena Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Gemini 2018

A much fuller and richer expression of fruit and structure for La Serena and so it is clear that Gemini is the best selection of the estate’s fruit. On top of this fine layering comes quite a bit of wood in saps and resins to make for a Brunello that shows its makers’ hands. Will live a promising life though the wood will always be front and centre and if bottles are opened too distant in the future that fruit will have faded along. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 1-2-3 2018

Perhaps, well in fact more fantasy from the imagination of Patrizia Cencioni and this time in Riserva from the 2018 season. One of success because extra care was surely taken to seek out and select the finest fruit available when less of that substance was available. Full with some thin or at least linear middle ground in which the wood adds weight and resinous fleshiness to make sure the whole package is delivered. Not a top vintage but one done up well and right. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Podere Le Ripi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Lupi e Sirene DOCG 2018

Podere Le Ripi’s location in southeastern Montalcino is key to understanding the positive outlook for a Riserva made out of the 2018 vintage. This from a single vineyard though the vines were still a bit stressed in the year following the extremely hot and dry 2017. And yet they bounced back enough to gift high level concentration of both fruit and tannin, one succulent, the other sweet. “The problem of the climate of today,” explains Sebastian Nasello “is that acids are lost and there is nothing you can do about it.” Nasello does not care about colour or tannins that are not perfectly ripe. Concrete stabilizing and longer aging can correct these things to a certain degree. “High pH is a warning for me.” His philosophy means that in 2018 the pick happened in the middle of September and aging was just about 30 months in the Bozen casks, not much longer than the Annata. That said it was released a full year later (as per the disciplinare) and yet this does in fact show more wood, vintage related for sure as the wine is weightier, unexpected, simply what it is. Still a bit shy and closed but some fatness and roundness will set a sangiovese that drinks dutifully in fine Riserva style not much more than six months from now. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2023

Tasting with Poggio Antico winemaker Alessio Sostegni

Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva 2018

I Poggi is the highest part of the vineyards while Riserva comes from the vines right in front of the cellar, south exposed and the highest concentration of fruit. “Our thinking behind the Riserva is a wine that can last over the years,” first iterated by Riccardo Bogi and oenologist Alessio Sostegni is in total accord. From the “plateau,” and half of the grapes become this volumetric and structured Riserva. Vinification in only stainless steel, four weeks of maceration and just two years in wood; small amount in tonneaux, old 25 hL Slavonian oak and one cask of 40 hL Grandi Botti. “We don’t have a recipe for every year,” says Sostegni. “It depends on the vintage.” You feel the density and the aromatic spice – you will have to be patient with this Brunello because the sauce and the alcohol on the nose are quite peppery strong. Also vanilla, graphite and mix of Amari liqueurs. Right now the lightest fruit elements are rising to the top but with time the wine will swirl, integrate and emulsify. It will come together and show much finer harmony. Approximately 5,000 bottles produced. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2023

Poggio Di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

The Riserva is usually aged for 45 months in one 30 hL cask but the vintage requested that amount of time be reduced and the makers heeded the advice to leave this 2018 fruit for 30 instead. A wise choice because the wood would have almost surely given more than its share to bother and smother the fruit. Why not even less is the obvious question but this is the finest fruit in the finest casks still deserving of a good long slumber. Not to mention 30 years of experience by a team with most members having all been there together. Clearly, unequivocally and universally Poggio di Sotto Montalcino, with the most vertical sangiovese from upwards of 500m at elevation and fruit so pure it aches with reality. Restrained at 14 percent as per the vintage call and acids so precise they give off a sheen that hits when the light is just right. The balsamic is a catalyst and the tannins express as much bright succulence as both the fruit and acids, both of which linger long after the wine has gone. A top 2018 by all accounts. Last tasted January 2024

For Montalcino the 2018 Riserva, as with the Annata before, are extremely variable sangiovese. The best are those born of careful selection after ensuring farming was executed as flawlessly as possible due to the challenge of a wet vintage. Not until 2023 will these great rains repeat though in 2018 they were much later, affecting harvest for those who were unlucky, out of synch or not on time. Poggio di Sotto put in the work and so their ’18 sangiovese was top notch and this Riserva equally so. Well dressed, seasoned and cut like a fine julienne, linear and vertical as a sangiovese must enact for this very particular vintage. Not one for the ages but a fine Riserva that will drink well 10-15 years forward. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted November 2023

Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

Riserva 2018 is very different to Annata 2018 because of vintage obviously but also stylistic decisions. The extra level of spiciness and peppery piques on the nose indicate string cask usage and a sangiovese that has yet to cool itself before it pours as it was intended to. Still the bones are strong and the wine well structured if not entirely an example viewed as truly complex. Good Riserva with good length is always a proper thing. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2023

Poggio San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

Quite the emotion to taste San Polo Riserva alongside its three Annata ‘19s and while some estate’s lose the connection or DNA – that is far from the case for San Polo. This clearly shows that 2018 fruit was spread to all of the children with equanimity but maybe just a bit more love was headed Reserva’s way. Its concentration is on par with Vignavecchia 2019 and it bones as vertical as Podernovi of that same vintage. What it really expresses is blanketing, nurturing and covering warmth. The fruit is exceptional, the length equally so and for the vintage this is a very fine example of the appellation. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted November 2023

Sesti Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Phenomena 2018

A closed phase for Siesta’s ’18 Riserva which is not entirely surprising, nor is it any great phenomenon. It is a however great Phenomena, of nature, surely once having been ready and forthcoming, now stubborn and set in its ways. This will change and things will change again. A Phenomena of heritage and tradition but always some fantasy I suppose with chalky tannins and greater structure than the pellucid character might otherwise suggest. Not sneaky because what is sneaky but shall we say a sangiovese that waits its turn. Let’s project just for fun and say three to fours years forward with six up to 10 blessed years of sipping after that. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted November 2023

Tenuta La Fuga Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Le Due Sorelle 2018

Bit of a struggle here with Riserva 2018 that’s quite lifted and unsettled. Big mess of fruit and acids, reduced if still quite intensely balsamic out of a very traditional Brunello that shows some vintage ambition. Crunchy to the nth degree, must be accompanied by cultural Montalcino (or Tuscan) cuisine and enjoyed with a group willing to pay close attention to the details in a parochial style of the local sangiovese. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2023

Tenuta San Giorgio Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

On the lighter and less ambitious side of the Riserva spectrum, not unusual and in fact appreciated from the vintage. A take what 2018 is want to give and pay respect to the levels of fruit concentration and structure made available. There is some sweetness to the acids and a repeat in the tannins with spices and cinnamon heart spiciness to carry fruit energetically forward. Not what some would consider proper in terms of Riserva but drinking really well nonetheless. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Other Vintages and Campione di Botti

Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Piaggione 2021 (Campione)

Beautioful perfume that speaks to ’21’s gentle swarthiness. Hard to believe what a settled place in which this has already come to pass. Tells Maximilian Hildebrandt, “if it wasn’t for the frost this would have been a very balanced vintage.”

Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Teatro 2021 (Campione)

Just so much more serious, structured and poised, not to say anything negative about Piaggione but it does not hold a vertical candle to Teatro. This is the epitome of finding succulenza reduced in a botte sample, Precision is drawn with an architectural line and if this is in fact muscular you would only know by the verticality of its tannins. A special vineyard but many people think the opposite. The question begs, is Teatro akin to Bourgogne? Perhaps – it’s depth and length are finest.

Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Teatro Finari Alti 2021 (Campione)

From the highest (alto) reach of the vineyard, now separated unto itself, smaller berries and like the approach of Lorenzo Magnelli at Le Chiuse who directs this special fruit into Brunello and when the season is right, also Riserva. These small bits of sangiovese fruit of low juice to skin ratio will make an entirely different wine. Crunchy mineral salts and soil elements that induce a particular aftertaste but only after the palate has been fully engaged. Flavours awaken the senses and distract from the tannins, for a spell, but their attack is both delayed and less sever. The fineness here presents the string possibility for epiphanies to come later.

Tasting with Michaela Morris and The Brunello Boys

Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Actually from a single vineyard called Vignavecchia Mercatale and the oldest vines planted in 1987 at the border with Ridolfi. Riserva 2019 will not be released for another year plus a few months so this bottled Canalicchio poetry has yet to write its next stanzas after just a few that have been put to memory. And yet the story has a beginning, is moving through its first few maneuvers, schemes and intrigues towards the delivery of much, much more before any final lines are read aloud. Does this Riserva traverse at least the same chasm as between Rosso and Brunello? The answer is emphatically yes and in fact the gap is equally doubled because the sangiovese in cask must have been a monster while it was transferring from post alcoholic fermentation through malolactic fermentation and finally into the final wine it has become. Or not because what is now will not be in a few more years and that refrain will be repeated several times before it is nosed and tasted with any real developed maturity. What we do know is that Riserva 2019 is powerful while elegant, which is the ultimate goal. Drink 2028-2042. Tasted November 2023

Tasting at Biondi-Santi

Older Vintages

Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta “Greppo” 2018

“We are in transition period, with new vineyards going in” explains Giampiero Bertolini. He talks about a new approach. “In the vineyard the plant structure and canopies are managed in a new way, with two parts coming up and together, to have the ability to change its trajectory, to open and or close depending on the needs in relation to the weather.” The last vintage and this one are perfect polar opposites of why this new methodology is key. Whereas 2019 is the new release for 90-plus percent of Montalcino producers the Biondi-Santi is always a year later, not because of botti time but because the entire process is measured, structured, painstaking and ultimately timeless. Not really surprising how this ’18 is quiet, demure and slow to release all there is. A cool season overall with 44 days of rain (out of 180 total) from May through to harvest. The second for the new Biondi-Santi team, with the finale postponed to the end of September, after the winds arrived from the north to dry out the vines and then what followed were warmer days and cooler nights. The result is as fresh and aromatically sapid a Biondi-Santi for many vintages as there has recently been. May have been a moody season but the wine is clean, airy, unencumbered and what is referred to as vertical. Fruit yes but not dripping from the flesh because it’s taut, quite this side of leathery and the alcohol quite low at 13.5 percent. When you talk about being careful to respect Biondi-Santi style combined with the concept of a classic vintage then this is exactly the combination of those two ideas. Not an easy vintage but the 180 plus 30 more days of work on this and this alone has made for a wine of perfect response. Will age very well. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted November 2023

Col D’orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Nastagio 2018

Not Riserva but rather a late single vineyard release from Col d’Orcia while many others are showing their 2019 Vigna Brunello at the 2023 anteprima. A full and focused sangiovese that does not so much exist between the ’19 Annata and ’18 Riserva Poggio al Vento but in its very own space because that is the nature of a proper and correct single vineyard wine. Noticing some extra stuffing out of 2018 which is notable for the vintage and this extra year has really softened the tannins which from memory are the least austere of the estate’s Brunelli. Lovely Nastagio out of 2018 and worthy of filling glasses for now to seven years forward. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted November 2023

Vineyards at La Magia

Fattoria La Magia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2018

The largest vineyard faces south between 420 and 480m with Sant’Antimo and Castelnuovo dell’Abate in the valley and distance below. The vineyard was planted west to east between 2005 and 2009, with neighbours being Colombaiolo (Tassi) and Pietroso to the ooposite hill. A bit surprised by how settled the 2018 Brunello is at this stage, quite something considering how youthful it was exactly one year ago. But it has not matured or started out from home. Here a sense and even a moment of truth to prove why we should be tasting and assessing Brunello di Montalcino five years (and not four) after vintage. Breadth of mouthfeel and length on this 2018 is not on par with 2019, but this is something you are already wanting to drink – if you dare because better days do still lay ahead. The current status is very positive and also proper. Last tasted November 2023

A Brunello that clearly separates itself from the pack namely because of the place, at elevation 400-500m in the south-central part of Montalcino surrounded by so much forest, with few neighbours and a wind gap that draws in the right breezes. These are quality tannins, powdery and yet somewhat demanding of the fruit that must work to keep up. It does without suffering, showing more fortitude and punch than many to most, Will live as long as any, in part because of it swarthy swagger. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2022

Fattoria La Magia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Ciliegio 2018

No doubt about the uptick inconcentration, quality acidity and overall impression from Ciliegio in La Magia’s 2018. Even this is in a beautiful spot and drinking beautifully but the tannic grains are finer, tighter and less likely to extend into softer days. Give this another two years for that to really begin. Last tasted November 2023

Mostly Basso fruit, meaning the lower part of the old vine, most important vineyard. Quite a large part of new barrel is used, upwards of 80 per cent and the integration is nothing short of remarkable. Fabian is a different sort of winemaker for Montalcino, following his own regime, working by feel and with confidence. Fruit purity is elevated and exulted by the wood and while the barrels simply can’t be hidden there is an impressive display in this age-worthy wine. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Frescobaldi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Luce 2018

Luce is the top (Annata) Brunello drop for Frescobaldi with all of its parts extrapolated and hyperbolizing Castelgiocondo in just about every way. Pure fruit gets no riper even while it is stretched, acids no sweeter and tannins are a factor of the first times the second, but also squared. Cherries macerating in their own über ripe liqueur and a fantasy of the juiciest red melon imagined, bled through this sangiovese with a squeeze of reduced blood orange for good measure but also tang. My goodness this Luce is full of light, flesh and intensity. Magnanimous in every respect, candidly seductive and built to live very long. Wood also delivers a tannic punch above and beyond the fruit. The sample is from a 2018 bottle which is labeled at 15 percent alcohol with this feeling every bit of that number. Style is everything and this is expertly made within that ideal. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2023

Looking west from Il Palazzone

Il Palazzone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2018

From an aromatic and volumetric view the 2018 Annata is quite typical for Montalcino, however as it should the aromatic profile is expressly parochial, meaning it smells like a sangiovese from Il Palazzone. This speaks to a team not trying to put their stamp too direct or with unwarranted ego on the fruit collected to create a cuvée of different vineyard plots. This is the first vintage finished by incumbent consulting oenologist Maurizio Castelli and it’s quite pure, gently evolved and mature for Brunello. Truth is the vintage is a “traditional” one, cool and elongated, regular in the ways of what most winemakers remember about yesteryear Montalcino. The flavour profile is very pomegranate, the acids high and the finish quite balsamic. Tart and angular yet nurturing if at the hands of firm parents and tannins in their rearing. Will come into drinking window in another six months to a year. Last tasted November 2023

Notable for earthy-savoury elements and grip in a righteously composed Annata of purpose and structure. Grabs attention, delivers that fennel-rosemary-garriga and cereal grain that Brunello can be, especially when location is considered. The herbaceousness and evergreen feeling persists for minutes on end. Curious and singular in every respect. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Il Palzzone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Le Due Porte 2018

Up and above or perhaps better said to one side, back across and to the other is this Brunello of a località (local name for the place) to ameliorate a top selection from within a vineyard at the doorstep of the podere. Takes a step up in concentration but also stage presence with extrapolations of fruit, acids and structure. Nothing dense or overfilled about Le Due Porte but the sangiovese more clearly expresses culture and place. Ages longer than the classico Brunello, not in wood but in bottle before release. Again there is something typical here for the vintage and the finish shows the balsamic if also dried herbs and some austerity in the tannins. Highly specific to place, still holding and showing its wood, in need of an extra year above and beyond the Annata. Only produces 2,500 bottles. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2023

Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2018

The 2018 Brunello is simply lovely, easy, gibbous and generous. To call it a normal vintage for Le Potazzine may be simplifying things too much but the Italian word facile and also spigliata deliver the right message from a sangoivese of the nurturing kind. With a glass one feels comfortable, at home, unstilted, never startled and present in the moment. There is also more structure than 2017 and so the wine will linger, evolve at a measured, incremental pace and drink with love for more than a decade’s further time. Such a settled wine of emotion and feeling though never too high, and definitely never too low. Have a glass and you will feel like you are in the home of a Brunello tasting with a family that cares. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2023

The San Guglielmo-Martini family

San Guglielmo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

They are only labels but they send a message. The Rosso depicts a dragon breathing red fire but for the Brunello the colour is gold. Like the sangiovese in this bottle, of more obvious richness as compared to 2019, or perhaps just a bit looser in combination with having aged a year further. Also a matter of picking time from a more challenging vintage with plenty of rain. “Like a race car,” says Michele, “if you have a great car you can win, but you don’t have to always win that way.” Which means you have done something right, as he and Ilaria surely have. This ’18 may not translate the vineyard as knowingly and with the same finesse as ’19, but it’s beautiful nonetheless. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2023

Sant’Angelo in Colle from Talenti

Talenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2018

In Riccardo Talenti’s estimation 2018 is a very linear and vertical vintage while 2019 shows more breadth and wide shouldered anatomy. So very true as the nose is both mature but also strict, nearing the idea of austere. Also a blood orange note and yes this is quite a sanguine vintage for the Brunello Annata that draws fruit from all nine estate plots. Even the tannins show some austerity and so while this ’18 does not approach the ripeness and generosity of the ’19 it does remind us that Brunello is in the glass, of heritage, culture and tradition. Classicists will adore this vintage of Talenti’s classico. Last tasted November 2023

One of the finer perfumes of any and all from a 2018 Annata by way of Talenti as sangiovese that draws you in with fineness from the start. That said there are aromatic and even more flavour profile notes so singular and unlike just about any other wine. Like pine and porcini, for the first time, freshly plucked needles and fungi pulled direct from the earth. Kind of wild and earthy in that regard with beauty occupying the mind. Bravo Riccardo for this snapshot of your collected vineyards in a wine so silky and of humble design. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Piero 2018

Impressione calma, explains Riccardo Talenti. That is where this 2018 Piero exists at this time. Interesting in that shy and closed is the sensorial translation. Not such a surprise considering the timing and the quality of its elements. It was more expressive this time last year and yet the palate shows very good weight and full substance. A vertical vintage but at this point the wine is quiet, demure and we’re not certain which direction it will travel next. So fascinating and something to look forward to when we hope to have the opportunity this time next year to look at it with Talenti once again. Last tasted November 2023

Quite obviously a rich and beautiful 2018 Piero from Riccardo Talenti, so deserving of its name and ode to a grandfather. Fully resolved, here from the vintage following the heat but really it’s something other, or ulterior yet still exhibitive of intense concentration. Piero is a matter of ultimate respect to the finest and best selected berries. The ’18 is marked or indelibly stamped with Riserva quality tannins, slow developed and only ready well, when they will be ready. Hard to exercise and discover more incremental construction of structural identity than what Piero administers. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted November 2022

Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Tasted side by each with 2018 and the two vintages could not be more different from one another. Here the heat is on but as with those Brunello that did the vintage well, acidity is super high and freshness therefore preserved. There is a sense of porcini broth as well to mingle with the classic fragrance only present and surely prevalent in the sangiovese of Le Potazzine. This is neither a wine of super maturation or concentration but the Giannetti-Gorelli family has found the right direction and says Gigliola, “the scent is watermelon.” How can that be, from a vintage where it did not rain for five straight months? Well it is here and it is quenching. Fine, entering its best drinking window and lovely, especially for the season. Last tasted November 2023

From the moment the Potazzine perfume comes from the glass it is known that few if any Montalcinese 2017 Brunelli will be like this. The advantages are manyfold, a northwest location, high elevation above 500m, later picking times, natural and longer fermentation, no filtration. Even in a vintage like this the women of Le Potazzine, Gigliola, Viola and Sofia can look to take risks for eventuation at reward. More herbal and savoury than ’16 and less concentrated than ’15 but still exhibits characteristics consistent with those bigger and easier vintages. As cool, fresh and salty as it can get but always with that perfume. Le Potazzine style, unassuming and bellissima. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted November 2021

San Guglielmo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

From one extreme to another, throwing away fruit (in 2018) due to mould, then to a vintage so dry and hot you just can’t afford to toss anything in the compost. No worry about concentration, “so you play with the lees,” explains Michele, “keep the (fermentative) cap wet and macerate less.” Such a well made, composed and gift of Brunello, ample of concentration, fine acidity preserved and more focus than many. Found harmony that will clearly be a mainstay of future vintages in Brunello but also known because of tasting Rosso 2020 and 2021. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Piero 2017

A year later and 2017 is very expressive, showing its wares and character worn on both sleeves. Rich as any 2017 was and could still be, acids better than anyone could have ever imagined and indeed predicted from the hot and dry vintage. Yet this ’17 Piero sweeps with a mess of perfectly managed Talenti fruit. The blood orange and sanguine character, the spicy palate and finally the taut chalky tannic push. There are many years of life left on Piero and this is not considered or written flippantly. Structurally speaking this wine is as permanent as they come. Last tasted November 2023

Riccardo Talenti’s Brunelli spend over two years ageing in fine Allier and Slavonian oak. Pian del Conte is a Riserva from the oldest vineyards, near the centre of the estate (400m above sea level) and only made in exceptional years. This selezione Piero comes from two of the 20 estate hectares in Castelnuovo dell’Abate dedicated to the vineyard Paretaio, planted to a sangiovese clone selected by Pierluigi Talenti. Fruit gets no more developed and carried along to this level of ripeness and while Talenti’s Piero is showing evolution so early in its tenure the purity, honesty and admonition here must be noted. Not just a remark but an opening for props, kudos and general lauding. No pretence and absolute Talenti heart worn on a Vigna sleeve to say this is the vintage, deal with it, work with it and run with it. No forevers but drinking windows open and ready as soon as anyone feels the necessity for ready. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2021

Godello and La Squadra Montalcinese

Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

A Riserva of great depth, taut and youthful still with so much time ahead for much living yet to do. A matter of vine age at Vignavecchia Mercatale, the old rootstock and different clones mean that the mineral and elements drawn up will effect the wines differently. We can talk all we want about minerals, salts, elements, aromatics and flavours but the real transmission is tannin and the overall structure of the wine. These tannins are compact, not necessarily tight but they are not as elastic as Casaccia and surely the classica Brunello are loose by comparison. 4,200 bottles made. Last tasted November 2023

Some 2016s come out at and with great force, or speak so vividly. Riserva by Cannalicchio di Sopra is not so much quiet as it is confident, linear, upright and perfectly sturdy. A wine of great force but only willing to use that power incrementally, one essential step at a time. This is 2016 in a perfectly captured and preserved photograph, a mix of eastern and northern vineyards that gather with near perfect equanimity. Nothing left behind, all there and yet not quite ready, a preserve of Montalcino 2016 that will always persevere. Bank and bet on such a wine to pour with strength and elegance for decades. Tasted November 2021

Barrel Sample. A deeper well filled with that cherry liqueur and clearly more extract and concentration. The tannins are still fierce, intensely chalky and fine bitters are very much a part of the mix. A furthered texture Brunello with no less strength than most 16s will surely exhibit but the power is tempered by this feel and polish. Quite a potential here for 20 plus years of longevity. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2016

A wine with a mind of its own and still in what Francesco Ripaccioli calls “a preserving state” because its anything but an extrovert. Give it enough agitation so that both character and charm are encouraged to emerge from out of this hard-nosed wine’s shell. Just the faintest note of scraped orange zest signals to a place (showing some affinity with Val di Suga’s Vigna del Lago) and yet this is made in a conservative slash reductive way, and so the wine is still so fresh and youthful. A wine with so much integrity and air is the thing to coax out what the wine is willing or rather will eventually be wanting to express. Nice piques and smacks of spice on the finish. Last tasted November 2023

Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG La Casaccia 2016

La Cassacia on the east slope steppe below Montalcino village is brown clay wth a high percentage of calcium carbonate. Gives the earth and the wine its particular hue with high pH (between 8.2 and 8.3) that reinforces the colour contrast in the sangiovese. “For me it’s sleekness,” tells Francesco Ripaccioli. “Less heaviness than what comes from dense clay.” Still today one of the finest Cassacia’s made at Canalicchio di Sopra and one expressive of all its strengths right now. A completeness that is an extension of the original grounding that have made this La Casaccia one of the better vintages in the last couple of decades. Last tasted November 2023

Barrel Sample: Now this is something exceptional. This is what Casaccia is obviously capable of producing, The sweetest Canalicchio fruit of all, to date and with a rising low and slow angling of acidity (as opposed to straight verticality) that carries the fruit to great heights. This will be a triumph and in fact it is already tasting like a piece de Canalicchio resistance while it sings a long maestro song. A soloist that needs no accompaniment although food, company and peace would not hurt at all. Obviously this is more than just the northern side of Montalcino and more than Canalicchio. This is Casaccia. Drink 2025-2039. Tasted February 2020

Cortonesi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Poggiarelli 2016

Poggiarelli is a magnificent tract to behold, of very wide rows so typical of Montalcino when it was planted in 1990. The clay is only 10 percent and the stone indomitably Pietraforte, a dry soil ain a dry xone of Montalcino. A windy place overlooking the Orcia Valley and a place where disease pressure, including Perenospera ia not an issue. This look black at 2016 Poggiarelli really sees a separation or more importantly a very different expression to La Mannella because less energy and more grounding puts this vineyard in great vintage light. Poggiarelli ’16 is vintage and also Cortonesi, with more brightness and spirit than so many and again, not quite but akin to what you find in La Mannella. Last tasted November 2023

It seems that Poggiarelli will always be subjected to comparison because of the contrasting style to Cortonesi’s homefront La Mannella. Here the single-vineyard sangiovese rewrites itself in every vintage from the auspices of a warmer, southeasterly Montalcino location at 420m of elevation. Galestro sandy-grey is the ante-soil structure building block whereas La Mannella’s clay gifts earlier charm and elegance. Furthered élevage is a necessity, to instigate depth and structure but not to encourage too much power. Lastly Poggiarelli is almost always picked a minimum seven days after La Mannella. In 2016 this all adds up to one important, profound and vintage defining word. Fluidity. That’s the ideal to emulate, replicate, relipucate and remunerate. Tommaso’s ’16 Vigna is a fluid mosaic of sangiovese, as if its components were composed of phospholipids, cholesterol, proteins and carbohydrates. Even if they are seen simply as fruit, acid, texture and tannin they all move seamlessly as one, within one membrane, a perfect biological model, effortlessly layered elastic and fluid. Poetic structure. La liquidità di Montalcino. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted November 2021

Tomasso Cortonesi, Lorenzo Magnelli, Francesco Ripsccioli and Michaela Morris in Poggiarelli Vineyard

Cortonesi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG La Mannella 2016

At La Mannella as you head east up the Montalcino hill the steep steppe of the northeastern slope is embedded with river stones. This makes for more energy in residual effect than the other ‘16s tasted side by each and while those wines may live longer it is this La Mannella that is drinking beautifully right now. Tomasso Cortonesi is a bit critical of it but he’s always like this and as with any passionate winemaker the expectation is higher than that of anyone else. This is a great time and place for La Mannella 2016, spirited, rich and juicy, a real Montalcino succulence and length. Says Tomasso, “our goal is to exult the character of each single vineyard. We are not a modern winery.” Last tasted November 2023

La Mannella is Cortonesi’s home estate property on the flat just northeast and below the village of Montalcino where a warm and ideal vintage like 2016 could not help but raise near perfect fruit. Almost certainly an 8.5 out of ten ripeness that comes equipped with some of Montalcino’s finest tannins of well, forever. This 2016 Brunello would have been austere and crusty up until let’s say 12-15 months ago and is just now beginning to express its sangiovese in opening bloom. The triangle is traced with ease today, from fruit through acidity and tannin, now cycling through whereas before the movements would have been up and down, linear and retraceable. There is only forward if circular motion now and in the winter of 2023 this will be absolutely singing, continuing for four to six more after that. Drink 2023-2023. Tasted December 2022

Cortonesi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Like so many Cortonesi sangiovese there is great energy and spirit with this 2016 Riserva and today is one of those moments where you feel this way. Ebullient aromas, including chocolate mint and dark fruits of a liquid peppery kind. Still young and the tannins continue their aggressive drive so more years are needed to see this get to where it needs to go. There were 3,891 bottles made says Tomasso Cortonesi. Last tasted November 2023

Having an understanding that Tommaso Cortonesi knows how to make his wines and though Riserva is only made in what are deemed “suitable” vintages then 2016 is not an unexpected happenstance. Just so happens to emerge from that stellar growing season and if memory serves correct comes replete with a La Mannella upbringing poised and paused into the very fabric of this wine. A sangiovese of veritable home-front DNA, a torch passing from father and son with oenological consultancy aid and abetting by Paolo Caciorgna. Cortonesi’s Riserva is a linear one, firm of backbone built by later picked fruit and kept acidity. Neither dust nor agitated affectation presides as tannin over juice and in fact this is a very expressive Riserva. One of depth but also one that rises with constant upward movement. Onwards as well with 2016 a high point in the pantheon of the last 15 vintages. Tombola! Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2021

Le Chiuse Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Le Chiuse nothern location is of a similar micro-climate to the Montosoli hill but with very different soils. Less schist, more sandstone and the percentage decreases as you fall further and northerly away from the Montalcino hill. The first Biondi-Santi vineyard was planter here in 1946 – previous to that was wheat and olives. Ferella (a Biondi-Santi) was Lorenzo Magnelli’s grandmother and her daughter took over the winemaking. The BBS11 clone was grafted by Franco (B-S) onto the Le Chiuse vineyards., Lorenzo is looking at dreatring micro-oxygenation into the soil, to create space for vine roots, but also through cover crops. Results in less passages with the tractor. His 2016 emits the uncanny scent of fennel but more so true liquorice with mint in the background for what is truly aromatic Le Chiuse and in a most special if newly discovered way. There feels to be great wisdom and experience in this vintage of Lorenzo Magnelli’s Brunello, right, correct and important for the vintage. It’s really informative to taste this vintage alongside the current 2019s because you see just how grounded and stoically profound these wines are now, but truth is must have always been. Drink 2023-2036. Tasted November 2023

Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2015

Twice the perfume and all the concentration from Riserva, not a surprise nor should it be unusual to think such a thought because is this not the intention and perchance the goal for this level of Montalcinese appellative wine at Le Potazzine? Feel the glycerin on the palate to mix with über fresh red fruits in swaths, swirls and layers. Yet the aging is not finished, not yet and some unresolved aspects of the how and what that put this wine together need to evolve, mature and settle. Could be a few years before this all comes about but that’s part of the exercise and expectation. There are some wild and exciting flavours in Riserva to the extent that time is the action out of which beauty will become the just result. Drink 2025-2037. Tasted November 2023

Podere Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Teatro 2016

Though this is a Salicutti that would have been influenced by the two decades of work put in by Francesco Leanza it does define a shift in direction under the ownership of Sabine and Felix Eichbauer. In the past it was Piaggione that was destined for Riserva but today and looking back to 2015 it has become Teatro. This 2016 speaks in the current appellative language and being privy to tasting campioni from 2021 and 2022 barrels connects the dots and submits to the transfer of power. This sangiovese is in a condition of swarthy beauty, a bridge to the past and a harbinger for the future. Great acidity, tart edges, lift and danger but fruit long, strong and tall. The future shines in this Riserva’s crystal ball and thoughts of 2019 can’t help but be forecasted. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2023

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Al Vento 2016

Col d’Orcia would not be the sort of producer to hold back all of its great fruit solely for Poggio al Vento Riserva and so with memories of the Annata and Nastagio labels (one tasted a year ago and the other 10 minutes prior) it comes to knowing equality was and still is the main focus. That will mean PaV will almost surely be a Riserva of subtlety and restraint. It is just that, with an extra two or three levels of richness by way of fruit concentration but even more so the elements of tradition, family heritage and what is yet unknown, a.k.a. the elements of surprise. Poggio al Vento 2016 will not seek immediate gratification but it will promise longevity. Anyone who has spent time tasting these wines over the years will have no doubt about the sentiment. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted November 2023

San Guglielmo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

The 2016 sangiovese is a product of nervous energy and excitement. A matter of a resurrected estate bottling Brunello 53 years after a grandfather once made wine from this place. “You don’t know if this would have been a dream,” tells granddaughter Ilaria Martini. The fact is he can’t be here to participate and he would be very proud. Some maturity already from ’16 and tasting subsequent vintages shows just how much will have already been learned and so quickly. A sangiovese from 2016 that came out to market in 2021 to very little fanfare or even anyone knowing it was there – and yet its makers have persevered through the trepidation, fear and anxiety, to make finessed wines, in a better place and from a top terroir. These are sharp and exciting acids, precursors that will work with fruit translating soil. Fruit is persistent but getting leathery and the overall feeling is just a bit too much lift. Keep dreaming. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted November 2023

Valdicava Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Madonna Del Piano 2016

Riserva comes from the vineyard behind the winery on the north slope of the Montalcino hill and yields are in the range of a maximum 3.0-3.5 tonnes per hectare. Madonna Del Piano is THE Brunello that speaks about a producer (Vincenzo Abbruzzese) that believes in the term genius loci, a Roman concept that predates the idea of terroir. He refers to the “richness and non-contamination of the place.” Well, if La Madonna ’16 is not in a most incredible situation at this moment in November of 2023. Juiciest of fresh red fruit but also acidity that imagines blood orange, which is quite classic for certain areas of Montalcino from that season. This northerly steppe looking west to the Montosoli hill is one of the territory’s most historic and specific, creating some of Brunello’s freshest and sturdiest sangiovese. Linearity and verticality are a given in any vintage but this 2016 hyperbolizes the dimensionality, confirms the highest level of restraint and straps the wine in for long aging. Still rising yet years away from reaching its peak and simply very, very good Riserva. Like the queen of pop, “I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want.” Drink 2025-2036. Tasted November 2023

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Poggio al Granchio 2016

Nicely mature and straddling the line between fresh and developed, reductive and oxidative. From what Andrea Lonardi calls “the Saint-Éstèphe side of Montalcino.” A place where iron in the soils leads to a gamey meatiness in the sangiovese and the winemaking is of a Bordeaux approach. Soft extraction, long maceration and no intention to try and extract tannins. Showing some maturity and while the acids are quite fine the caramelization and earthy woodiness are very much ahead of the fruit which now lags behind. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna del Lago 2016

“Our conversation was short and sweet, it nearly swept me off-a my feet. And I’m back in the rain, oh, oh, and you are on dry land.” Hard to believe 2009, 2010 and 2016 are from the same vineyard because while the change in weather is said to be extreme the emotions of the two earlier vintages are so connected. Blood on the tracks it feels, this visage a new one, fresh as the morning, cool, sweet glycerin red fruit and a sapidity of phenolic bite meeting toothsome flavour and texture. Not salty but spicy and long. Very good showing if perhaps an outlier for the location. Vigna Del Lago, “you made it there somehow. You’re a big girl now.” Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Spuntali 2016

As for Spuntali the comparison would be pinot noir and here on the western side of Montalcino in sandy soils the structure is less and so the technique attempts to pull out some tannins. The comparative concept is not so farfetched because this is an elegant expression so from 2016 the Rhône is not really what we are looking at here. Not the most structured Brunello but surely the kind of grace, char, precision and elegance that is something we all want to see. So much appreciation for 2016 and the first vintage for the new ownership group from which they really felt they were affecting the wines in the way they wanted. Last tasted November 2023

A combination of variegated fruit, red, also some orange and then this deep rooted earthiness. Hematic and a brush with forest floor success. Up level acids foil the earthbound nature and emotions run high in a Vigna Brunello of great parochial curiosity with much moving, stirring and complex behaviour. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted October 2021

Pietroso Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2013

Ten years old and perfectly fresh, indelibly stamped with the Pietroso perfume and as high level succulence for fruit and acids in Brunello can seemingly conspire to procure. There just seems to be no way this is a ten year-old sangiovese. It’s a what the fridge moment and while many need years to resolve their wood before opening perfumes and others are just bullies to age forever – well this tasted blind would be guessed as 2019, or younger. A testament to this cuvée of three Montalcino vineyards brought together from a vintage that shines when in the hands of a producer in total respect to climate and soil. Blown away by this showing. Even Andrea Pignattai smiles at a taste of this one. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2023

Podere Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013

As with so many Brunello 13s the freshness has been quantitatively preserved. This would have been picked late at the highest available ripeness, something that previous proprietor Francesco Leanza always wanted. It was his last wine, released in 2019 (under the ownership of Sabine and Felix Eichbauer) and now it is showing top echelon citrus, site specific (Piaggione) acidity and a soft caramel slide. It too will likely come out more expressive with time in the glass. Truth spoken and a look back now is of a vintage that knew moving 10 years forward it would be a blessing. Swan song of a fine and memorable ilk. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

With Katia Nussbaum, San Polino

San Polino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Helichrysum 2013

Ten years forward and truth be told this ’13 has held up extremely well, if indeed as well as any Brunello from the variable vintage. A sangiovese of impressive concentration from which you feel the fluid consistency of macerated, visceral and varietal fruit with knowledge of the gentle way you know it must have been pressed. The last vestiges of primary stage are giving way to secondary elements, especially in the aromas and yet the palate is full. Silky best describes that feeling and Helichrysum is no doubt an important Montalcino Vigna institution. Still there is some persistence of drying tannin so look for the right food match, braised rabbit being a wise choice, to keep the wine lively and encouraging of sip after sip. In the end this ’13 goes down smooth and easy, clearly indicative of what the vines and maker both wanted to gift. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

PierFillipo Abbruzzese of Valdicava

Valdicava Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2013

A well discussed vintage that was at times polarizing, especially within the sphere of critics during and immediately following the anteprima. There were admittedly some odd wines made in 2013, some that were disoriented or off course and then others that knew the way. As here with Valdicava’s vintage classica easily vindicated today. Secondary notes have begun, of frutta di bosco, chestnut, acacia and macadamia all toasted, a swirl of pomegranate molasses and dried fruit. The cast of characters are pretty and combine for complex wiles by design, but most importantly they celebrate the Valdicava fields. Having collectively come together this is today an elegant, elastic and refined Brunello. Not a wine to hold for ten years further but the next three or four will be grand. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2023

Valdicava Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Madonna Del Piano 2013

Tasted side by each with the classica ’13 presents a whole other matter, of richness multiplied but also secondary notes more pronounced. The stylistic and result are very different, the depth in tapestry woven, of fruit and wood treated by pressing and wood in ways no longer attempted today. This sangiovese has fully settled and moved into its next phase in ways that will please Montalcino purists because this is the epitome of full bodied Brunello. Fleshy, substantial, textured and offering the feeling of an older wine. Will impress because there is nothing light nor moderate alcohol about it, tannins have softened, the barrel creaminess in full effect and the vintage is less noticeable as a final result. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2023

Podere Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2011

As with the 2004 and 2008 tasted together the initial reaction is maturity but wait, watch, smell and see. Little to no flavour bursts in the first few minutes because the wine has to wake up – remains to be seen if it will. The vintage was a hot one and the Piaggione sangiovese would have been one of musculature and power but in 2023 it’s in a disjointed state. Begins to refresh itself tough dried fruit dominates, with notes of carob while acids are fine, mint-toned and persistently in support. That said they are not the catalyst for energy. Tasted November 2023

Biondi Santi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Tenuta Il Greppo 2010

A wine straight from the heart of Franco Biondi-Santi, opened last night (say 15 hours earlier) and a very important vintage. Created from a specific clone, the BBS11 which is a sangiovese grosso selected at Tenuta Greppo in the 1970s. A library wine from the storica cellar and just about as perfumed as it gets, not just for the estate but especially for the time. In a line-up of 50 Brunello di Montalcino this would stand out because of its originality and respect, but then again that would not be fair. There is pleasantry on the nose and yet the palate shows some austerity and cracking tannin, not because the wine is fading but because a gentle Bretty swarthiness is in the mix. A lovely look back, not the epiphany of some older estate wines but something special for sure. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2023

Valdicava Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Madonna Del Piano 2010

The 2010 Madonna del Piano is in finer condition (today) as compared to 2013, in part because of how Riserva is treated, especially in the cellar. Vintage always matters but less so for this style of wine, heavily barrel influenced, compact and concentrated. This is specific to the appellative discipline because conversely it is the ’13 Annata that is singing. This ’10 falls into line with 2001, 2004 and 2006 (reiterated confidently by Vincenzo Abbruzzese) in terms of great if also the notion of “complete” vintages, which 2016 and 2019 will also populate that list. Warm seasons that were able to deliver balance. Polite and nurturing vintages that make the wares of length and complexity ideal and this Valdicava is a mix of purity and persuasiveness showing at peak 13 years forward. There is ease and also vibrancy. Succulenza, finezza and scorrevole – the holy trinity of sangiovese incarnate. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2023

Andrea Lonardi MW presentation at Val di Suga

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Poggio al Granchio 2010

It is well known that 2009, 2010 and 2016 were the vintages with the best average rainfall and the least number of 30 degree days, which will happen again in 2023. Poggio al Granchio is in a V-shaped valley where slates predominate in layers with clay and sand. Though a warm area it is this soils that cool and create potential for sangiovese. Andrea Lonardi refers to this as the Barolo of Montalcino areas where poor soils do well with sangiovese. Cordone Speronato system predominates for pruning at Poggio Al Granchio. The 2010 Granchio is much fresher than the 2009 and so it would seem the poorer soils did well with the conditions of a warmer and wetter vintage. From 2010 the structure is impressive and the finish really long. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna del Lago 2010

Andrea Lonardi sees Montalcino and is serious when he asks, how many places in the world have such a change in landscapes around such a small area? Val di Suga considers three of them and Vigna del Lago is very clay which means vines struggle in the extreme vintages, whether too hot and dry or wet and cold. The regular vintages are best for the clay and locally it is the Guyot system that predominates for pruning. Not a grand difference between 2009 and 2010 because the orange citrus is consistent but in 2010 there is also a caramelization, a shot of Amaro more like Spuntali and also a moment of saffron. The guess would be warmer than 2009 but also wetter – this feels like a touch of botrytis went into the fermentation. Tasted November 2023

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Spuntali 2010

Vigna Spuntali in the west is closest to the seas and you have the longest hours of light. A breezy place and mostly not stressed by challenging conditions. Sandy soils, well draining and good for oxygen, even more important for than water for sangiovese. Volume without density and not a place that creates structure. The Châteauneuf du Pape of Montalcino, powdery character included. Gobelet system predominates for pruning. “Sangiovese loves rainfall and does not love really hot seasons” tells Andrea Lonardi MW. He also reminds that Galestro is not a type of soil – it’s a type of structure. “Thanks God Montalcino does not have salinity and minerality. But it does have succulence.” Earth and cheese rind, high acidity and three toned citrus – can really see the connection with the southern Rhône in a wine 10-15 years of age. There is that mint on the finish again! Tasted November 2023

Vertical tasting at Val di Suga

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Poggio al Granchio 2009

When he first arrived in Montalcino on September 17th, 2012, Tenimenti Angelini COO Andrea Lonardi MW made some observations. Lonardi noted how Granchio on the eastern side was a site that gave sangiovese citrus, unripe, angry tannins and lots of potential. Granchio is the warmest of the three climes, what Andrea Lonardi describes as “a Chianti Classico area for Montalcino,” of warm days, cool nights and lesser winds for this part of Toscana. The soils are Galestro structured from clays and the maturity here is well past prime. Quite earthy with porcini and olive tapenade, no real fruit to speak of, persistent acidity and long ago left the building tannins. Tasted November 2023

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna del Lago 2009

Vigna del Lago is the coolest of the three Val di Suga vineyards to the north of Montalcino and there is really no big surprise that 2009 has not only lasted but sings at this 14 year mark from just after the current 2023 harvest. The orange citrus and lavender honey scents are not only a meaning of place but also a matter of style. Val di Suga wines are of a historical character and looking back at this vintage of ample rain and no heat spikes shows off that flavour. The wine is in great condition and is a joy to drink. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2023

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Spuntali 2009

Andrea Lonardi introduces “crunchy Vigna Spuntali” off of the southwest slope where olive trees, the Mediterranean Ginestra, Sandstone and Pietraforte mark the terroir. In 2012 he found the grapes were spicy, tasting of orange candy, with soft tannins. The 2009 is neither fresh like Vigna del Lago nor mushroom-earthy like Poggio al Grancho and also not in between – but adjacent to both, if more so relatable to Granchio. This is because the earth, mycelium and tartufo shavings are in control with fruit having already faded. Not as muddy as PaG because there is a citrus element involved. Evolved in a real oxidative chatter now with amaro and then all mint at the finish. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted November 2023

Podere Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2008

Why did Francesco Leanza choose Piaggione for his Riserva? “He was in love with the vineyard,” explains Felix Eichbauer. “It was the character of Salicutti.” Eichbauer feels (at least today) that it produces sangiovese closer to the care of an American palate. Back in 2008 is is spiced by orange and lemon zests, was late harvested, higher in pH (than today) and the ’08 was the 14th vintage. Now soft and creamy chocolate in delivery of a slice of Tiramisu. Quite evolved to little surprise. But…give 2008 some time in the glass, odd perhaps to say but it matters. The aromas begin to burst, allowing for a release of toasted, roasted vegetal notes, like eggplant and peppers, skins charred, blistered and peeling, flesh caramelized beneath. Full change of perception, pace and mind. The ’04 woos straight away while the ’08 shows greater complexity given some time. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2023

Podere Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2004

For Francesco Leanza Riserva was always 100 percent Piaggione Vineyard fruit. When he made the decision to make a Riserva it was usually in a vintage when no one else did and he would put one barrel aside. For one thing these 19 year-old acids are still in full active swing and fruit is nearly faded but that’s not an issue because the wine sings with the near falsetto whisper of a Pino Daniele ballad. Mint, chocolate and reduced orange liqueur. Amazing. Tasted November 2023

Biondi Santi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Tenuta Il Greppo 1988

It is very important to be reminded that Biondi-Santi is the original but also the estate that practiced early harvesting before just about anyone else. At the time the sangiovese grosso vines from the estate BBS11 clone (mainly intended for Riserva) would have been 25 years of age and while considered then and also now as a great vintage it is worth noting that in 1988 the final alcohol was 11 percent. When the estate style is reflected upon there is just something about the continuity which begins with the 1980s and especially the 1985 forward to the later part of that decade, all the way through to 2018 more than thirty years later. Yes there is in fact a connection despite the gap, the huge change in climate and the challenge to maintain identity. The last point is key because the contiguous teams focus on this ahead of all else. The ’88 now shows dried red fruits but also the wild strawberry and then frutta di bosco that are the hallmarks of an older Brunello that has not fallen over into the porcini and truffle zone. Not Biondi-Santi because wood was never the axis nor the focus and fruit was always carefully selected before being gently coaxed to arrive at this kind of secondary level. No matter the age the style persists as fresh red fruit, with fine acids more than alive and a specific succulence specific to place. Il Greppo the estate – which means the people abided by their charge to preserve this heritage. The original endowment of Montalcino. Respect. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

At Giodo with Carlo Ferrini, Michaela Morris, Federica Schir and Bianco Ferrini

Rosso di Montalcino DOC (36)

Altesino Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2022

Warm vintage for sangiovese in Montalcino and as always Rosso acts as the harbinger for the Brunello that will follow when the Anteprima wines are presented in November of 2026. Consumers will find darker, concentrated and luxe fruit, some but not formidable structure and generosity matched by equal and supportive sweetness in acidity. You can drink this straight away. The overall style really works for Altesino in 2022 Rosso – eventually it is the Brunello that will dutifully follow suit. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted January 2023

Caprili Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Somewhat deeper and therefore next level for Caprili while one will never forget the great 2020s and how their ferments were so sluggish before completing into high, high quality Rosso di Montalcino. This was surely quicker to the finish line and therefore also to the point but there is some structure involved. The third in a string of really well established and relayed Rosso vintages bodes well for the Brunellos to come. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2023

Col d’Orcia Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

This Rosso may finds its way onto by the glass restaurant lists in 50 countries but know this. The scent is purely Col d’Orcia, the potential for aging guaranteed and the secret lays in the trees, bushes, riverside brush and overall Orcia Valley location. Red fruit incarnate and a Rosso that speaks as clearly as it does confidently. Will look forward to tasting it on the 2’s in 2026 along with other Rosso, Brunello and Poggio al Vento ’22, ’12, ’02, ’92, ’82 and ’72. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2023

Elia Palazzesi Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Very warm vintage for Rosso and so alcohols risen can mean heaviness but most producers will have surely found a way to exact balance in their wines. As here with Palazzesi’s ’22, rich and so full of fruit but neither heavy nor cloying and the result is something quite satisfying. Ready to roll with negligible tannin and acids as sweet as the fruit that precedes them. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

Fabian Schwarz, La Magia

Fattoria La Magia Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

The oldest part of La Magia’s vineyard was replanted in 2018 to Alberello – “Becasue uou are working with three dimensions in every plant,” says Fabian Schwarz. “Every one is by itself, incurring its reactions to wind and rain, but not animals.” Just released after bottling early September. Very primary still, a work in progress, not so much reductive but on hold. In part because it was fixed to settle in newly acquired concrete tanks for a month or so, but it’s not predictive or explaining about what will become its eventual character. Really primary and at least six months should be needed to see this Rosso move into a fully finished state. Very fruity and fresh, ante-fresh actually with good purity and clarity. The weight is at the finish, another reason to give this wine some time. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2023

Le Potazzine Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022, (Campione)

Talk about timing – this Rosso 2022 will be bottled tomorrow! It may be a Campione but this is as close to a finished wine without looking backwards or forwards as there can be. Nose and taste the sangiovese of Le Potazzine and you will know that their perfume is omnipresent, all-pervasive, a factor of place and necessity of style. Stylish sangiovese with a shadowy hint of Balsamico. A Rosso of fineness and finesse, grace and controlled chaos. This from the most sluggish and slow ferment on record – 57 days! How can a winemaker and a family sleep through such a time? How can their hearts survive? Well they do and the end result is beauty incarnate. Acidity and moderate structure, first one and then the other, layered and intertwined. Spot on for Le Potazzine. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Pietroso Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

A Rosso from one of the hotter vintages on record and from vineyards that heat up when this happens despite being at elevation just outside of and at an almost similar height to the Montalcino hill. Clocks in at 15 percent while in studious balance but what stands out is the silky texture with high level glycerol involved. Some of the highest levels of naturally sweet fruit and acidity rolling together as one in what is just so very drinkable if at the same time weighty Rosso di Montalcino. Big wine, some structure that shows its power and yet not a wine to lose in the cellar. 17,000 bottles produced. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

Poggio Antico Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022, (Campione, will be bottled in December)

Barrel sample: “In the past we used to make little Brunellos,” admits winemaker Alessio Sostegni, “but that has changed.” Now simply about freshness and a sangiovese to drink. Well if gently extracted, like an infusion with punching down only done in the earliest stage of the fermentation process. Really just to keep the cap wet. Surely in part because of the very warm vintage just 10 days maximum for Rosso. There is some wood but mostly stainless steel aging, but it is the barrel that brings the overall softness. As crisp and easy as it has ever been for Poggio Antico and yes, this is what you want to drink. Silky, smooth and pretty seductive for Rosso. Harvested by the middle of September, approximately a week ahead of 2021. Will be labeled at 14.5 percent alcohol. Approximately 20,000 bottles produced. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2023

San Felice Rosso di Montalcino DOC Campogiovanni 2022

Youthful Rosso from San Felice which is key because the hot vintage was doubly so at a località ike Campogiovanni. The juicy nature of sangiovese from young vines is captured with acidity in tact for a Rosso that is fine-tuned and full of tact. Also tactile because texture is like that of emulsifications and the wine finishes with a small attack of swarthy bites. Suggest to drink this easy because that will increase as the fruit fades off. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted November 2023

San Polino Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Feel the glycerin straight away from San Polino’s Rosso ’22 which is what happens to sangiovese from this località when the weather is warm and the vines work to concentrate fruit. Not hot like 2021 mind you but more than ample textural stuffing fills this glass. Solid, a bit grippy and chalky with late bite. Good complexity here. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2023

Talenti Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Rosso comes from the part of the azienda where the youngest vines are maturing yet deliver a remarkably rich and concentrated level of sangiovese. A Rosso of expressiveness for the vintage and also one of length. It’s about fruit for Talenti and the specialty of a season, in this instance quite warm but there is succulenza and some of Montalcino’s finest Rosso charm. Vertical as needed, persistent as desired. That’s the crux of this Rosso situation and this 2022 expertly communicates what needs and wants. Expressive while full of freshness because the acidity is so well caught and in turn preserved. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2023

Tenuta Buon Tempo Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Über fresh as if the wine is still working through its machinations and a carbonic maceration process is in the works. There is a gummy bear quality to the aromas to tell us the fruit has yet to fully integrate with the rest of this sangiovese’s parts. Wait six months and all will be right because there is some structure, purity and finally sweetness, as opposed to drying austerity in the tannins. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2023

Val di Suga Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Fine Rosso here from the warmth of 2022 but Val di Suga has the great fortune to draw fruit from three areas, micro-climates and geological terroirs of Montalcino. The layering seems so right because here the heat is cooled by grapes that infiltrate and integrate with those that matured through more humid and arid days. Makes for a well-rounded Rosso that may feel thicker in texture than some but one than maintains ample freshness for its success. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2023

Ucceliera Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Though so bloody young and not yet close to be ready for drinking this Rosso by Ucceliera is already telling us everything we pretty much need to know. A wise and knowing example of fruit freshness, purity and that most sought after sangiovese aspect of Montalcino; succulenza. This is so real and properly made it should be on every Rosso list that anyone who wants to understand Montalcino will compile. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2023

Valdicava Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2022

Rosso is made from the grapes that don’t qualify for Brunello and incidentally no top wines were made in both 2014 and also 2018. The first was a question of quality and the second a matter of allowing the vines to rebound and regenerate following the drought and heat of 2017. Vincenzo Abbruzzese says he “likes to think we have a very high bottom level,” a statement that could allude to both Brunello and this Rosso. The ’22 is just about to be bottled, within the coming weeks which makes it more of a finished wine than a campione. Another warm vintage for a juicy cherry red sangiovese, liquid chalky, northerly representative for the clay and Galestro landscape. Harmonious throughout, from entry through mid-palate to finish. A fine restraint and one with stuffing to travel long in the cellar. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2023

Voliero Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

A similar Rosso to Ucceliera but more on the side of simple, correct and easy. Take a stab at a glass on repeat over a year or so before looking at the readiness of sister property Ucceliera’s Rosso 2022. This is quite settled and good to go. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

Argiano Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

Easy, facile and grooving Rosso from Argiano, made from quality grapes conditioned and intended to please above all else. A simple expression of Rosso that speaks in everyday language, no matter the time or place for pop and pour activities. Very correct. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2023

Castello Romitorio Rosso di Montalcino DOC Colto 2021

From go the complexities out of Romitorio’s Rosso abound and bounce around the olfactory like kernels in the kettle or balls in a lottery machine. The activity is repeated on the palate from ripe and energetic sangiovese so unsettled it falls under the adjunct of needing time. The requiem calls for nurturing and guidance to find the way to tranquility. These seem like fresh acids and also the kind that may never relent but that’s perfectly fine! With food this will already sing a song of elevation. Sleepless in love, “the morning air was crisp as a brand new bank note. He swaggered like a surfer.” Joe Ely Rosso love and danger. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2023

Collemattoni Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

Purely and classically Collemattoni Rosso di Montalcino illumination with their ostensible sensibilities instilled into making the most dual-functional type. This means getable and put-away-able or as it is said by someone of German-Italian descent “two catches in a row,” though that is never something actually uttered in English. Nevertheless Collemattoni’s 2021 Rosso is such an ideal sangiovese we want in our glass today and will be pleased to have the same looking two, three, four and five years down the road. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2023

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

Perfectly Rosso, bright and fresh with just that extra bit of substance and texture to put this in mind of drinkability but also a class of super sustenance. Crisp, crunchy, beautiful, delightful and strong. What more could you wish for from Rosso di Montalcino? Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2023

Fattoria dei Barbi Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

Barbi’s Rosso is spot on 2021 juicy, fresh and high acid to gift what is right and correct. Having tasted samples and also a finished bottle of the Stefano Cinelli Colombini’s Toscana Rosso Senza Sulfiti there is no doubt about the connection between the two wines. Puts each in good light and makes sense of their complimentary positions as kinfolk each so fine to sip. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2023

Franco Pacenti Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

Franco Pacenti’s Rosso ’21 straddles the line, on one side there is freshness and breaths of early morning Montalcino air. On the other the architecture is Etruscan, established and immovable. Take a sip and note the sway towards the side of amenability because after all this is Rosso and FP does what is essential for a wine of this appellation. The balsamic touch at the back end is just spot on and correct to accent the concluding actions of this Rosso. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2023

Giuseppe Gorelli Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2021

Jacopo and Alessandro Mori of Il Marroneto

Il Marroneto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2021

Ignaccio is one of two Il Marroneto Rosso, “the classic” tells Alessandro Mori, compliment to son Jacopo’s next gen iteration. From a 0.7 hectare block farmed specifically for Rosso di Montalcino on the northeast side of the hill. The vines are 100 metres below the cru of Madonna delle Grazie at 420m and they deliver fruit that just simply tastes of the earth, naked and strong. There are no other Rosso that unites and coalesces this level of heritage, crazy and genius. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2023

Il Marroneto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Jacopo 2021

The second Rosso, named for and now created by Alessandro Mori’s son as a next generation cultural take on Montalcino’s most important wine. It’s what the Montalcinese will open daily and Jacopo wants to make the kind you want to drink. “When I started to choose through the barrels to make the selection,” he explains, “my mind went to crunchy wines with beautiful structure and no aggressiveness. I wanted to make a red wine.” This Jacopo, is it. A red wine. Something that dares to reach out to personal taste, to what is right for the palate. The vintage hits the mark because it does exactly what the winemaker wanted. It’s what we want as well and ask that we can continue enjoying it for a while before moving on to the Brunello. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2023

Le Gode Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

For 2021 Rosso is a rich tapestry woven of acidity through fabric for a most textured Rosso. The lift and swarthy funk are up at that line where danger lurks but Le Gode keeps things formal with as much posit tug pull as it can muster. Brett lays high and tries to infiltrate but precocious luck and structural fortune are there to save the day. There are tannins here and they are brittle. That is OK because this is not a technically sound Rosso nor does it have to be. It will be loved by any who desire vim, relish and vividness – more importantly it is a stepping stone on the road to truly great Rossos to come. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2023

Le Potazzine Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

The fact remains that a Potazzine is a Potazzine and here is not a rare one but clearly a Rosso that stands apart, set to an aromatic standard of hypnotic grace that makes Rosso so special. That said there are levels of richness and especially glycerol in 2021 that may not have been present in the last few vintages. How anyone could not fall in love with these scents, flavours and especially textures would be inconceivable. There is a chalky underlay as well and so structure is a part of this vintage. Wait a year and then drink over the following seven, perhaps even 10. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2023

Roberto Cipresso Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

Quite a rich, mature and fruit forward if developed Rosso with lower level acidity and roundness than a good many. Fruit is lovely and the mouthful quite creamy but also soft. Drink up what bottles you have or may soon acquire. Tasted November 2023

San Guglielmo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2021

Sparkling clean, tight and an intensely red citrus Rosso. Just about as tart and acid lightning struck as it gets for Montalcino. Real, deliberate and delectable. Three week maceration and very gentle extraction for sure – no pressing involved. Not a bit. Pure, unadulterated and focused as sangiovese, exacting for Rosso to seduce the modern, discriminate and wishful palate, with no density or heaviness involved. For the kind of consumer in search of simple truths and respect for heritage in the cleanest way. Imagine the possibilities when better vintages provide the source. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

Biondi-Santi Rosso di Montalcino DOC Tenuta “Greppo” 2020

The first wine tasted inside the newly renovated aging room, a sangiovese fermented in concrete vats and aged in classic Slavonian botti. Here the vintage that will be available in 2024. “What we are looking for in a Rosso is to preserve the history of the estate,” says Giampiero Betolini. “It took nine blending sessions to arrive at what the team was happy with, to enact the style of Biondi-Santi.” The 2020 is freshness and acidity first and foremost, from five levels of selection in the vineyard. Just put your nose in the Rosso and you will know it is Biondi-Santi, lighter than 2019, reflective of a vintage, moderately low in alcohol and perfumed. The “stampa” of Tenuta Il Greppo with circulative acids, not swirling but seemingly travelling the palate in mimic of a classic hydro-biodynamic pattern. Pure, clean and piercing. The kind of impression that is warranted, especially with so much new cask involved. Length is greater than 75 percent of denominational Brunello DOCG which explains three things; selection, tireless trials and longevity. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2023

San Guglielmo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2020

A different vintage to both 2019 and 2021 but San Guglielmo’s micro-climate is so unique to weave a constant thread in the wines from vintage to vintage. A warmer place that needs just the gentlest extractions, no pump-overs nor stirring neither, because ripeness need not be magnified and holes need not be filled. You feel the aromatic texture that seamlessly repeats on the palate. Direct, taut, lightning red fruit, finessed with the best of the area’s Rosso. In this style mind you, of clarity, intensity and focus. A sangiovese you desperately want to drink but you have to love acidity, this acidity and style. Why would you not? Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

Canalicchio di Sopra Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2019

Hard to argue against the idea that in 2019 the Rosso and the Brunello are closer together. Here there is some opulence and definitely more substance than the “average” Rosso so that some grapes could have theoretically gone either way. The difference is structure and so the Rosso vines will not deliver the kind of material for 15 years of aging. Also just slightly less acidity than the Brunello. In this vintage “the bottle makes the function of the barrel,” explains Francesco Ripaccioli. But this could trick many people because on the surface and in these first few years the identity is one of concentration and intensity. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

Le Chiuse Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2019

“A sangiovese from Montalcino is going to learn a lot from being in the bottle,” tells Lorenzo Magnelli. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a Brunello or a Rosso.” Never has this been more prescient and true (other than perhaps dfrom 2016) as this 2019, a wine where the chasm to Brunello is lessened but you have to look at the two wines in a completely different way. Magnelli’s approach is not single vineyard but a matter of size and site. The biggest berries matched with the location. If you can find a better Rosso than Le Chiuse’s 2019 there should be trens of thousands of sangiovese lovers that would like to know. Aromatic sound and vision, fruit matched by savoury qualities in perfect synch and so bloody harmonious in every way possible. Power and beauty, grip and elasticity. The biggest of Le Chiuse’s berries make for the juiciest Rosso that delivers an effect that is sweeter than Brunello. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2023

Podere Le Ripi Estate

Podere Le Ripi Rosso di Montalcino DOC Sogni de Follia 2019

Rosso di Montalcino comes from Le Ripi’s vineyards to the west, a good Rosso area where the berries are bigger, the alluvial terroir gifts intendment and the sangiovese acts truly fresh. No hydric stress, plenty of q vs Q and PDQ, I’s dotted and T’s crossed. Total and also specific heat transfer for an acid-tannin relationship supportive by keeping this wine linear and it’s really quite salty. The 24 months aging in cask has equipped a Rosso with quantified structure and combined with the mineral salts puts it in a really gastronomical position. This should be poured with antipasti and primi, especially in the late fall when truffles and mushrooms are available. Sogni di Foglia, words of Francesco Illy, translated as “dreams of madness.” Up to interpretation, perhaps just words that make sense in the context of all the names of Le Ripi’s wines. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

San Guglielmo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2019

The first Rosso of the new age under the guise of Ilaria and Michele at San Guglielmo. Some age and maturity showing on this ’19, but also more ripeness, phenolic presence and weight for what will follow out of the next two Rosso vintages. Good development, less red lightning fruit, ever so slightly jammy and certainly without the tension of 2020 an 2021. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted November 2023

Cortonesi Rosso di Montalcino DOC La Mannella 2016

Tomasso Cortonesi says “in my opinion from this bottle there is a little bit too much evolution on the nose” but the tasting group of producers and tasters believes to give it some air and more will come. The palate is perfectly vibrant with less maturity, acids in pique shape and fruit showing no fatigue. Tomasso is his own biggest critic and I’ve heard him say this before so he clearly tries to create and is always looking for top freshness. There is plenty here for a seven year-old Rosso and there will be a few years of very positive drinking ahead. Last tasted November 2023

Not simply freshness but unction, fruit culpability and basic perfection. The young vines of five years are just now coming into their speciality, that being quality fruit meeting and melting into more than a modicum of grip and structure. You could pour this Rosso for young Brunello seekers and old Rosso knowers. It will solicit and win over their collective hearts. Tasted October 2019

Lovely effulgent fruit in this Cortonesi family Rosso radiates to extrapolate for a 2016 Brunello future, in many ways. First it is this Rosso that benefits from the particular handling, showing in an immediately gratifying plus available sangiovese that drinks with fast-forward Rosso promise and does so on its own terms, for the right Montalcino reasons. Second, even though the producer’s approach to Brunello is another matter in which generally speaking it deals only with older vines, it is this youthful exuberance and wealth of amenability meeting attack that bodes well for the impending grandi vini. It is here that we see the present and the future of Rosso di Montalcino and the respect it is both given and deserved. Drink 2019-2025. Tasted February 2018

Toscana IGT

Fattoria Dei Barbi Senza Solfiti 2021, Toscana IGT

Stefano Cinelli Colombini’s idea has been to produce sangiovese without sulphites, not to make a natural or trendy wine but something that speaks to both heritage and the realities of today. A sangiovese made the way it once was, naked and alive but with the advantage of 2020 technology. This project had been in the works for several years and we tasted through young unfinished samples together back in October of 2021. This wine’s genesis and though ’21 is no longer the current release it makes the most sense to taste as a ready to drink wine. From concepts developed with the University of Pisa, clean as it could possibly be, a hint of carbonic pulse, extreme freshness, lightning red fruit, cracker acidity and an ideal match as an aperitivo with Barbi’s sharp cheeses coming out of the Caseificio dei Barbi. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted November 2023

Giodo La Quinta 2021, Toscana IGT

Sangiovese from Montalcino vines, “un piccolo Brunello,” smiles Carlo Ferrini if instantly insistent in terms of this not being a Rosso. Exotic in its aromatic profile, of young vines that can’t help but express a cupboard of spices but also a dusty, brushy and southern Montacino mountain tea. Translates as herbal and floral but the grace and lightness of being feed imagination like Villages or Hautes-Côtes Bourgogne. May as well be a young Brunello or whatever your fantasy may be dreamed because that just is this sangiovese. If it smells like Brunello and tastes like Brunello then it must be…well never mind. Plenty of mimicry on offer so dream away at will. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2023

Il Palazzone Rosso di Palazzone Vino Rosso NV, Toscana IGT

The idea of Laura Gray who worked at Il Palazzone for more than two decades and a Rosso for “Rosso sake,” a “table wine” in the tradition of that concept, Montalcinese culture and also vernacular. To give a sangiovese credibility without appellative legality from bits and pieces of all the vineyards, including the IGT vineyard. No vintage on the label though the fruit is mainly 2021, yet there is some de-classified 2018 Brunello fruit. Amazing how primary it scents, juxtaposed by fresh rose petals, both curious considering it went to bottle in September of 2022. Lovely purity if not much complexity and just the right amount of volume, surely as intended. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

Andrea and Gianni Pignattai, Pietroso

Pietroso 2020, Toscana IGT

Only Montosoli fruit and made as an IGT though you have to figure will one day, some day become a Vigna Brunello. The vines are young and the size of the vineyard small (as per the hill) with only 1.3 hectares farmed on the typical sandy Galestro as per the way these rocks are defined and described in Montalcino. Such a different expression for Pietroso, not in terms of style but surely aromatics and mouthfeel coming across apposite to the three-vineyard Brunello. More savour, sweet herbals and what can be best described as liquoroso. Amaro, sweet in perfume yet intensely dry on the palate. The name is in ode to the patriarchal grandfather, Berni Domenico, aged in Botti and tonneaux for two years. Quite the riches but my goodness such red fruit and so in the end this could only be Pietroso, no matter the vineyard. Always reminded of Montosoli’s savour and structure and so the longevity of this wine may be without bounds. Won’t be released until June of 2024. Smart choice. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted November 2023

Podere Le Ripi Canna Torta 2021, Toscana IGT

Podere Le Ripi CEO and Winemaker Sebastian Nasello begins by saying “we have traditional Brunello but we also make wines for the next generation of wine drinkers. We have to care of them.” A mix of trebbiano and malvasia, six to eight months in vats on skins, followed by an additional six to eight in concrete. Grapes come from the western side of Montalcino, some of them purchased. A nickname meaning “a bad (or dull) shooter,” given to an employee who’s charge it is to control the deers. And so they dance on the label, as this does on the palate. Indeed this is a clean and rich example with just the right hints of tart fruits, herbs and shadows with hidden bits of umami. 2,000 bottles, more or less. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2023

Podere Le Ripi Cappuccetto 2022, Toscano Rosato IGT

One night (maybe two) of skin contact, not a salasso, a Rosato at heart, salty and a veritable salsa of sangiovese. It’s really, actually, ostensibly, allegedly if truly Montalcinese, of savoury sapidity (in reference to taste) and ultimately a piquancy. This Rosé does not chase any specific or established style but just something you want to drink. It’s fucking delicious is what it is. Lovely touch of green and that’s just right. Also a bitter nectarine, not quite ripe but tart and satisfying. Who would not want to drink this?? Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

Sebastian Nasello, Podere Le Ripi

Podere Le Ripi Attenti al Lupo 2022, Toscana IGT

Sebastian Nasello is trying to create some wines that can pe poured and enjoyed at wine bars that show another side of what can be done n Montalcino. Introducing whole cluster sangiovese in its fourth vintage but the first that is fully being brought to market, of approximately 4,000 bottles. Raw and unfiltered, fine and pulsating measure of sauvage, a light and knowable amount of Brettanomyces that crept in at the end of fermentation. Lacks precision as a result but more than makes up for it with unbridled and gangly personality. The following vintage temperature was lowered during the svinato to avoid this occurrence. The texture is attractive yet the tannins are brittle and drying at the finish. Those who seek out the natural and the hands off as much as possible will want this vintage. Yet faults are faults and they happen. Drink 2023-2024. Tasted November 2023

Podere Le Ripi Attenti al Lupo (Campione) 2023, Toscana IGT

Cask sample: Sebastian Nasello is deep into machinations with whole bunch and carbonic macerations, but in the cleanest way possible, Not gratuitously natural wines. This fifth vintage of the whole cluster is no longer experimental sangiovese because this is the one where things are really figured out. The carbonic fermentation, cooling at the time of svinatura and finished without any confining or gripping of tannin puts this in cru gamay Beaujolais territory. The terroir is alluvial from the western sector of Montalcino and now we are gifted a sangiovese of precision, succulent juiciness and long, sweetly natural finish. No Brett and this lovely carbonic buzz on the finish. Nice and clean. Will be bottled around harvest in 2024. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2023

Tenuta Le Potazzine Sangiovese 2021, Toscana IGT

Youngest and freshest of the sangiovese, fragrant and of a perfume as intoxicating as it is demure. It’s just everywhere in this light and understated wine. Roses and bergamot, a hidden message of balsamico, simplicity if something hidden in the shadows to hint at or tease what will be possible for Rosso (especially) out of the warm 2022 vintage. The possibilities are evident, the promise palpable. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2023

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Benvenuto Brunello 2023, Montalcino

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