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

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Montalcino Previews 2024: Brunello 2020, Brunello Riserva 2019 and older vintages

Jan13

Montalcino, November 2024

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020, Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019, changes to Rosso di Montalcino DOC, 14 estate visits and 250 tasting notes from Montalcino, November 2024

The most recent edition of Montalcino’s Benvenuto Brunello took place from November 14th-16th, 2024 in the Chiostro del Museo di Sant’Agostino. Home to Il Tempio du Brunello, the “Temple of Brunello,” offices of Il Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, Civic and Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art of Montalcino, all within the cloisters and edifices of the former 15th century convent of Sant’Agostino.

The focus of Benvenuto Brunello is of course, sangiovese and the questions have been asked so many times. “How do you taste more than 200 wines from one region, all made with the same grape and differentiate between them? How does your palate not suffer from fatigue and how are you able to write a unique tasting note for each wine?” The answers have never been simpler or more obvious – with the Montalcino producers to thank. Montalcino is ever evolving and from year to year the identity of its sangiovese diversify in ways to extrapolate from and improve on the last. Annual assessments consider and unearth more wines defined by their freshness. There are journalists who would have consumers believe that climate change was supposed to result in an ever rising trajectory of hotter, higher alcohol Brunello, but the Montalcinese are instead making better, more drinkable wines. The Brunello and the Rosso have increasingly become a pleasure to taste and write about. That is the story and the messenger is pleased.

Val d’Orcia

During the days of Benvenuto Brunello a conference took place at Teatro degli Astrusi with the thematic for 2024 being “what will the future hold for wine Consortia,” hosted by Luciano Ferraro – Editor-in-Chief at Corriere della Sera. The discussion included special guests Giovanni Manetti (President of Il Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico), Albiera Antinori (President of the Consorzio per la Tutela dei Vini DOC Bolgheri e DOC Bolgheri Sassicaia), Francesco Cambria (Consorzio di Tutela dei Vini Etna DOC), Sergio Germano (Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani) and Christian Marchesini (Consorzio per la Tutela dei Vini Valpolicella). In addition to the awarding of the prestigious Premio Leccio d’Oro (Villa Maiella – Guardiagrele; Tre Dita – Chicago; Garofalo Wine – Avellino; WineWatch – Ft. Lauderdale, Enoteca Piti Golla e Cantina – Firenze), annual Tile presentation and Artist speech (Ferzan Özpetek), there was the assessment of the latest viticultural year and “new method” for qualifying vintages, in this case an overview of 2020.

Changes to Rosso di Montalcino DOC

In June of 2021 Godello attended the inaugural Rosso event in Montalcino, the first significant collective step towards establishing an identity independent from Brunello. Fast forward to July of 2022 when talks opened up to consider increasing Rosso di Montalcino’s limited number of 510 hectares in the Montalcino registry (as compared to Brunello’s 2,100), with the idea to raise the self-contained profile of the wines and further distance them from being mired in the concept known as “Baby Brunello.” While Rosso’s production numbers can at times be increased by de-classifying Brunello fruit, the idea of expansion has been a hot topic of discussion and a year later much had changed. The selling of some estate vineyards saw some producers choosing to declare these new blocks as Rosso, case in point a piece of Passo del Lume Spento passed from one set of hands to another in 2023. Rosso has continued to rise, both in quality and despite climate adversity, with new rules in place, also in quantity. In June of 2024 it was announced that the DOC had been authorized to increase by 364 hectares, although the expansion did not make concessions for the planting of new vineyards, only for sangiovese that is thus far free from quota registers. The declaration could eventually see to the potential of an added three million bottles in production.

On the surface the resolution sounds foolproof but the devil always plays the advocate position to wonder if everyone involved is happy, feels heard and included in the decision making. Land rights and the appellative rules of a consortium’s disciplinare will benefit some, but not everyone. Even more changes are afoot with the territory moving on from the official five-star vintage rating system and the creation of a new map to be published by the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino in collaboration with prodigal son Gabriele Gorelli M.W.

With Michaela Morris, Benvenuto Brunello 2024

Meanwhile the Rosso vintage continues to gain importance because of 202o’s joy and also grip. Many estates only produced 20-30 per cent as compared to 2019 but surely that number was partially a factor of average potential. Adversity and low yields aside the purity remains unrivalled for Rosso, the liveliness too. At its best it was and still is like discovering the first ever vintage of something profound. Tasting Rosso di Montalcino over the course of those two days that June proved with unequivocal doubt that quality across the board had never been greater or higher. Revisits and new opportunities to look at more Rosso 2020s this past November only serves to cement the notion.

Related – Simply Red: Rosso di Montalcino

La Fortezza di Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vintage 2020 – Much more than a pleasant surprise

Back in June of 2021 when that first Rosso di Montalcino solo event was introduced, the 2020 Rosso di Montalcino vintage was described as a child of a warm and dry season, dangerously low in quantity and one in Rosso terms to envision as lasting for a very long time. Great temperature fluctuations through harvest allowed the development of complex aromatics with increasing intensity. A season that gifted viscosity and the deepest of red cherry fruit. There was considerable mention of sluggish ferments which was especially challenging for malolactic to happen, but producers then, as now, were unconcerned. This is because pH was plenty high enough (nearing 3.4), there was no sinister force at work and this past November it was disclosed that the occurrence was far less of an issue for the Brunello. “Everything can change,” explained Giacomo Bartolommei of Caprili. “Things were going slow but (remember that) Rosso comes out one year after harvest – Brunello is five. We monitored along the way and by the time we needed to bottle all the malolactic was finished.” It helped to be patient and there can be no doubt how much complexity was gained through the unique and diverse aspects of a different vintage. When asked if there was anything truly challenging about 2020 Bartolommei answered “yes…Covid. But not in the vineyard.”

At Il Giglio with La Morris, Giacomo Bartolommei and la famiglia Machetti

And what about the 2020 Brunello? Is it not amazing how a vintage can deliver so much pleasantry and fineness but in so many different ways? Many 2020s are understated and uncomplicated but the best simply take advantage of their sangiovese DNA. Intelligent sangiovese come from honest people making wines from great terroir. Red fruit purity from a transparency of vintage is reserved for those producers who abide by their climate, this to allow soils to transmit sangiovese into Brunello of finesse, which culminates in fineness. Still others come away layered and compact like compressed Galestro, held together by acidity and tannin. Francesco Ripaccioli found the word “pleasantness” as the most suitable, to describe a vintage “in a more immediate and ready, generous and vibrant way without neglecting those aspects of freshness and verticality which characterize the northern side of Montalcino.” Ripaccioli continued by describing the wines as “being more fleshy, of more pronounced roundness, tannic elegance, all found within a framework of minerality and freshness.” For Canalicchio di Sopra no Riserva will be produced, a decision echoed by many other Montalcino producers.

With the AIS Siena Sommelliers in the Chiostro Museo Montalcino

The summer was about as warm at they come but early September rains cooled the vineyards down and so a ripening delay created an allowance to harvest at “normal” times. The warmth of July and August beget proper temperature excursions in September to result in a perfectly direct, fruit cumulate, acid retentive, silky tannic style for Montalcino. On the north side of the Montalcino hill it was a regular season harvested on the early side, beginning on or around the last weekend of September. The vintage was a strong and focused one for northerly Montosoli, not because of hot versus cold or wet versus dry but because the oscillations of temperature, prevailing winds and shifts in the space time continuum put the northern hill ahead of many southerly parts. The “Fregoni Index,” indicator of temperature excursion, was 431.9 for the 30 day period between August 23rd and September 21st, in other words the average day for night fluctuation during the final ripening period was 14.4 degrees. A significant statistic to help explain and define a vintage.

With Carmela Gioia and the AIS Siena Sommeliers

In the south the small berries in this vintage made for concentrated and powerful Brunelli with a saltiness, sweet acidity and a note of blood orange. To the east picking was a week later than the south. The bouquet and tannins are like 2012 “but I believe 2020 is more elegant, with fresher tannins and more vibrant acidity” told Giacomo Neri. The frost zones where losses were common from 2017 through 2021 saw an average 20 percent reduction in 2020. The highest elevation beget the airiest sangiovese set to the highest tones because temperature swings and winds blowing in harder will make these things happen. At these elevations between 500 and 600-plus metres the 2020 Annata are structured and gainfully austere, a compliment for the most part and a return to the kind of Brunello you might have been tasting more than ten years ago.

Many producers chose not to make Riserva from 2020 and so it was chance to really concentrate on the Brunello. Far from an indicator that the vintage was poor but more so a philosophy (and a brand of economics) that speaks to making high quality Brunello Annata. That said it was a vintage of 80 percent production (compared to 2019) and so despite no Riserva this represents an average amount of Brunello.

Tortelli by Chef Anna at Il Giglio Montalcino

Vintage 2019 – A top one for Riserva

Ah yes, the already famous vintage and for many reasons, 99 percent of them good. Comparable to 2016 in the sense that quality and quantity were both high. The oenologist Carlo Ferrini of Giodo described the weather as calda but not caldissima. A statement of the obvious to say 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 in 2019 there was 45-plus mm of rain on September 15th. A cleansing rain with no ill effect.

Next generation Montalcino

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 were happy with and also relieved by 2019. The oft repeated terms were quality and quantity, but also easy, uncomplicated, fresh and substantial. Even the usage of “The Goldilocks vintage,” not too hard or too soft. Not to dry and not too wet. It was just right. If 2018 was the vertical vintage then 2019 was one of breadth and depth. 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 place. To find richness from an uncontaminated place, because climate did not get in the way. To make a style of sangiovese by leaning towards the oxidative and not the reductive because the fruit was so untainted. Brunello that carried the DNA of each farm and levels of acidity to see the prospect of the best examples aging for 30 years or more.

Marino Colleoni – Podere Sante Marie

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 Peronospera. 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. There were a few handfuls of producers that made Riserva for ’17 and ’18 but for the bulk of the territory 2019 was the first since 2016 from which everyone who makes Riserva chose to do so.

Tagliata by Chef Anna at Il Giglio Montalcino

Vigna vs Riserva

These are the sangiovese the agronomist and the oenologist spend their most time with, from vineyard work, by grape ferments and through botti epochs that receive the most nurturing and care. Montalcino’s Vigna and Riserva will change a winemaker, either for better or for worse and they are also the ones that will stand the test of time. The question worth posing to these Montalcinese makers is why? What makes that vineyard block so special and for wines already aged longer than most, why go even longer, sometimes five years further in wood? What is the impetus for it being better to be a thinking monk than a post-modern thinker? How do vintage, elévage and specific vineyard blocks intertwine to create Brunello’s most structured sangiovese?

Vigna or cru wines have increasingly become the most talked about sangiovese within the trilogy comprised of Brunello, Vigna and Riserva. They are the territory’s answer to any question that prods or provokes a discussion regarding sub-zones and menzione geografica, a.k.a. MGAs. Yet Montalcino is one entity and not all that large a zone as a whole. There are villages and hamlets scattered about and within but to say that all the vineyards in and around say Sant’Angelo in Colle produce Brunello with similar characteristics is just not possible. Montalcino is not in need of any new or imagined rankings. What would it offer the community as a whole that it does not already have?

Montalcino

The regulations set the date of Riserva being released onto the market as January 1st of the fifth year after harvesting. The words of Lorenzo Magnelli of Le Chiuse will always resonate. “We release our Riserva 60 months later than our regular Brunello because I believe it helps the wine to get a stronger identity from Brunello, showing a better balance and more complexity. Brunello Riserva, it’s not the wine that you want to drink young and in this way you really can’t.” The opposite comes from Riccardo Campinoti at Le Ragnaie: “I am not a big Riserva guy, I keep all my wines three years in barrel and I think it’s enough. I much rather prefer single vineyard expression, I keep my best sites for single vineyards. Lately I prefer colder vintages. Warm vintages are too extreme and the wines are not that interesting.”

L’Ispettore Ginko or l’Uomo Pipistrello?

Benvenuto Brunello 2024

The Consorzio’s members come together each November for Benvenuto Brunello at The Chiostro Museo Montalcino for a showcase of the most recent vintages of Brunello, Vigna, Etichetta, Riserva, Rosso, Sant’Antimo and Moscadello. At the 2023 edition there were 118 producers present and this time around that number increased to 126. There are always some notable attendees missing for various reasons and this year the absences also included some wineries who were present in 2023. Altesino, Baricci, Collosorbo, Conti Costanti, Corte dei Venti, Fattoria dei Barbi, Frescobaldi, Gaja, Il Marroneto, Le Gode, Pietra, Salicutti, San Filippo, Siro Pacenti and Valdicava were some of the more obvious non-attending producers. My colleague Michaela Morris and I did organize an assessment of some of these wines outside of the Sommelier-serviced Chiostro tasting. As always the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino events are made possible by the team of President Fabrizio Bindocci, Director Andrea Machetti, Vice-Presidents Giacomo Bartolommei, Riccardo Talenti and Carlotta Salvini who is responsible for Marketing & Communication. Her efforts are unequalled and evident in every aspect of Consorzio business. Collectively they and their staff make Benvenuto Brunello one of the most important wine events in the world.

The 2024 edition of Benvenuto Brunello was Godello’s eighth consecutive opportunity to gauge the current state of Montalcino’s sangiovese. He sat and tasted in the Chiostro for three days, assisted as always by the incredible Sommeliers of AIS Siena and Toscana. Visits to estates were also made, at Canalicchio di Sopra, Donatella Cinelli Colombini (at Fattoria del Colle), Il Poggione, Cerbaia, Terre Nere, Val di Suga, Biondi-Santi, San Polo, Corte Pavone, Le Potazzine, Casanova di Neri, Ridolfi, Sasseti-Livio Pertimali and Podere Sante Marie. If you would like to hop over to view the list in its entirety, starting with the highest rated wines, please click on this link. What follows below are all Godello’s tasting notes for 254 wines; Rosso di Montalcino DOC (29), Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020 (73), Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna + Etichetta + Altra Tipologia 2020 (50), Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019 (54), older vintages (29), Toscana IGT + other wines (19).

Rosso di Montalcino

Rosso di Montalcino DOC

Argiano Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Extremely youthful, red candied Rosso with bright berries and simplicity all round. Tart yet naturally sweet, easy as it gets and little structure to discuss. The intention here is bright, loud and clear. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2024

Camigliano Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

The right kind of Rosso is all about generously suggestive ease of early drink-ability and with just enough structure to see three years of no major change or decline. As here with a swirl of red fruit, liquid chalky consistency and good length. Proper Rosso all the way through. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Caprili Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Recognizable Rosso style, open for business while also presenting upright and sturdy, of backbone dictated by acidity. Tells us now is not the best time and with another year the sangiovese housed within this linear Rosso will tend to more essential matters. Fine, composed and for Rosso a severely focused wine. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Le Potazzine Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

Talenti Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2023

No doubt deeper and broader with darker fruit plus structure from a low quantity and high quality Montalcino vintage. A serious Rosso style, welling with dark berries and minerals in a pool of its own juiced accord. Bigger sangiovese, brooding and laid low, a different kind of acidity but twinning with the tannins to see this live on for several years. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Armilla Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Mildly reductive and when the sangiovese emerges it is clearly a case of Rosso freshness and clarity. Simplicity with a little bit of tannin yet to resolve. Aerate and agitate for current best results or wait six months further. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted November 2024

Canalicchio di Sopra Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Francesco Ripaccioli’s first year working with the family estate was 2007, while studying economics. He travelled to the U.S. over 20 days, pouring 15 wines at 17 dinners and Rosso was five vintages behind. Dad was selling off the grapes and when Francesco returned he made it his goal to revive Rosso di Montalcino. Every bit of declassified Brunello is destined to find its way into Rosso and it is essential to know that Francesco Ripaccioli is a huge fan of this vintage. He will surely make (Brunello) Riserva from 2022 (and almost for sure from Vigna Mercatale). This is in fact a great Rosso but more important it marks a return to a Canalicchio Rosso di Montalcino, this coming a year after a 2021 that was just a little bit too much. This according to Ripaccioli but many will beg to differ. No arguing the aromatic volume out of ’22 that stuns and a flavour profile of pure sangiovese seduction. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2024

Casanova di Neri Rosso di Montalcino DOC Giovanni Neri 2022

Then there are the Rosso you might consider as Brunello, of aromatic volume, depth of ideas and a level of seriousness that changes how we think about the scenario. Rosso for Rosso sake sure, for next generation Gian Lorenzo and Giovanni Neri from a single parcel of land owned by a friend of Giacomo Neri’s father. Inclusive of 20 percent whole bunch but here, well here this is not merely a case of existing and servicing, here the matter is something bigger, from soils of lime, rocks and clay, of a sangiovese grander and more intentional. Commanding Rosso, attention grabbing and keeping, then ultimately persisting. As it has been said, not so far from Brunello. But let’s neither talk about that or about Rosso in that way. The concept is this. To make a young, high quality Rosso di Montalcino but more importantly a great sangiovese from a Casanova di Neri vineyard in Montalcino. Full stop. Bottled in November of 2023 after 14 months in vessel. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted twice, November 2024

Cerbaia Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

From the 2002 planted vineyard declassified for Rosso though from the 2024 vintage forward the block will be classified exactly for the appellation. Same maceration period (15 days) as the Brunello and sent to Botti for just a few months. Far from a powerful vintage and yet there is an underlying structure running underneath, laying low, keeping the wine linear for now and likely for several years to come. A really interesting Rosso, of its own accord, moving low and slow. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2024

Col d’Orcia Rosso di Montalcino DOC Vigna Banditella 2022

A rare (labeled) single vineyard Rosso di Montalcino and one to pay close attention to. Not that it is intended to age for a decade or more but the probability runs high that it will. Ripe and made properly, in other words with acidity and just enough tannin intact. The 2022 will likely exceed the last three 2s because it’s just built that way. Quality fruit shines and acidity will be the real driver through time. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2024

Corte Pavone Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Rosso quality will come from a cross-section of the 80 different micro-plots across the 18 hectares of the Corte Pavone estate. Hayo Loacker says approximately 80 percent of these plots will be gathered for the Rosso. There are few Rosso with as much oomph, in the parlance of our times, powerful restraint and trenchant impression and were this tasted blind there would be at least an 80 percent chance this would be pegged as Brunello. That should be enough to convince 80 percent of consumers what a value this surely is. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2024

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2022

The 2022 is a Rosso the team and also their partners truly believe in, this because it is “the business card used to present ourselves,” says Violante Gardini Cinelli Colombini. A Rosso of new identity, completeness, comfortable, elegant and “with many impressions inside,” adds Export Manager Irene Lesti. Short stay in wood, mild tannins, a crunchy example with just a touch of the cellar. Balanced and fulsome with great satisfaction guaranteed for any time, day or occasion. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Rosso di Montalcino

Franco Pacenti Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Bright, fresh and focused Rosso di Montalcino from a less than age-worthy vintage though not all are required to be this way. A Rosso for here and now, enjoyable, delicious and of a varietal meets appellative clarity that tells the 2022 story. Harbinger for Brunello and this from a family dong everything right. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2024

Il Poggione Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Rosso comes from vines at least 15 years of age and rests for a year in 75 percent Botti (52 and 33 hL), the rest in barriques which are never used for the Brunello. Finest of Rosso vintages, not yet released and if Il Poggione’s is any harbinger than the world should wake up and pay attention. If Rosso’s time may not yet have arrived it should happen right here, right now. The ’22 is a suave, silken and structured Rosso, ready and willing but also determined to age slowly, gracefully and incrementally forward. This will surprise seven to 10 years down the road. Take this Rosso to the bank. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2024

Le Chiuse Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Let’s talk about Rosso di Montalcino. Discuss the merits and the reasons for its existence. If you have been in the vineyard where the largest and most succulent berries are chosen then you will know they will give this appellative level of sangiovese its merit and reason. Lorenzo Magnelli seasons the macerated fruit with large casks to lend it definition and length. Elasticizes and extends its life but do not sleep on a decision to enjoy the wine right here, right now. All is necessary and defines this part of Montalcino life. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted twice, in the Chiostro and at Alle Logge di Pizza, Montalcino, November 2024

Le Potazzine Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

The most unusual of vintages with alcoholic fermentation lasting a record 57 days when the usual range is 40-50. A chalky Rosso, traditional and maturing with ripest, somewhat late picked fruit now more than ready for consumption. You can comfortably drink this wine for the next two years while the cracker 2023 is working through its development. Last tasted November 2024

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

Ridolfi Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

For Rosso 2022 is a vintage of delectable freshness, succulence and sapidity. The stars have aligned, of vintage and place for fruit that feels and acts like it should. Tart and high acid as a compliment to high-level ripeness and good harmony all-around. Classic Ridolfi red cherry with a roasted pepper and savoury components so consistent with all of the estate’s wines. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2024

San Guglielmo Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

Quite a lot of personality and character for a 2022 Rosso, candied florals to begin and summer basilico to follow. Like a Caprese in a glass, fresh tomato at peak and a seasoned grind of salinity. Love the ripeness, the frank and open generosity, the ease with which this drinks and pleases. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

San Polo Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2022

A truly rich, luxurious and expressive Rosso, as chic, silken and stylish as they come. Crazy beautiful texture ad styled flavours, luxe and seductive. Great fruit obviously but also a winemaker with touch, to turn fruit and acid into something so smooth. This considering 20 percent is subjected to some semi-carbonic maceration and time in amphora. Almost hard to believe the experimental methodology has led to this kind of result. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Biondi-Santi Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

Solid rains from October 2020 through January 2021 set the vineyards up with high level water reserves and some freezing winter temperatures convinced the team to delay pruning by several weeks. A late frost affected some vines and a fraction of rain fell through the rest of the season, save for a good rain in June and so the reserves meant almost no hydric stress to the vines. Two major rains in the third week of harvest changed everything – for the better, followed by none during the harvest. Harvest began on September 9th and finished on the 25th with only three no-pick days in between. Welcome to a joyful Rosso, a pure sangiovese child of steel, concrete and wood, one year in large cask. A traditional Biondi-Santi in terms of familial story and elévage, a cultural imperative and adherence to heritage. Ideally balanced with the acidity’s temper exactly on side and fruit right on that line between freshness and next stage presence. Feels like a Rosso that is approaching its peak, ready to climb up onto the plateau to linger right there for several years. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Canalicchio di Sopra Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

Gorelli Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

Le Ragnaie Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2021

Don’t know about the rest of you Brunello fools but Rosso is the dagger in the heart as there is no escaping from Le Ragnaie 2021’s knife-edge slashes. A Rosso so perfectly staid, levelled, advanced and arrived, now in the meat of the matter, held tight within the sanguine beauty of its carnal embrace. Rosso truly beget because, well right grapes, place and time have conspired for it to happen. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2024

Poggio Di Sotto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2021

A harbinger for top quality and vintage Brunello di Montalcino in the pipeline, coming next fall to be tasted at Benvenuto Brunello 2025. Tight, fresh, clean and a bit bracing still, with a lovely aromatic swirl and all the sign that speak to longevità. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted at Prowein, March 2024

Terre Nere Rosso di Montalcino DOC Famiglia Vallone 2021

From Vigna Ponte de Falchi which gives the best grapes to the Brunello and the rest to this Rosso. Truly aromatic Rosso of sweet fruit, also acidity while a 25-day maceration lends all that plus a full on glycerol texture. Frost season lessened production by approximately 30 percent and though it usually by-passes this location – not so much luck in 2021. Liquid peppery and silky Rosso, not so structured but still good for three more winters. White chocolate comes in at the finish. Of Terre Nere’s 50,000 bottles average total, the Rosso is normally 3,500. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2024

Val di Suga Rosso di Montalcino DOC Vigna Spuntali 2021

The regular Rosso is amassed from fruit out of all three zones, northeast, southwest and southeast, the youngest vines used. This next level Rosso is from Vigna Spuntali in southwest Montalcino and the sandiest of the soils. Lightning reflexive Rosso yet a sangiovese residing and resting somewhere in between that and a Brunello Annata. Though to be honest this is quite nervy for a Rosso, far from easy and fruity, more edgy than most, like certain Brunello. A conundrum and so curious of style, but also effect. What to make of this? Time. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2024

Canalicchio di Sopra Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2020

“I define this as a vintage of pleasantness,” says Francesco Ripaccioli and an early approach means you can enjoy this wine to its fullest right now. At four years of age it’s right there with just a hint of reduction juxtaposed by secondary character creeping in. The wood really covers this sangiovese in a warm blanket but through all this you need only give the wine 15 minutes and it will begin to open. Open it does and the aromatics are full of baking spice cupboard and then the chocolate filling in at the finish. Last tasted November 2024

Call this Rosso balanced, even if what emits is not quite the same the equanimity of 2019. Still there is nurturing from out of the blanketing warmth of 2020, a linear progression from grippy fruit through acid succulence. The construct of structural motion is more than just a notion and the wine is in constant flux, unsettled, not having arrived anywhere near its final, or intended destination. Will move with the times, be transferable, able to reinvent itself time and time again. As a Canalicchio di Sopra it most certainly will. Bottled only three months ago so understand why there is so much speculation. Francesco Ripaccioli believes the evolution will be like 2016. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted June 2022

Terre Nere Rosso di Montalcino DOC Campigli Vallone 2020

The most unusual of the last six Rosso vintages because of sluggish malolactic fermentation which resulted in many layered, if oft misunderstood Rosso. Not necessary the case here and to be honest the long maceration here has resulted in a very high quality Rosso with no candied notes and really elastic texture. Acids and tannin as well with less wood noted and less notes of chocolate at the finish. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Il Poggione Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2010

Now twenty-eight months later the 2010 Rosso holds strong, not yet tiring, still in an exotic umami state, poetic and joyous to taste once again. A rare opportunity and one that more producers should take advantage of opportunities for sharing. Last tasted November 2024

Truth straight and inherent from a Rosso nearly 12 years of age, fresh and immovable. Speaks the structure of a vintage, even for Rosso, were it crafted in this way and equipped to speak on behalf of sangiovese’s age-ability, no matter the what, where and why of the fruit. Camphor oil, anchovy and a melange of salato umami to speak of Sant’Angelo in Colle and then, all of Montalcino. Beautiful wine with a long, liquid chalky finish. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted June 2022

Brunello 2020

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Argiano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Argiano expectation submits to Argiano conviction for Argiano realization. The red fruit purity comes from a transparency of vintage reserved for those producers who abide by their climate. This to allow soils to transmit sangiovese into Brunello of finesse which culminates in fineness. This is the epitome of exacting texture, a sweetness of supporting parts and in the end a matter of ethereal qualities for larger production Brunello di Montalcino. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Armilla Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Armilla has clearly unearthed and pinpointed the sweet spot, at least aromatically speaking for their 2020 Brunello of iridescence and what might be transposed as toothsome on the nose. The palate confirms these initial considerations and yet the mellow, soft and billowy flavours are the most concentrated aspects of this sangiovese’s calm demeanour. Accessible as 2020 is likely to get from a high quality vintage and the restraint is fully appreciated. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2024

Banfi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Castello Banfi 2020

Banfi delivers a red rose aromatic and correctly dusty sangiovese for 2020, somewhere in the middle zone between transparent and thickly textured. A wide breadth of local balsamico infiltrates and spreads widely through the wine, into aromatics and outwards across the far reaching palate. About as correct and understood as there can be for 2020 Brunello di Montalcino. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2024

Baricci Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

They are not the only one, but this northerly estate finds the most magical way of aging their sangiovese to a place where upon release the wine already feels organized and ready, residing upon a comfortable plateau to allow a poured glass to make sense almost right away. A crested situation that initiates early generosity and also promises a long stay within these same parameters. Frankly it could be ten years before any new or significant changes occur. The ability to make a Brunello di Montalcino this way is special and so please feel comfortable to open bottles anytime the urge comes along. Keep doing so for 10 years because the precision, expertly judged cask usage and potential are all at the top of the Brunello game. Tannins so fine prove the point and rest the case. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted November 2024

Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Masterfully aromatic 2020 Brunello, new age sangiovese with an old school heart, aromatically shy and waiting for time to reveal the blessed intricacies of its potential. A fresh and crispy 2020, tight yet neither grippy nor austere. Will show its true colours after two, possibly even three years time. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2024

Campogiovanni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Enticing aromatic fishing, drawing us in without pause, gloriously perfumed if surely bigger and broader a Brunello from variable 2020. Fluctuating in so many positive ways and respects, in this case southerly and concentrated, crunchy, fresh as need be, tannic to the edges of the palate and the earth. High quality functionality from Campogiovanni’s warm and inviting 2020. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2024

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2020

No Riserva was made for 2020 because Francesco Ripaccioli was not sure it was the right thing to do and so it was chance to really concentrate on the Brunello. This means all of Vigna (Vecchia) Mercatale’s fruit was used for the Brunello 2020. Far from an indicator that the vintage was poor but more so a philosophy (and a brand of economics) that speaks to making high quality Brunello Annata. That said it was a vintage of 80 percent production (compared to 2019) and so despite no Riserva this represents an average amount of Brunello. The result is more than the sum of parts, including a bit more Vigna Casascia and also Montosoli. It is a time to sit back, stay cool and recognize the philanthropy of a wine that is unequivocally Canalicchio di Sopra. “An educational vintage,” says Ripaccioli, “to explain what Canalicchio di Sopra is, of elegance, opulence and roundness.” More so than 2018, not quite the fullness and everything of 2019 and again, a vintage that represents the place. Might it be compared to 2015 – Yes, but actually no. It’s just 2020. The acids are better, as is the energy, even while the sweetness is not. Salty too and with more potential. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Capanna Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Top level perfume, not shy to express wishes and desires, openly fragrant to announce its sangiovese arrival. A rose garden of many varieties and also fresh cut oak, not yet spicy and no infiltrate tastes to speak of. Freshness and crunch, tart with red citrus and tannins that command attention, direct the flavours, textures and finishing touches. Needs two years before the flavours will begin to explode. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Tenimenti Capanne Ricci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A wood inflected 2020 Brunello, spices run amok around the fullness of aromas, of cinnamon and clove, accented further with the estate’s parochial balsamico. Crusty and brittle tannins play the game of austerity for a sangiovese that will improve with time though fruit won’t likely last beyond the five year mark. Older-schooled in many respects. Drink 2026-2028. Tasted November 2024

Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Caprili Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Unique and inviting perfume from 2020 Caprili, floral in an exotic way, like bougainvillea with red fruit so pure and local, of say corbezzolo imagined. You can feel the unction even before a sip and the textural silkiness is confirmed. A memory of Rosso tasted three and a half years ago is revived, clear as an azure blue Montalcino morning, clock tower chiming nine. The connection is felt with palpable meaning, to confirm that Caprili’s are sangiovese of vineyard. Wines of place. What more should there be? Drink 2025-2035. Tasted November 2024

Carpineto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Immediacy of aromas bursting out with fruit at the fore and then more. This tells us how well the team abided by vintage and place, where elevation is clearly the impetus to inflate and aerate sangiovese destined to express itself as that place would want it to. A fine 2020 in so many ways, perhaps less dusty and savoury but what might be lost is twice gained. Some austerity from the tartness and tight tannins, not unexpected and even welcomed. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2024

With Giacomo Neri

Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

“For me the White Label is the benchmark,” insists Giacomo Neri, from vineyards 350-480m all around the estate. A mix of expositions, “and they are all in front of Monte Amiata“ jokes Neri, but not completely. Like the Rosso a relatively short maceration, 18-19 days and aging in 20hL Slavonian casks. In many ways a normal harvest, late September to early October, though the yields were lower. Really traditional winemaking, virtually unchanged for the encouragement of no dry tannins. Perfumes are notable which says this 2020 is a sangiovese of aromatic volume and therefore depth. Have felt this before and so not surprised to once again experience this level of treble and bass through sounds, waves and sensations gone round and round. A swirl, persistent and intense, moving through the fullest and most substantial expressive moments experienced through mouthfeel. Oh sweet volatility and humanity, so ideally constructed, driven and acclimatized. Seduction through sangiovese and keep in mind for 2020 no Ceretalto was produced, that fruit coming here instead and so benchmark indeed. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted twice, November 2024

Casisano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Spicy perfumes initiate the tasting process for Casisano 2020, consistent with many of this Tommasi estate’s Brunello di Montalcino. The fruit is not shy, nor are the chalky-grainy tannins and the wine finds its balance between these prominent parts. Still oscillating and swaying a bit which says that structure is currently winning. Could use two full winters to integrate and come away at par. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2024

Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Expect everything and sangiovese might just abide, as it does from the start with a 2020 Brunello so complete there may not be anything else that needs to be said. But there is and it begins with freshness, sublime frescezza, expansive and rising. What follows is the consideration of volume, aromatic then tidal, curling and incremental, drawing and then sculpting texture. Stepping back there is an admiring but then a hole that needs to be filled. The wine continues to etch and carve, to make whole what was once just a sketch. The big picture is the thing and a certain kind of personal opus, for maker and taster, will be the end result. Not for a while though – so play the patient game. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Castello Tricerchi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

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

Castiglion del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Cool, sweetly perfumed and ultra modern Brunello di Montalcino. Wood present and judiciously used to add sweet spice and a flavoured sap spread over the palate. Full and expressive, nothing hidden, tannins tight and acids running high. Mid-term ager to serve many purposes. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Cerbaia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A regular season though harvested early, beginning on the 24th of September, done in a few days with a large crew for just five hectares to pick. Elevation between 250 and 300m, facing northwest on the northwest slope of the Montalcino hill. The oldest Brunello vineyard was planted in 1988 and the youngest in 2019. All wines are fermented in steel then sent to medium toast Slavonian Botte. Elena Pellegrini feels this is the best wood for north slope sangiovese, to run and smooth out tannins without adding power or too much spice. Aging is usually three years but “there is no rule, we don’t want to force the characteristics of the wines.” As for 2020 the warmth of summer and proper temperature excursions of fall have resulted in a perfectly direct, fruit cumulate, acid retentive, silken tannin style of Montalcino. Neither rustic nor modern but somewhere perfectly comfortable in between. Exactly what intention and expression are meant to execute. Because the wood is felt at this young age you should wait another year to open the first bottles. Seventh heaven for Elena in her seventh vintage at Cerbaia. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Amazing how a vintage can deliver so much pleasantry and fineness but in so many different ways. Here the first to express of squeeze of juice and a scrape of zest, not quite blood orange but maybe the Pianrosso will do just that. Effusive sangiovese is often also succulent sangiovese and Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona generously doles out those facts. Wood felt on the palate with a silky texture yet elastic and extended with a Macchia Mediterranea olive branch. Really good Brunello indeed. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Celestino Pecci Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

The classic label from Celestino Pecci is so bloody correct you might say it is the poster child and definitive representation of what it means to be a Brunello di Montalcino for the 2020 vintage. Delectable red fruit perfume and flavour, mildly incumbent sweet spice and a wisp of mineral smoulder. Transparent and pure, honest and finessed. The last part of the wine shows a mild wood sappy quality but one and another half year of time will resolve and result in the estate’s best Brunello to date. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Col di Lamo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Poised, striking, quiet and composed, hard to figure but my goodness curiosity is piqued. Tall drink of sangiovese water, elixir of Brunello, confident, beautiful and sure. Strikes a varietal pose, statuesque yet fluid, malleable as it needs to be, equipped to transform and age with grace. Wood is known, applied with expertise, for more than just appearance but to explain this to be a Brunello 2020 of and for to enjoy a great experience. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano and Salntiago Marone Cinzano

Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Many 2020s are of an understated and uncomplicated kind but this, this is something other. A sangiovese of DNA and consistency, a Brunello like so many of itself that came before this vintage, a recognizable level of substance, concentration and expertise. Why should this change the course of its history to be any different, follow any line but the one it has spent decades creating? The fruit is expressed through floral perfume and expansive breadth by way of ultra-specific toothsome flavours. The spice is spot on, the length an indication of the wine’s potential. Longevity is a guarantee. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

Collemattoni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Conti Costanti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Colli al Matrichese 2020

Some sangiovese need the bottle and still others need many years in the bottle. The great the few require the latter to get somewhere profound. Such is this case, a Brunello in reserve, fully restrained, compact, tightened and showing little sign of relent. Dense layers of fruit and acidity intertwined, wound like a wire on a winch and aligned. That said the VA, oxidative notes and flat palate presence say things are not correct. Not a good bottle. Needs to be re-tasted. Tasted November 2024

With Hayo Loacker – Corte Pavone

Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

As with the Rosso there is a selection from across the entirety of the estate with a small amount of cru fruit, although there are some vineyards to the east of the cantina and facing the Montalcino hill not classified as cru and so are only used in the Annata. No lack of structure from this label, the one that “when everything goes right,” tells Hayo Loacker, “it should make up 50 percent of the Brunello production which includes the five crus.” He then adds, “everything must be high quality and there is no picking formula, but the grapes for this wine are separated based on identified parts of each parcel.” The acidity is dramatic, the tannic backbone perfectly solid and aging potential highly probable. All that to say if you are interested in a Brunello di Montalcino with ripe fruit on the dark side, full package of flavour and more concentration than more than 80 percent of the territory – well then be prepared to crush a few bottles of Corte Pavone. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2024

Cupano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Intelligent sangiovese comes from honest people making wines from great terroir. Case in point Cupano with a 2020 built upon top level perfume, volumetric in its aromatic design. So full and substantial it fills you up before a sip. The palate is more of a wonder because the tannins are sandy, fine-grained and not yet interpreted, or rather integrated into the fabric of the overall wine. That could turn out to be a blessing should they find their mettle and melt with the times. Remains to be seen – not entirely surprising for a sangiovese from this estate. Roots run deep for structured wines. Drink 2027-2034. Tasted November 2024

With Le Donne at Fattoria del Colle

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

From the first aroma you will note how the 2020 Brunello’s message is likely the clearest it has ever been capable of transmitting. So many layers to unfold and though some might think 2020 is a “lighter” vintage than think again after you taste this from Donatella Cinelli Colombini. Richly extracted in such a natural way with restraint and an allowance for fruit to express itself, without being led in any particular direction and it has figured out the way. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

Fanti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Curious to taste the Brunello after the Vallochio and in a way this was the right thing to do. That is because the level of concentration and up front aromatic volume exceeds that of the Vigna label, if not the grace and complexity. But that is to be expected because the Brunello is every person’s sangiovese, built upon yeoman experience for all-purpose expectation. And results which are so perfectly proper from the vintage. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Fattoi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A mix of poise, strength and grace, a sangiovese so correct to speak of its place and a wine to savour slowly as soon as you choose to partake. That could mean now but it could also be five years later because acidity will keep this fruit very much alive. There is some cask weight to shed and so probably better to give this two years but there is some pleasure put forth in the present. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2024

Fossacolle Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Seriously rich and heady perfumes emit from a 2020 Brunello that got its fermentative temperatures, timing, infusions and finally macerations so bloody right. No let down as far as flavours and palate texture are concerned which indicates judicious, restrained and properly executed cask aging too. Bravo to this team for these exacting measures to enact a really fine Brunello for 2020. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Fuligni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

As exotically charged as they come and so when aromas are this pronounced you intuit the great success of not only the growing season but also the fermentative and macerative processes. Fruit would have come off the vine so ripe and ready before dissolving into vats of itself with the greatest of ease. Results in sangiovese of glissade, of Brunello rollng aromatically in waves, sliding and gliding over the palate. Leaves a wake and covers every nerve, fills in pockets, smooths over corners, leaving off and trailing away as rounded as it began. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

Giodo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

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

Giuseppe Gorelli Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Welcome to one of the first and only reductive Brunelli and this from a wine 50 in during Benvenuto’s annual Montalcino affair. 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. 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, fond 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 November 2024

Il Palazzone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Classic Il Palazzone, truthfully, ever so slightly reductive and sapid to the nth degree. Spices from wood all over the entirety of this sangiovese existence, with fruit on the dark cherry side and sap running down the sides of the palate. Qualities here are this wine and this wine’s alone. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted November 2024

With the Bindocci Family and Michaela Morris at Il Poggione

Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A wine familiar to the senses and and mind’s eye, of a settled red crayon in the pool’s centre and plasmic fade to the rim. Of fruit circa the 1980s, lightning reflexes and bright as a rising November Montalcino moon. Clean and promising, more riches and noblesse on the palate to effect a creative and sensorial mouthfeel to linger with cat like stalking, lion or tiger, maybe liger. Stealth iteration that represents 2020 with profound Annata nature. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Perfectly mid-weight and textured Brunello, full advantages taken in terms of fruity aromas, flavours and pulpy texture. Good acids here, tannins chalky but not truly grippy and the intention seems knowable to effect Brunello for a pinpointed time. The vintage is and the sangiovese does, together as partners in crime. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

La Lecciaia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Some are lithe and others are heady, in perfumes that is and here the latter in invoked. Liquidity of that perfume translates to a palate of sweet texture and beauty. While there may be aromatic volume and that surely invites us in, there is not much formidable or grippy structure to see extended longevity. No issue for some. Brunello this way is best meant to please now and for just a few years forward. The epitome of a cellar defender right here. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

La Magia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Another Brunello that draws from the memory bank to recall a 2020 Rosso of similar ilk to say that DNA is everything if you can draw that connecting line. This is done for a vintage by a maker with the uncanny ability to thread the concepts and parts of his wines. Vintage and place are called upon and they combine for what matters, for sangiovese that speaks clearly, carefully, philosophically and all the while pragmatically. In other words properly and with purpose. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Le Chiuse Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Sometimes there arrives a sangiovese that is the right Brunello for its time and place. Sometimes there is a Brunello that represents its vintage in the way only it can. Sometimes the wine in your glass tells you everything you need to know about more than just what it is. That would be this 2020, understated, fluid, linear and direct. Ripe, justifiable and necessary. Textures of a full story told, crunchy and crisp mainly yet also chewy when it should be. Finessed, focused, pure and unadulterated. Exacting and in motion without wavering, spoken like a true Brunello di Montalcino. From its place and with all the right grapes. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2024

Le Macioche Famiglia Coratella Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Firm, grippy, reductive and begun with heady vintage force. A wine of its own accord, sangiovese of strength, intention and ambition. Solid fruit core, cask in charge, spice all over the back end. Needs time to accept you and then maybe you will abide. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2024

Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

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

Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Quite stoic this 2020 Brunello, not caused by reduction but simply youth with freshness unparalleled to beget something special at another date and time. Few Brunello 2020 Annata are as structured and gainfully austere as here, a compliment for the most part and a return to the kind of Brunello this label was at perhaps ten years ago. The restraint and quiet complexity is noted, accepted and lauded, as it rightfully should be. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Lisini Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

At the height of vintage richness and ripeness, the first 2020 to exhibit fruit threefold, of berries, plum and citrus. High acid and while tannic it’s not the sort to keep its firm grip for many years. More of a mid-term ager and a wine to experience best in its fresh and youthful days. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2024

Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Some spiciness on the perfume of the Brunello, wood yes but also the fruit speaking in piques and valleys. Peppery, a bit of heat which also talks a fermentative talk. Walks a vintage walk in terms of ripeness and reeks of Montalcino sangiovese. Not necessarily in a current climate way but reminiscent of that 2007-2013 period of regional transition. Curious in its glycerol way and warming again at the finish. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2024

Máté Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Exotic aromas initiate with candied spice and zesty red fruit in a citrus vein. This sangiovese is buzzing with energy, pulsating with possibilities, in no shape or form yet ready for consumption. Working through its actions, zig-zagging across the palate, piquing and scraping, testing the waters and we wonder where it is heading. Into a slumber soon it appears, later to emerge as a changed wine. Crisp Brunello with structure and fine austerity in the tannins. You need to give up five full minutes to assess this wine or you will miss its point. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Franco Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

If at first you are gifted with aromatic sweetness then followed by sangiovese swimming over the palate, well then you know everything is right in the Tuscan world. Fruit is one thing, ultra transparent, ripe and receptive, but tannins like these are what make the magic happen. Well-rounded Brunello must be both linear and open to suggestion, of present tense beauty and the innuendo for finer times ahead. Another stunner from this family and to no surprise. Their ethic is impeccable. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Antinori Pian delle Vigne Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Highly aromatic Pian delle Vigne with a wild cherry swirl swimming in the juices of its own liqueur. Silky fruit unlike 99 percent of the wines made from this vintage, in fact Antinori’s may be the most glycerin of all the ‘20s. Glissade or scorrevole do not begin to describe the slippery texture of this chic elixir. If you like the style and agree to receive the effect then this will fulfill a ‘20 of your dreams. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2024

Pietra Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Darker fruit than most for 2020 that may shade upscale from say 2018 with a greater number that are bright, red cherry heighteners. Not here and also in reserve of its perfumes but also intensities. Exceedingly open and raucous off the palate, then tart, chalky, bent by liquorice and a fanciful smoulder. Flinty in only the sangiovese way, increasing with interest as you move forward with what it’s got on its mind. Needs the proverbial time. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Pietroso Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

As the adage goes the three most important things that influence a wine are location, location, location. Such is the case for Pietroso on the west slope direction south of Montalcino village, set in a micro-climate that almost inevitably leads to high level ripeness and wines of healthy alcohol. Such is the case once again thoughon this plateau these are some of the most balanced wines in all of Montalcino. Crunchy exterior and chewy interior, no wall between nor any break down but rather this organza veil between the two. Ideal accents in spice and wild forest edibles, at this stage berries and nuts but fungi will not be to far behind. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Podere Brizio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Smooth, rose perfumed, gossamer textured sangiovese, the florals candied and flavours as ripe as 2020 will ever be. Fruit from vineyards raised to the highest standard, seamless and with more than ample cask directive, to keep the wine secure and from going astray. A bit syrupy at this stage but there is more then enough elasticity to see this stretch its legs and find a comfortable state of equilibrium. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Fulsome and experienced sangiovese, elastic extrapolate, curated with and for a real sense of purpose. Fruit as only it can be, abiding by a vintage that asks its makers to stay calm, let things develop as everything should be allowed to happen. Traditional and classic winemaking though never too much and so 2020 in these hands makes for top quality Brunello di Montalcino. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Ridolfi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A more compact and stoic type of Brunello from a vintage different than at least the previous seven and one to deliver a solid core of fruit that can handle the generous French wood style at Ridolfi. Still the consistency is uncanny and the style unmistakable, a mix of Burgundian, Bordeaux and Slavonian wood that fully determines the course and outcome of these sangiovese. There is more wood felt here but the balance and especially the acidity is tops. This will live longer than the ’19, well at least in terms of how pleasant it will drink. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2024

Roberto Cipresso Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Heady perfume at the celling for the vintage and it would seem the team has taken a few risks but also liberties to craft this seriously aromatic one. A full on and in 2020 with spikes and piques before flavours enact much of the same. A full and expressive wine with some sappy volatility hanging just below the acceptable line. Risk reward to be clear and not all will understand. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Salvioni La Cerbaiola Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

All in, long maceration time, fruit extraction piquing with excitement and a buzz that runs through the cortex of this wine. Aye there’s the crux of the sangiovese situation, the vintage possibilities and because tannins outrun acidity, well you will need to stop aside and allow this ’20 to take its sweet time. It’s just the necessity and requiem of the situation. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

San Filippo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Dei Comunali 2020

Villages approach to Brunello di Montalcino, of the communes, not one but around and about, fruit come together for a most layered and symbiosis squared approach. And reset because a well-rounded sangiovese marked by intensity and tension is the thing, the factor and raison d’être. Reserve, resolve and retro-advancer, tradition kept and forward-thinking guaranteed. Clean, crunchy and planing, liquid chalky in the mouth, of bite and glide. A textural weave of fabrics and savoury bits mingling with real fruit under the eaves. No real reason to place a timeline or expectation of impending declension because the sangiovese rests in comfortable suspension. No movement imminent now or anytime soon, in other words a Brunello holding back the years. Simply red. Will “get to me the sooner or later.” Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Ilaria Martini and Michael Peter Motiu – San Guglielmo

San Guglielmo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A wine you can start your day with, at any tasting, any get together. Fresh, open, inviting and generous. A consummate sangiovese host, fragrant fruit from the word go, al fresco and delectable. Expertly judged through all of its courses and stages, from the vineyard through to the glass. There may be this feeling of tranquility in the end, but along the way there is energy and life-affirming Brunello di Montalcino 2020 reality. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

San Polino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A deeper set of fruit and mineral circumstances arrives layered and compact though not pressed as to the point of challenging malleability. The strong and grippy sensation gained from the mid-palate forward makes this feel somewhat cumbersome and so time must be granted. That said a feeling of early maturity by way of later harvested sangiovese will send this forward with some haste. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2024

San Polo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Sasseti-Livio Pertimali Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Pertimali is a frost zone where losses were common from 2017 through 2021, including 20 percent in 2020. The team tries fires but the vines are too high off the ground and so they moved the pruning from early January to late February which is finally making a great difference. In any case ’20 was a good and promising vintage for Sassetti-Livio with this grey clay and mineral sangiovese, dark of fruit, phenolic, very sapid and sleek. Clean and fresh, metallic, logical for this northeast part of Montalcino looking back up at the hill. A 12 hectare vineyard in basically one large block, certainly one of the largest single blocks in this zone. Requires 15-20 minutes to open and reveal its charms. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2024

Sesti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Quiet, demure and always the sepia toned style of sangiovese of a soft, retro-nostalgic aesthetic, yet blessed with controlled and restrained energy. Flowing, graceful, always mindful and yet youthful and so a bit troubled. Fruit at elevation with wind blowing through its canopies, expressed in this Brunello di Montalcino walking with a purposed gait, always just a few centimetres off the ground. Weightless in this sense but at the end of a glass the flavours, sliding while caressing textures and then feelings pout forth before settling back down to the ground. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Talenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Francesca Vallone – Terre Nere

Terre Nere Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Warm vintage, truly warm and so the maturity is at peak for a Brunello from two vineyards, Vigna Capanna and Vigna del Sasso. Mature and welling with full glycerin helped out being cut through by the vineyards’ (Galestro) schist-clay mineral abilities to infiltrate and complicate the layers of fruit. Ages in large Botti (2500 and 3000L) to do what 20-25 year-old vines ask the winemaking to do. No doubting the silky texture and beauty of this Brunello with red fruit and so much finishing chocolate on a 15 percent frame. Polished with some tonic botany as well and a sangiovese that surely expresses Castelnuovo dell’Abate’s southern clime. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2024

Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

It’s all in the farming and you will all be hard-pressed to find fruit riper yet with an edge, fulsome while pulsing with energy and rolling in texture – though still always elastic. The subtleties may be fine but the difference is unequivocal and here Annata for Brunello is akin to Riserva. This is because the brings 2020 fruit so forward while also extending the high probability of its longevity looking well ahead. Minimum 10 years because the backbone is not only strong but malleable and amenable to change. That’s how you do it my friends. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2024

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

The Brunello Annata is a blend of the three zones, northeast, southwest and southeast, from all their combined soil types stacked and layered, on average from 20 year-old vines. Double that of the three-part Rosso and so the expectation would be twice the concentration and also structure, or perhaps nearly squared because the fruit sees 24 months in 50 hL Botti. Thinking beyond the fruit and the structure there is the fundamental fact of three-part acidity that manifests in this Brunello as harmony and this dear friends is the distinct Val di Suga advantage. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Ventolaio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A sangiovese that feels quite youthful with an eye to the future. Well established and experienced agriculture lends a hand of maturity but the pulse beats fast and the wine is far from settled. Ample if not high level concentration is tempered by some subtle restraint and the fruit continues to try and keep up with the structural parts of the wine. Fine enough in its particular way if surely fresh, alive and in motion. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Villa al Cortile Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

High-toned 2020, par for the vintage, medium concentration, bursts of energy and spirit. As it can happen with sangiovese there are some sweet volatile compounds housed within, that and an austerity in the tannic thrush. Nothing drying or tough mind you but this is a Brunello with some potpourri and tightened leather straps. Give it two years to loosen. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Villa Poggio Salvi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Imminently proper and serviceable Brunello for a vintage that many estates were willing to make a deal, the kind of accord that says I will promise not to seek great ambition in return for a correct, proper and mid-term ageable wine. This is that, middle road taken, no risk involved, simple red fruit, leathery tannins and high acidity. Now with air and better in two years. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2024

Voliero Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

A sister sangiovese and a younger one that tries to do everything its older sibling does. That means be a child of most experienced agriculture, even if vines are younger and their acumen has not fully developed. No matter because less concentration is belied by more subtlety and fruit coming around a bend will gleefully join and climb the constructive elements of the wine. Quite fine in its own right, if perhaps crispy, crunchy and excitable. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020 – Vigna + Etichetta + Altra Tipologia

Banfi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Poggio alle Mura 2020

Picking up where the largest scaled Brunello leaves off and into the Etichetta label to carry the brightest burning torch for the Castello Banfi world. Here the dusty and balsamico savour is more subtle if still unmistakably there, but now a sangiovese more about texture with a full and substantial liquid chalkiness running low below the brushy aromas and herbal flavours. Some dry Amaro as well and impressive length. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Banfi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Marrucheto 2020

From Annata through Poggio alle Mura and now to Vigna Marrucheto the thread is consistent and frankly obvious for the trilogy of 2020s for Banfi. Local balsamico now, the least dusty and most sweetly herbal pronouncement for the triad and surely the finest interpretation of vintage for the company. The freshest and crunchiest of these sangiovese, most persistent and also stretched elastic yet also taut for best length noted. Very much a Brunello of place. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Paesaggio Inatteso 2020

Full, substantial and concentrated with an increase of wood spice and also tannin noted. The structure is taut and the tannins doubled are running grippy through the dusty, red rose aromatic and red citrus zest of fruit. This etichetta sangiovese needs more time than many, to settle, integrate and function as it was intended to. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Montosoli 2020

Montosoli the northerly Montalcino mound, the hill of freshness, the knoll where sangiovese gains grip, savour and elegance, where Canalicchio di Sopra’s Vigna designate Brunello from six hectares delivers approximately five into this wine. The precision and fluidity of this ’20 is just about as fine and graceful as the Ripaccioli have ever produced. Literally the juice or blood of Montosoli’s Galestro, a clay-schist flaking at the surface bleeding back down into the earth, acquired by the roots, vacuumed back up into the vines and gifted to the bunches. Sapidity is similar to 2018 and that year was cold(er) which explains how soil is such the driver, especially for Montosoli. This tastes as you might expect, concentrated, texturally full and without pause. Incredible Brunello. Poised, seemingly ready but not, looking ahead two decades, maybe more. With thanks to perfectly restrained cellar work, timing and decision making. In this moment, at least in terms of clarity, 2020 is a Montosoli vintage. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted November 2024

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna La Casaccia 2020

There is always something shared in common between the two single vineyards that is mitigated by the vintage from year to year – but Montosoli and Casaccia are very different wines. Here for the estate located block the extraction was lower, as was the maceration, to avoid any bitters or green possibilities. “Something was not perfectly mature” figures Francesco Ripaccioli. All that said there is more opulence, concentration and seduction from Casaccia but it plays a bit hard to get and to figure out. Take the time and stay with this Vigna because you need to be sure what kind of wine you are dealing with. A long relationship is necessary and time will tell what will be. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2024

Capanna Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Nicco 2020

A clear connection to the Capanna which speaks to fruit sharing but Nicco keeps the lion’s share and shows how grand it can be. This is the king of the Capanna jungle, strutting and striding with purpose, stalking yet in no hurry to increase its gait because the hunting game is a long term one. You could place high wagers on this 2020 Etichetta Brunello not moving, changing, morphing or transposing for even a moment before the clock strikes 2029. Seamless construction, impressive on all fronts. Best Nicco to date. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2020

Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna La Casa 2020

Pure mineral perfume, schist and clay directed, held compact and tight by structure, immovable for now. Seamless transition for more of the same, of earth, rocks and stones making fruit taste like a mouthful of land, all the while sweet, succulent and without wander. Such a focused 2020 for Vigna Brunello that can’t help but be considered as one of the vintage’s top expressions. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Casanuova delle Cerbaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG CdC 2020

CdC is a sign of Casanuova delle Cerbaie times, a way to simplify and codify sangiovese for a modern world. That is what this 2020 is, shiny and new, a glistening elixir of fine liquid chalky sangiovese, spiced like a chai latte and quite inviting. Not soft but yes wholly accessible, warming in the present and needing just a year of rest to change clothes. CdC might well be an acronym for cooler days coming because when the barrel melts the fruit will shine. That said 2020 is less serious of a vintage for this Brunello. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta Nuova 2020

Wow. Just wow. Whatever the Casanova di Neri Brunello brings to the table it is this Tenuta Nuova that not only confirms the estate’s current peak performance, the sangiovese here within takes Montalcino to another level. A plateau to describe and descry the modernity of design and effect. The cause is just, it is noble and it is right. Intoxicating perfume, that sweetness of subtle volatility, in other words spot on acidity here met and succeeded by chalky liquidity that can only come from place. The south of Montalcino. Magical vineyards to the southeast of Sant’Angelo in Colle. Smallest berries in this vintage made for a concentrated and powerful Brunello with a saltiness, sweet acidity and a note of blood orange. Ages 30 months in (20 per cent new) tonneaux and another two years in bottle. Complimenti alla famiglia Neri, Giacomo e Figli. Oh mio dio, man. Drink 2026-2039. Tasted twice, November 2024

Michaela Morris and Gurvinder Bhatia at Casanova di Neri

Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Giovanni Neri 2020

Picked 10 days after Tenuta Nuova, here in the east of Montalcino and the newer vineyard for Casanova di Neri owned by a friend of Giacomo Neri. Now named for his son, the block and the wine, 30 months in tonneaux and a vintage of 20 percent lower yields because of small but concentrated berries. The thread that runs through the three sangiovese is unmistakeable, from the Brunello and its large proportion of Ceretalto fruit, the (south Montalcino) Tenuta Nuova and this Giovanni Neri. Levels of quality and personality, all three setting the bar so high and each distinguished for their style and sense of place. Also pace because the Giovanni Neri does not hurry, act like a rebel of youth or try to do too much, too fast. Like the other two it solicits a love to drink now but also speaks to potential. Once again subtle yet sweet volatility, silkiest of texture and tannin, suave structural simulation and early integration are the hallmarks of a Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino. The bouquet and tannins are like 2012 “but I believe 2020 is more elegant, with fresher tannins and more vibrant acidity” says Giacomo Neri. That is correct, if namely because the experience in recognizing and knowing how to deal with heat, drought, hydric stress, vines shutting down and re-starting is far greater than it was ten years before. Not to mention advances in the cellar. Drink 2026-2037. Tasted November 2024

Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Filo di Seta 2020

Next level sangiovese, of concentration, layering and silk threaded texture realized. Filo di Seta is the sort to make demands on its fruit, to expect the best and make it clear how that not all Etichetta selection Brunello are not created equal. FdS is the sangiovese that mere mortals do not fully understand how it comes to be. Its expressed realities are much too complex to simply say this is a sangiovese that speaks in a vernacular so easily understood. Aromas are less effusive than Romitorio Brunello 2020 but they are more effective because of the profound message they will eventually convey. Eventually because what good reason could there be for the information to be available right now? Same goes for how this sangiovese feels, for how it travels to every corner of the palate, rolls across and over as barely perceived waves, how it lingers for minutes long after the liquid is gone. Filo di Seta is intoxicating and will persist for 20 years. Minimum. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted November 2024

Castello Tricerchi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG AD 1441 2020

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. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

Castiglion del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Campo del Drago 2020

Plays much harder to get than the Annata Brunello, here with a headier perfume directing a sangiovese wound taut and tight. Similar palate if more concentrated and substantial, the mouthfeel fuller and the finishing spice quite pronounced. Don’t feel the acidity as intense and there is a looseness about the finish. Fruit depth is what separates Campo del Drago from the classic label. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2024

Celestino Pecci Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Poggio al Carro 2020

From strength to strength, classic to vigna, 2020s both of them, tethered to hard work, improved agriculture and an arrival at the estate’s next level of excellence. Poggio al Carro is sangiovese deserving to be called carissima because this next level of aromatic volume, concentration and mouthfeel makes the grade. The new ceiling is set for sangiovese that will need to live up to this billing, towards the next goal set, to expectation much higher than before. It is believed that another level is possible within these coming five years. PaC confirms the direction. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Pianrosso 2020

Arrive expecting a deeply aromatic sangiovese and that wish may be your command with another compact layering of Brunello by way of Pianrosso. Always seemingly about face or doubling down as compared to the Brunello, as if that wine is a tithe as compared to the full treasure found here. Cask and time the factors that enact this kind of wealth, that amass texture, flavour and spice to sheath, blanket and bury fruit away. Plenty of cappuccino here, so foamy and creamy in the present for a persistently barrel-effected Brunello. Drink 2027-2033. Tasted November 2024

Vineyards at Corte Pavone

Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Fior del Vento 2020

Fior del Vento, the Anemone or Windflower, one of five cru Brunello made at Corte Pavone, planted in 1999. Latest to harvest from rocky soils, viz. chalk or limestone and the highest tonality of all the cru sangiovese. Namely acidity and this would never be confused for anything else, but with a notable lime-lightning streak running directly through so very citrus red, akin to pomegranate fruit. Tart and wound expressly tight, tannins flowing as the same suit and length keeping all of these intensive feelings alive. The acids are always high, fruit easiest to pinpoint for harvest and alcohol develops at 0.5 percent higher than the other crus. This may never flesh out like some of the other wines, but it will age very well. A fascinating study in cru mentality. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Fior di Meliloto 2020

Fior di Meliloto, Sweet Yellow Clover and as per the Corte Pavone cru (planted in 1998) considered to be the most floral and fruit forward of the five Brunello. Then again the Galestro (of schist and clay with some calcareous content) brings a structural element, a backbone to support and offer a proper harmonic juxtaposition through an aromatic and juicy sangiovese. Might be called out as fruity but sleeping on these focused and tension-filled tannins would be akin to taking a siesta. Early harvested because of its freshness, northerly orientation and humidity that other crus plots don’t have. Usually lower in alcohol, easy to access and in the end less dramatic, but also seamless as compared to 2019. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2024

Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Poggio Molino al Vento 2020

Largest cru, named for a windmill, most diverse soil composition, of sand, silt, clay and Galestro. Being the largest plot there is more variability and therefore requires the most harvest passes to separate the parcels within the greater cru. Essentially the size of three American Football fields and no surprise that this is the sangiovese of the most breadth, broadest character, expressive of the most fruit mixed with wood, wide swath of prominent but furthest thing from austere tannins. Likely the cru Brunello closest in style to the Brunello Annata, yet everything is magnified and hyperbolized, including substantial fruit, length and longevity. Were a Chianti Classico comparison to be made it would be Castello di Ama’s Gran Selezione San Lorenzo that first comes to mind. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Campo Marzio 2020

The name Campo Marzio is Roman, a war field where preparations were made for battle. “The little warrior,” foo fighter home to the oldest vines (dating to 1958), “the powerful aristocrat,” only remaining plants from when Loacker purchased the land in 1996. Loam soil with clay and Galestro, soccer field in size. There is a presence to this wine, a power but also an energy that pulses through that can’t help but get your attention. The tannins are not from Mars, or the God himself but they are out of this world, tight, focused, commanding and truly Marzioso. The colour and the shape leave an indelible stamp on the palate and the flavours linger ever long. “Hello, I’ve waited here for you…You’ve got to promise not to stop when I say when.” Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2024

Cortonesi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG La Mannella 2020

Headiest of 2020 perfumes, bright and high-toned for excitable feelings incited. Then at once the aromas concentrate, circulate and release once again. Classic Cortonesi style, as textural as it is aromatic, as flavourful as it is broad in mouthfeel. All parts being equal this sangiovese will age slowly, purposefully, with all of its faculties in check. There will be no major peaks, nor valleys neither, but simply a linear trajectory, with wood integrating and fruit slowly morphing until it becomes secondary, to acidity as well, further on down the road. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Dinner with the Brunello Boys

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Progetto Prime Donne 2020

A careful selection by a select team of four women that understand the differences, of fruit resting in barrels and their meaning, especially from 2020 with a collective if smaller sample size. This includes Sommelier Daniella Scrobogna, wine shop owner Astrid Schwarz and two MWs, Madeleine Stenwreth and Rosemary George. Their decisions are blind, they love French wood and so this is a very different wine as a result. More tannins doubling down because of the wood, spices and the specs always seem to work because the collective expertise. Makes for a new wine every year and 2020 is truly structured with piques of interest on either side of the palate. Should age really well, slowly and with grace. In the end it feels like a more traditional Brunello. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Fanti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vallocchio 2020

Balance and composure adding up to poise is deserving of high praise and while Vallocchio may not attract an over-arching amount of attention it does speak volumes about its purpose and position in the pantheon of Etichetta Brunello. A sangiovese that speaks of place is a sangiovese you should get to know because it may just transport you there. Up to a mid-slope where vines succeed in the best and most challenging of times. Mid is the operative word because this transposes earth and sky, fruit of the vine and human touch. Vallocchio 2020 is super creative and restrained if also subtly striking. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Gianni Brunelli – Le Chiuse di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Ah hah, ah so, hello Brunello. Wake up and live, learn to love a vintage, take note of what 2020 can and is destined to be. Minerals and elements swirling in a centrifuge of local perfumes, flavours piquing and popping all around. A sangiovese of exceptional textures and capabilities, complex yet accessible, exacting though never obtuse. You can be friends with Brunello but you need to pay attention, re-visit time and time again, spend quality time. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

La Lecciaia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Manapetra 2020

Two steps forward and one step back from the Brunello, now with twice the aromatic weight and a holding pattern that sees structure cause a singular retreat. The best fruit is clearly saved for Vigna Manapetra because this sangiovese sings, hold its notes and shines. The entirelt of skins at optimum ripeness and phenolic compound developig capabilities are found in the VM for a strong and capable longevity arrived at by design. This will drink with utmost 2020 strength and grace 10 years down the line. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

La Magia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Ciliegio 2020

Take a little trip, another step and into what really matters for 2020 Brunello di Montalcino. For sangiovese of trenchant selection, information and distinction. The construction of this Ciliegio is a Tuscan build, a structure of thought, prominence and esteem. The fruit may seem secondary because it submits to ideas and intention, but without its arrival into purity held grippy by a phenolic presence there would be no standing edifice. All is in fact vertical and in place. My goodness what a very good Brunello this is. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG V.V. 2020

Old vines do what they do and must, that is to supply an increase of compactionm layering and of course concentration into a Brunello that takes it’s position, established and entrenched in full control. Sure the fruit swells and the aromas duplicate but structure is really the imperative and impetus for taking sangiovese to another level. That said the transparency remains and so do not come here looking for dark and rich Brunello di Montalcino. This you will not find. Drink 2027-2034. Tasted November 2024

Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Casanovina Montosoli 2020

The vintage is a strong and focused one for Montosoli, not because of hot versus cold or wet versus dry but because the oscillations of temperature, prevailing winds and shifts in the space time continuum put the northern hill ahead of many southerly parts. Just in terms of assessments mind you because 2020 overall is quite good, but for Montosoli the results are palpable, the mineral quotient distinguishable and the constructive elements formidable. In a very acceptable way mind you and so you might consider opening your first bottle in just two years time. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted November 2024

Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Fornace 2020

A whole other matter with Fornace, furnace indeed, or rather emergency blanket that protects and keeps fruit safe, secure and free from danger. A different structural construct all together, less of a demand and more of a couverture but one not soon to unwrap and set the fruit free. Higher acid though that’s not readily apparent because of the warmth. Distilled liquid and ground spices working together for a sangiovese’s life yet long to live. Over 15 years to be sure. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2024

Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Passo del Lume Spento 2020

The highest elevation begets the airiest sangiovese set to the highest tones because temperature swings and winds blowing in harder will make these things happen. An occurrence once a year when a Brunello like this startles us, catches our immediate attention and tells us something different is in our glass. And so the sweetness of volatility also blows through, a style is noted in a situation furthest away from many tasters’ idea of Brunello di Montalcino, but change is inevitable and this is in fact all about that idea. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2024

Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Loreto 2020

As with the Brunello there is heat on the nose of the single vineyard sangiovese. Peppery warmth, spiced and spicy, like Rotundone in a way. Structure is there though laid low and supportive if far from grippy or overtly demanding. Brooding Brunello and one it seems will find its porcino and tartufo stage before too long. Just a bit mature too soon. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2024

Máté Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Veltha 2020

Quite a similar prospect with Veltha though the fruit concentration is much deeper and so it can stand up to all the happenings in both acidity and structural movements. Veltha exhibits more strength, grip and breadth but again with fruit so full the intensity is seemingly diminished. More of everything will not always allow for sangiovese as Brunello to arrive in harmony but Veltha will do just fine. Live and love longer, offering up more complexities though at the expense of some innocence lost. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Podere Le Ripi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Cielo di Ulisse 2020

Come and explore the natural world of Brunello di Montalcino, for many a challenging proposition but here befitting the people and the place. The taming of unavoidable volatility is necessary and sweetness ensues because the work put in has done well to keep microbial activty in check. The chalky liquidity is a by-product of the methodology to result in a sangiovese of singular style. Of heroes, mythology and epic skies. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Podere Le Ripi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Amore e Magia 2020

Love and magic, tenderness and mystery, these are the elements of a most natural sangiovese with absolutely perfect vintage fruit. Fruit of a texture you can sink your teeth into, effortlessly sweet and generous for Brunello di Montalcino you need to know. Brunello that has taken some time to arrive at this stage of a measured tenure so sure of its intricacies and ideas, equipped to please even the most cynical lover of Montalcino. Stop chasing labels and drink this. You may never go back. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna I Poggi 2020

The single vineyard is unquestionably the finest fruit available from the wide range of estate blocks and so the elegance of this sangiovese is readily understood. Fruit treated with utmost respect, more restraint than the Brunello of stretched breadth and so here the depth is developed with far less effort. Also the way it is tasted and experienced which is seamless and effortless. Fine Vigna for 2020, up there with other fine peers. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2024

Ridolfi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Donna Rebecca 2020

An etichetta label housing a bigger Brunello with a half percent more alcohol (here at 15) and a part of the blend aged in barriques to mix in with the other components raised in (French, Burgundy and Bordeaux) casks. Heady aromas and grander sangiovese all-around, herbal with an Amaro effect, roasted and toasted elements with more sweet herbaceous moments than the Annata and also Riserva. Paint can, red pepper, rosemary peperoncino. It’s all in, all there and strong upon your palate. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2024

Ruffino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Greppone Mazzi 2020

Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Sorgente 2020

No mistaking the increased natural presence and let it be allowed to act out an uninhibited free will performance, certainy as compared to the more amalgamated, open to be imitated and broadly sensible Annata. Here play out moments of volatility, unencumbered raciness and minor key of Brettanomyces, reminding of Salicutti vintages that have come before and also some other famous Euro wine regions where practice and effect produce wines that come away like this. That is to say passionate and within reason, comfortably beneath acceptable thresholds, for Sorgente especially because the palate is potent, consistent and carrying forward. The 2020 is a sangiovese of knife’s edge walked and with the potential to get to the other side. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Piaggione 2020

San Filippo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Le Lucére 2020

Clearly takes the Villages approach to another level in its presentation of fruit and vintage, gregariously as opposed to in reserve. Makes a case for putting the most generously appropriate fruit into this “other” Brunello, an Etichetta conceptualization as opposed to looking at one terroir or place within place. Fineness and focus are second to none yet without absconding from the other or saying there are firsts and seconds in the relationship. Simply different and so merit here is merit there, a shared space as meritocratic democracy with both wines having equal and proportionate say. More rich palate presence here but also intensity and tension. Hard not to fall under the spell and wish for more to be revealed. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted November 2024

Winemaker Riccardo Fratton – San Polo

San Polo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vignavecchia 2020

The two hectare Vignavecchia vineyard was planted in 1989 and faces southwest on a steep slope. The sangiovese is aged in 600L tonneaux for approximately 30 months and from 2020 this comes away with great delicasse for a Brunello that can sometimes be quite edgy. The intensity and tension are of course part of the package but the silky and luxe quality of the tannins really express the vineyard. The grey clay-Galestro is what determines this particular mineral streak while freshness and acidity are wholly maintained. Yes there have been more intense Brunello coming from this small and exceptional vineyard but that is the magic of vintage variation. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2024

San Polo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Podernovi 2020

Single vineyard, a.k.a Vigna Brunello, a cru sangiovese from the 1991 planted Podernovi of three hectares facing southeast looking across the Orcia where on a clear November morning you can see the fog layer settling across the Valley. As with every wine made at San Polo the invitation is hospitable and real, the fabric so silken organza and the flavours packed to fill every millimetre of the bottle. More delicate than Vignavecchia replayed once again in this fine and felty 2020. Great vineyard translated through a very fine Brunello of controlled energy. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

San Polino Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Helichrysum 2020

With Lorenzo and Sabina Sassetti

Sassetti-Livio Pertimali Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Il Mulino 2020

The first cru defined by Sassetti-Livio, literally the “windmill.” Il Mulino di Diavoli (of the devil), a scary place for kids at the edge of the forest, but actually the name of the family. Now it lends its name to this wine by the new piece of land purchased from the municipality. The lower vineyard is littered with large fossil shells to speak of the ancient ocean once covering this lower plateau. Fermentation and what follows sees the wine spends its first year in stainless steel to allow the sediments to settle and clean the wine. Ages in 30 hL Slavonian Botti for another after that and then returns to tank before bottling. A unique approach but Lorenzo Sassetti has always worked this way. Consistent with the non single-vineyard Brunello, metallic, phenolic and savoury, sleek on the palate and long. Ultra specific style that only this northerly part of Montalcino will see. With Il Mulino the über clean style is exaggerated, perhaps as an act against Brettanomyces and volatility. The devil wears sangiovese. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Sassetti-Livio Pertimali Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Pertimali 2020

The highest vineyard at 350m and the newest cru slash single vineyard Brunello from Lorenzo and Sassetti-Livio. Just a little bit more than one hectare and as different a fruit profile as you will find between two blocks so close to one another on the same estate. A return to pure red fruit with preserved citrus though the mineral component is in fact consistent with Il Mulino and the Brunello (Annata). More personality here, crunchy sangiovese, sweeter acidity and less phenolic presence from a darker clay vineyard with a good presence of stones though, not the fossils of Il Mulino. Younger vines as well which make for more fruit, refinement, finesse, less power and so (for now) at the expense of longevity. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2024

Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Pelagrilli 2020

Hi quotient of potent sangiovese, as they say – potente ma non trasparente, in other words a Brunello di Montalcino of heft, density and alcohol, here labeled at 15.5 percent. Come expecting heat and flavour intensity, walk away with the gratitude that both are fulfilled. A combination of place dictating the octane and power but also a style persistently followed with estate tradition. If you feel like you are drinking 1997, 2003 or 2007 you are not alone and you may just find yourself as happy as can be. The edging up to oxidative will come sooner rather than later which tells us to drink within that timeline. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2024

Siro Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vecchie Vigne 2020

Vecchie Vigne, or old vines provide a wealth of knowledge, experience and acumen to effect a balanced V.V. Brunello because they have seen and done it all. A full degree less alcohol for this 2020 and so harmony between ripest fruit and the dark secrets of sangiovese are in a controlled, if not quite restrained effect. A serious ’20, powerful within reason and of bigger, more prominent and edgy acidity. Volatile to a degree yet no more than 1000s of IGT or Brunello reds that have come to market in the last 55 years. These are traditional wines within that epoch and they are consistent. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Talenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Piero 2020

From vintage to vintage the Annata and the Etichetta Piero can be eerily similar or wide apart and 2020 expresses as more of the latter. The fruit content, weight and concentration is clearly upgraded and the sangiovese spirit intensified for a Piero of superlative fortitude. This is the exemption to the Talenti rule and Brunello di Montalcino because few wines celebrate or rather revere the appellation as much as this ode to a pioneer and patriarch. Every time this wine is tasted that image from Barbi’s Museo is conjured, of a grandson in Montalcinese garb carrying a flag with crest and arms past the Fortezza. This wine is simply a solid construct of fruit, acidity and tannin, linear, vertical and built to age. That it will. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2024

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

Etichetta Oliveto P.56, cerimoniale indeed, sweetly natural and fluid elixir of sangiovese, exquisite of tannins and exceedingly appropriate as an extant step forward from Annata. Crunchy and fresh, dusty trails left far behind, now like walking a strada bianca with no wake or cloud from gravel kicked up behind. Good bones, exacting fine lines and celebratory. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Poggio al Granchio 2020

From the southeastern Montalcino sector where the sangiovese is want to deliver sanguine character from higher elevation (at 450m) off an 18.5 hectare set of blocks. Granchio feels like the mid-way point between Vigna del Lago and Spuntali, part lightning and part candied florals, a best of both worlds, fulsome and concentrated Vigna Brunello. Shows a bit of reduction and less bitterness but my goodness it’s a stony sangiovese with a schisty-Galestro heart. Who needs fruit when you have rocks? First vintage was 2009 as a single cru Brunello. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna del Lago 2020

From the archetype of the crus, first established in 1983 at 280m on 18 hectares in northeast Montalcino. Took a break for some time and has returned, average age of the wines now 17 years post replanting. A skeletal clay soil by the Asso River and the lake that gives the vineyard its name. More silky texture and less lightning than the others from 2020 and surely the one with the most caressing mouthfeel. Also a mild cherry stone bitterness and white chocolate mint to speak of wood churning a very particular local balsamico. Fascinating, because this is the notion of Vigna del Lago. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Brunello Riserva 2019

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva 2019

Banfi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio alle Mura 2019

Nothing immediate about the style of this Riserva screams Riserva but sometimes restraint and subtlety do well to open the game. The aromatics are effusive and in effect pretty but they are not what fully draw us in. Red roses and fresh squeezed pomegranate, in other words red citrus then translated onto the palate in similar fashion. A crisp Riserva, understated yet energetic and set up for future promise. A good Riserva in fact though not one that struts or flashes its feathers. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2024

Baricci Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Nello e Sello 2019

True blue to life Riserva with all the aspects of its existence set composed of layers, complexities, intricacies and numbers. Fruit here, there and everywhere, acidity omnipresent and structure provided for the slow unwind. Big vintage at 15 percent, not unusual and at that level an effect of harmony because all parts reside at the same heightened awareness. No letdown, holes or omissions from an understood if always traditional Brunello, unblemished, untarnished and capable of ample forward thinking. Drink 2027-2037. Tasted November 2024

Camigliano Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Gualto 2019

Campogiovanni Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Il Quercione 2019

The barrel, big blessed barrel off the top with fully captured and macerated fruit, together like two pigs in the proverbial earth. A rich, sappy and savoury confiture capture of sangiovese as any in the entirety of Montalcino. A Brunello that must be given almost as much time as it would have spent in cask. Patience is the requiem for eventual pleasure. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2024

An animated Francesco Ripaccioli

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

“The idea of Riserva for us is the Vigna that best represents the vintage,” which for Francesco Ripaccioli means micro-climate is the greatest influence and going forward Riserva will only be made when “there is a chance to celebrate.” Recalibrate your conceptual aptitude and ability to quantify aromatic volume because a vintage like 2019 will only come around once in a long period of time. That might mean a decade, perhaps longer or just every few years but 2019 is that vintage, that individual, that friend, that mentor. “I’m still thinking it’s one of the greatest vintages ever, at least since I’ve been making wines. The harvest was the best ever.” It was as if the grapes were falling off the vines into waiting hands. Perfectly ripe for super open sangiovese speaking early truths, exited like a child so excited it can’t wait to get the story out. The words come fast, like the aromas and flavours and we are not equipped to take them all in. Please slow down, go easy on me, allow me to nose, taste and assess these explosions and infinite readings of poly-phenolic data in a measured way. So much happening from Riserva 2019, not experienced before and maybe never again. This is Francesco Ripaccioli’s current opus, fundamental to the message of Canalicchio di Sopra. Last tasted November 2024

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

Capanna Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Strong and accessible perfumes for this 2019 Riserva with a multitude of fruits and minerals swirling in centrifuge. Some dried fruit elements, frutta di bosco and more fruit like fragola secco before the seriousness of the tannins take charge. They are ferocious and they mean business. Pay attention to their warning and wait some years before opening. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2024

Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

How can you not love and appreciate the salty entry of this Riserva, a sangiovese so clearly expressive of the minerals and elements in its vineyard soils it can’t help but release them through the pores of sangiovese. Two parts are present however and the mouthfeel tells another story, of silky texture and commanding tannins that gather it all up in a rounded and bonded package. Riserva should be a slow release of Brunello and this surely fits the style. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted November 2024

Caprili Ad Alberto

Caprili Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Ad Alberto 2019

There are Riserva that simply act and feel like Riserva. This is exactly that, of an aromatic and also palate richness, mille-feuille patterning needing years to come away one layer at a time. A true to form, style and appellation example that uses the best of its produce, technologies and methodologies to create something representative, respectful and impactful. A born leader to bring people together. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2024

Carpineto Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Enticing and inviting aromas from a typically dusty Riserva with spices throughout. Candied sort, baking and savoury, all the while in and from an arid environment at elevation. This screams 500-plus meters and bright red fruit remains fresh because acidity sets it up this way. Wood needs to melt an settle in because at present it dominates the second half of this sangiovese. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Riserva should of course be a Brunello of concentration, attitude and confidence but who would not be seduced by such an energetic and excitable example? This is something extra and other for 2019, fruit finding its shine in the face of an eminence front of acidity drawn from a place matched stride for stride by the estate’s indelibly stamped style. Nary a waver of focus for a moment, nor could wondering about this Riserva as something precious ever be called into question. The construct and effects create a movie filed into the classics, epic in design, to watch over and over because there is always something new to learn. “The sun shines and people forget.” It’s hard to make great Brunello, but who else finds the way if not Romitorio? Drink 2027-2038. Tasted November 2024

Castiglion del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Millecento 2019

Good aromatic swirl and also volume, pretty and sweetly scented with red berries unlike most areas of Montalcino. Also herbal but again sweetly so, basil namely with tomato water and a waxy note as well. Quite tannic and forceful to say wait but perhaps not long so that the fruit might begin to wane. Drink 2026-2029. Tasted November 2024

Cerbaia Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

In 2022 Elena Pellegrini decided to enlist Giuseppe Gorelli to help make her wines. She loved the wines of Le Potazzine and her Cerbaia farm’s proximity on the northwest side of Montalcino seemed like a good fit. Riserva has changed because people want wines to drink now but let’s face it this is Brunello so there must be some age-ability. Last (previous) Riserva vintages were made in 2015 and 2016 from the sangiovese chosen out of the oldest cru (Vigna) closest to the cellar. That was ripped out and re-planted in 2019 and so this ’19 was made from the best rows out of the biggest vineyard that were deemed worthy because of the pinpointed intricacies. A superior fine chalkiness and tightest tannic wind, aggressive though not austere, anything but immediately approachable, gangly even, like a young giraffe, but when it hits its stride it will run like the wind. A warmth runs through the veins from just a trickle down without swallowing a sip, like feeling your entire physiology change, warming and pleasing. And this with top quality acidity that will see the wine through to rise upon the high peak of a plateau from 2026 and 10 years onward. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted November 2024

Col di Lamo Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Richness and maturity, concentration and experience. Soft and demure, chic and fashionable. Seductive and classic. What more needs to be said? No need to wait – this sangiovese is ready and willing to please. Drink 2025-2027. Tasted November 2024

Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Vigna Nastagio 2019

Riserva in every way, facet and exemplary aspect of expression. Full fruit captured with compliments from all the sangiovese parts that lift, buoy and raise the bar. Single vineyard focus, grand and important, large cask so very necessary to create a symbiotic relationship with the fruit. A wine structured for the purpose of longevity, absolutely crucial to what happens with this estate and so try to imagine how this Vigna Brunello will be, 10, 15 and 20 years forward. Always changing and for the most part also impressing. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Collemattoni Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Fontelontano 2019

High-level qualities for Riserva designate sangiovese so simpatico with one another to represent the appellative style. Rich and even luxurious, perfumed of musky red fruits and sparked by generous acidity. Plenty of wood, chocolatey and smooth though tannins do ache and dry at the finish. Time will bring it all together and then a smooth sangiovese will result. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2024

Hayo Loacker – Corte Pavone

Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Anemone al Sole 2019

Anemone del Sole, wind and (of) sun, the chalkiest soil and therefore should rightly be a sangiovese of highest tones, lightning reflexes and zesty citrus intensity. Like Fior del Vento this is a late harvested cru and more often than not the latest. Long hung grapes means slow-developed phenolics and 2019 is the vintage you can be assured of a great layered maturity and an elastic grip that winds around the palate. The experience of this vineyard, the organics, and biodynamics, acumen of Hayo Loacker’s two decades of developing craft and understanding, this position in northwest Montalcino, infrared calculations of vigour in the vineyard – All this adds up to making a wine of controlled drama and restrained dynamism that creates sangiovese as Brunello di Montalcino in Riserva form. Salty finish like few other Brunello. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted November 2024

Corte Pavone Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Vigna Poggio Molino al Vento 2019

Hayo Loacker stopped making Riserva in 2006 and in 2007 moved towards the direction of crus, eventually identifying five of them on the estate. The first released vintage was 2013 and then Riserva returned in 2015. Vigna Poggio Molino al Vento is Corte Pavone’s largest cru, “the windmill,” three American Football fields in size, multifarious soil composition with sand, silt, clay and the flakey above ground manifestation called Galestro. This largest plot is variable in its ripening with the requiem to separate parts of the whole out of selections and into fermentations. Darkest hue, ripest sangiovese, richest composition, variability and diversity of fruit pulpy, zesty and musky, all in with high and mighty, sweet meeting sour acidity. Intensity, magnification, juxtaposition, justification and celebration. Of a place. Drink 2027-2038. Tasted November 2024

Costanti Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Colli al Matrichese 2019

Bloody intensity for Riserva 2019, high spirited, relentless and aching intensity. Fast-flowing sanguine intensity, feeling hurried with nervous energy and tension but consistent, unstoppable and unwavering. Trenchant purpose with fruit carried along in the river of piquing acidity and tannic truth, the weight and freight at peak with no end in sight, nor slower pace or levelling neither. A Brunello Riserva with an unlimited ceiling, a journey begun to travel somewhere far away, from a plan to execute with conscious movement and extreme prejudice. A sangiovese timeless and ageless, all-knowing and ambitious. Still somehow there is a child within and the adult that waits on the other side. Drink 2028-2039. Tasted November 2024

Cupano Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

A Riserva of extreme ripeness, fully arrived without a single berry having failed to mature under the harvest’s threshold. Full extraction grabs grip and tannic thrush with thankful acidity keeping the energy and faith alive. Big wine with a penchant for a stylistic that might be found outside of this tiny territory where lower elevations and high solar radiation predominate. A large band of consumer taste will find great relish in this high-powered, classed and priced Brunello. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

On paper, in most minds and fully speaking this is a top vintage for Brunello di Montalcino and therefore anticipation for Riserva runs extremely high. Crunchy exterior and seriously leathery interior for sangiovese with layers upon layers of tannin needing to unfold. Great aromatic volume and tannic freight, a rush of intensity and finally composure. Oh baby, at the finish Riserva delivers a punch, so youthful and like the final drum crash at the end of a song that simply rocks. Indelible stamp of Donatella and a Riserva built for the ages. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted November 2024

Fattoi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

A bit shy this ’19 Riserva, quiet and understated, in no hurry to reveal what it has in store. Which would come to be a settled, calm and easy sangiovese that drinks with generosity. There is a some tannin yet of the non-demanding kind. No anxiety induced here and with just another year in bottle all systems shoud be ready top go. Drink 2025-2028. Tasted November 2024

Fossacolle Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Solid Riserva construct, emboldened by strong acidity and forceful tannins yet fruit with a stiff resolve to handle the realities of the wine. Really well made, large cask aging certainly a factor and while there is some late austerity is feels wholly acceptable and appropriate for this wine. Seems just and right to be set up for a good long run. Drink 2027-2035. Tasted November 2024

Gianni Brunelli Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Le Chiuse di Sotto 2019

To no surprise this sangiovese delivers the goods with trenchant intention, confidence and also style. There is a richness of floral and minerals in the air, aromatic volume and a depth of quality that speaks in the most succinct but also sincere ways. Aye this is seriously good Riserva. Many parts to unravel, unfurl and unload over 10-15 years time. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Giuseppe Gorelli Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Vigna Paganelli 2019

Indelible stamp of Il Poggione yet a sangiovese of more breadth and purity of varietal fruit to speak of the highest ceiling possible for what this large estate can create. It’s almost as if Francesco Bindocci, winemaker Alessandro Bindocci and their team had been waiting a good long time to be able to make such a wine. Riserva (and Vigna) truth spoken, ranging far and wide with a fruit-acid-tannin relationship so in synch it seems no mistakes could have possibly been made. This is the first since 2016 and each time the team checked on its progress there was a feeling of something exceptional taking place. Also a maturity, a plateau climbed up to and reached for a Riserva that will remain in such a state for many years. The structure is frankly impeccable. A selection from a single vineyard of 12 hectares that makes 40,000 bottles. Incidentally a green harvest is performed and in non-Riserva vintages the fruit selected knees up in the Brunello. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted November 2024

La Fiorita Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Exactly what Riserva must be, wound tight, concentrated and well, reserved. A reflection of its makers but you must know that reflection includes the past, present and most importantly the future. The look of experience and how that translates to looking forward, something this sangiovese solicits and we in turn find ourselves dong just that. We see the light with assistance from sweetest and at times intensely wound tight (but also tart) acidity. The 2019 Riserva is a mix of that tension and finest grained tannins. The future is later, as it must be. Drink 2027-2036. Tasted November 2024

La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Gli Angeli 2019

Fine and proper Riserva of knowable and fashionable styling, never precious nor gratuitous with a goal to gift pleasure. First with pleasant perfumes and a celebration of vintage fruit, followed by a richesse of more ropiness, ripeness and textural generosity. Well made, clean and exemplary for time, appellation and place. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

La Magia Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Far from an old-school sort of Riserva but neither is this the kind to view as ultra modern and accessible. More of a Riserva decided by an own accord and one from which every part, moment and step feels defined to arrive at a pre-determined place. The planning meets the execution and results automatically follow. Truth be told (and you need to know this part), it is the agriculture that really drives this wine. It is truly made in the vineyard. Drink 2026-2034. Tasted November 2024

Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

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 2027-2036. Tasted November 2024

Lisini Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Maturity in the fruit yet also energy to keep the faith for a Riserva that holding nothing back. Late picked but also acidity maintained which is the thing that will help this age forward. You can certainly imagine the porcino and tartufo in the not too distant future but that acidity and brushy balsamico will always be expressed. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Máté Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Yes! Lovely Riserva perfumes, oh my, of fresh cut flowers in a bloody gorgeous bouquet and what follows delivers absolutely no letdown. A finest Riserva sangiovese from head to tail, top to bottom, inside and out. Subtle when need be, gregarious as should be and generous to no fault of anyone but me. Drink 2026-2035. Tasted November 2024

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Antinori Pian delle Vigne Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Vignaferrovia 2019

A Riserva of good bones from a zone that can’t help but push its greenery into the aromatics of the wine. Sangiovese and Macchia Medditeranea, a match made in southwestern Montalcino heaven, specific and especially when a wine like this doubles down with single vineyard slash cru designation. The richness is only exceeded by that balsamico and yes this qualifies uninterruptedly as a Brunello Riserva of place. Wood has been expertly used, never overdone and while this may not age forever it will do well at tables for several years to come. Top quality PdV from 2019. Last tasted November 2024

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

Pietra Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Aromatically gregarious with effusively floral perfumes, stabs of scents meeting musky red fruits for a party up front. A Riserva style no doubt, rich and luxe with mature fruit and also acidity more developed than some ‘19s. Still that acidity keeps the energy and faith alive even while the fruit will soon express some leathery notes. Pliable and elastic heifer and so this sangiovese will be one to chew. Gets down to business on the back end with grippy tannins and a hold on the palate. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2024

Pietroso Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Ah the satisfaction of high quality Brunello di Montalcino Riserva from small, dedicated and focused production. Higher levels of all related parts together as one; fruit, acid, wood, texture and tannin, each in accord with one another, not linear but adjacently juxtaposed as a decipherable puzzle to make a whole. Ample freshness, chewy and quite settled considering the youth of the wine. Fine for 2019, representative and close to ready. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Podere Le Ripi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Lupi Sirene 2019

Exceedingly ample fruit sourced from the estate’s best and treated to risk-reward winemaking. This means less handling and almost surely a highest percentage of whole bunches used because the quality of the vintage encouraged the practice. A bit stewed following a certain level of overripeness but it all seems to come together in the end. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Poggio Antico Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Aye here’s the Riserva rub in glorious aromatic form, a bouquet that fills a room, draws others in to find out what smells so nice. Ripe at the right point, moment captured and that simply means a vintage got right. Freshness as well, tart at the edge of tense, intensity and energy at peak. Not hard to see the excellence in such a sangiovese to represent Montalcino in the most appropriate and impressive of ways. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Now to the bar set high, vintage after vintage for a Riserva that finds the promise of fruit raised at a 500m clime directly across the valley apposite Monte Amiata’s imposing force. Fruit never taken for granted, always treated with respect and c’mon how special is this sangiovese? The epitome of what it means, how it works and comes to be. It being Brunello di Montalcino from historical vineyards in the hands of the top of top professional teams. This is the result, seamless and long, without peer for where it comes from. There is no argument. Drink 2026-2036. Tasted November 2024

Renieri Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

High quality Riserva for many reasons, fruit ripeness and glissade obviously but my goodness the best of acidity is captured, retained and persists. This is often the crux of great Riserva because when you pick fruit late and (oft) last you may just need a pick me up to keep the energy alive. This does that so well. Drink 2026-2034. T asted November 2024

Ridolfi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Mercatale 2019

In a mini vertical that includes ’17, ’16 and ’15 only the oldest of the four is showing any perceivable secondary character. They are all Mercatale in origin, 21 hectares in total at Ridolfi from a zonazione shared with other producers. This makes it a real menzione or cru, not a monopole and there are more than one that have defined it as being appropriate for Riserva, including Canalicchio di Sopra. The 2019 is influenced by the Botti, part Burgundian, part Bordealais, all French but there is some good freshness. Spices run amok, fruit is severely within the cherry idiom and though the wood is not toasted, there is a nightshade (tomato and eggplant) char to this sangiovese. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2024

San Filippo Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Le Lucére 2019

From one Etichetta to another, Brunello to Riserva, same name and therefore a connectivity as the tie that binds the two. When you approach this wine you can almost feel Le Lucére turn the handle of a door, slowly open it without a sound and enter the room. It knows you are confounded by the angular intensity, wood spice and char, intensity and austerity of the tannin. Less of a friendly spirit as compared to the Brunello and it stands there, insisting you must pause, reflect, wait some more and allow for time. Maybe 10 years time before he walks back out of the room. Drink 2028-2038. Tasted November 2024

San Guglielmo Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

First Riserva for the resurrected house. There feels to be so many turning points in the estate’s young tenure and then again it’s really a matter of improvement year after year. The perfumes on Riserva 2019 tell the story of another goal reached because whatever deficiencies or awkward transitions may or may have net been present before are clearly absent now. The roses and scraped red citrus skins give way to sweet acidity, sways and waves of decomposed stony infiltrates and a dreamy, almost warming quality into the latter stages of the experience. Fine sangiovese, very good Riserva, on the transparent side but nothing that need be taken away from its quality. Subsequent vintages of Riserva are more likely to see greater separation between the two appellative Brunello. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

San Polino Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Thick aromatics, a full elixir by volume and yet a sangiovese with matters more concerned with mouthfeel. The perfumes are evidently spiced, the transitions relatively seamless and the end result is a fine fabric of a wine. Clear comport of Brunello Riserva with best fruit, ideas and plan conceived. Wood is also a big factor and the late stages get dry, with cocoa especially at the finish. Drink 2026-2031. Tasted November 2024

Sasseti-Livio Pertimali Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Riserva is aged in 500L Slavonian tonneaux and the net level of refinement is there from the start. Riserva is not produced in every vintage, the previous one being 2016, another of which defined and labeled as a five-star vintage, a municipal categorization that will be discontinued in 2021. Riserva at Sassetti-Livio is a bunch by bunch selection in the two vineyards, same aging time as the Brunello and Vigna labels, three years in Botti and a year in bottle. Smooth and sleek once again, sweetly phenolic, seriously croccante and closer in style to the Mulino than the Pertimali, which means more structure in Riserva. There is a subtle amount of volatility, consistent with the 2019 Brunello, a character trait that disappears in the 2020s. Usually makes a maximum 5,000-6,000 bottles. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Sesti Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Phenomena 2019

There are normal, standard Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, there are proper and representative examples, also exceptional versions and then there are the ones of ephemeral beauty. Fleeting in part because of their natural perfumes, scents that come from the fruiting bodies alone, mostly from the skins and yet like people there are some whose scents you never forget. Such is the case with Phenomena, a silent and measured creature of sangiovese but one that comes back to your thoughts and senses long after you are no longer in contact with the wine. Phenomena is also a Brunello of feeling, which means something ethereal, tactile and conclusive. Not seductive mind you, but suggestive and this 2019 will carry on, for some impossibly calculated infinite amount of time, as close to forever as could justifiably be imagined. Drink 2026-2038. Tasted November 2024

Talenti Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Pian di Conte 2019

Important vintage for the Vigna-Cru-Riserva sangiovese, important for everyone but these things become magnified when the history, heritage and vine age of a place are well documented. Some wines are conceived and executed with such excellence so to guarantee excellence vintage in and vintage out – this would qualify as such a wine. Purity and experience of sangiovese, matter of fact reality and execution by the makers, the end result being a seamless and superlative sangiovese. Optimum ripeness and retained freshness receive their cues from acidity and tannin in complete control. Nothing ambitious, gratuitous or overarching, simply the right way to make an appetitive meets appellative wine that many consider to exist at the top of the pyramid. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Oliveto P.56 2019

High praise immediately afforded to the sentimental aromas on this Riserva, of candied flowers, other dabs and pretty smells. What can rightly be called effusive for perfume yet not shy, nor does this hide from its opening salvoes. From the ripeness comes warmth and a certain kind of Brunello, the sort that rolls through in waves, never crashing but in a way infinite and certainly always there. A substantial and even slick Riserva on the road to accomplishment, still working towards bettering itself and the next peak is but a vintage away. Drink 2026-2032. Tasted November 2024

Tenuta San Giorgio Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Ugolforte 2019

Proper and it can be said again, a proper Riserva for the always on an upward trajectory label for this estate. Not quite the higher elevation excellence that comes from the OG property but this is a sangiovese that out punches many in its weight class. Crisp exterior and chewy interior, wood a factor and just a bit outside the arena with proper tannins lending a typical drying sensation ay the finish. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2024

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Terre Nere Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Campigli Vallone 2019

Pasquale Vallone was from close to Palermo in Sicily and became a banker at Monte dei Paschi in Siena. His father and Francesca Vallone’s grandfather moved the family to Tuscany in 1950. They had relatives in Siena and the families (many of them together) bought the other farm outside of Montalcino. The first vintage of Brunello was 2002, Francesca started working at the winery in 2010, full time in 2012. The wines are in her hands and the sangiovese for Riserva comes from Vigna (Piccolo) del Sasso, treated to a long 30-day maceration and as with many Montalcinese estates this 2019 is the first Riserva made since 2016. Double the structure and also the fun which says these were easily the best grapes destined for the top wine from this vintage. This Riserva is a very strong wine and it is also beautiful, big but elegant and likely the finest Brunello made at Terre Nere to date. Three B’s, beauty, brains and brawn. This is proper Riserva, gorgeous now, smart as sangiovese and with power, which means it will surely age. Drink 2026-2033. Tasted November 2024

Terre Nere Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Capriolo 2019

Single vineyard Brunello from the Vigna Capriolo, a reference to the deer that roam the adjacent forest and this being a Riserva like label. Not made in 2017 and yet it was out of 2018, though not Riserva from that season. This ’19 is so very different to both Annata and Campigli Vallone Riserva but yes the DNA is in the same family. A stoic, less gregarious and more serious sangiovese in this case, wood a great factor and texture thickened, mille-feuille layered with alternating cream, chocolate and alcohol-soaked biscuits. Not to say like Tiramisu but there is a feeling in the mouth coming through that way. Terrific aromatics, a lot to digest, integrate and wait to see how this comes together. Many will find the seduction while it seems as though Riserva will age longer. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2024

Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Maturity and just a step away to over maturity from Riserva 2019 taking this into a sappy and braised place. Lacking some focus and also structure as a result. This is a bottle that suggests the wine that got away from its maker but would certainly look forward to tasting another bottle. Tasted November 2024

Ventolaio Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

Some problematic aromas that stem from high acetic qualities. Paint can and tomato leaf, crayon and baked potato. Something wrong here – not a sound bottle. Needs to re-tasted. Tasted November 2024

Villa Poggio Salvi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2019

High tonality, energy, intensity and aromas running amok. White peppery and brushy balsamico, wood spice everywhere in a Riserva running hither and thither. Crunchy red fruit, very tart and austere at the end. Needs time to come together. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2024

Amantis

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019 and older

Amantis Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Produced just southeast of the village with Biondi-Santi as the nearest neighbour. A five week maceration under submerged cap, 24-30 months in 15 hL Botti. Deeper fruit profile (as compared to Amantis’ Montecucco sangiovese), from clay more specific to Montalcino and a spice cupboard omnipresent through the details of the sangiovese. Orange peel and highest quality chocolate but what’s so much more essential to understand is the profile of texture and quality of character. A Brunello nearly arriving at its ideal maturity and upon that plateau it will remain, rest and relax for five years, quite likely many more. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted November 2024

Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta “Greppo” 2019

The viticultural dream is a sum total 450mm of rainfall from April through August and 2019 delivered much of that desired amount. A season with a fresh summer when only two days reached 34 degrees, some lower temps in mid-July and good rains. In September humidity dropped between September 11th and 16th which performed wonders on developing the complexity of ’19’s aromas. Harvest between Sept. 14th and October 1st with just a three day pause when 50mm of rain fell between Sept. 22nd and 24th. Welcome to a “classic” vintage, more than 2021 because of the equality in a push-pull posit tug between acidity and tannin. Still so young, needing the winter plus a few extra months to open to at least a point where you can get a sneak preview of what’s to come from a balanced wine in all respects. Dry extract of 27.5, alcohol of 13.6 and acidity in a beautiful state. A mineral Biondi-Santi Brunello, not exactly salty so let’s say mezzo-mezzo salty and sapid. We really don’t know what 2019 is going to be, not now, not yet and that is the magic. Who could not wait to taste this again in a year, after three and then 25 after that? Drink 2026-2038. Tasted November 2024

Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Cerretalto 2019

The Cerretalto canyon is this singular Brunello’s origin, the place defined by Giacomo Neri as a plintite, of quartz, iron and magnesium elements residing next to and bleeding into the four hectare vineyard, which is incidentally a cooler località for Montalcino and very special place. Rare in the world, of an elemental-geological symbiosis found in parts of Australia, Brazil, China and here, in Montalcino. “It’s another planet” insists Giacomo Neri. You will smell blood and flint (a.k.a. gunpowder) because of the mineral personality. This is Brunello di Montalcino from sangiovese something altogether incomparable. A sangiovese wearing the terroir of a Tuscan trough on its sleeve, having spent two and a half years in tonneaux (more or less 20 percent new) and the same amount of time in bottle ahead of its much anticipated release. Yes the aromatics are concerned with trace metals and ingredients of the canalone of Torrenieri, but do not sleep on the purity and modernity of red to black fruit, or at least the perception brought forth because of the minerals involved. Sweetness of acidity is classic Casanova di Neri for 2020 but in Cerretalto they are near perfect and the tannins move from those noted out of Tenuta Nuova multiplied by the Giovanni Nero fineness to now enter into the arena of higher love. For the first time this estate’s Brunello di Montalcino should be given an absurd amount of time. Observing it change in the glass over 30 minutes explains much of what is needed to be known. Drink 2028-2043. Tasted November 2024

Vineyard at Cerbaia

Cerbaia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Would be hard to argue over the fortuitous ripeness, formidable level of concentration and how the vintage has clearly been celebrated across the board. Yes that is all true and Cerbaia’s takes full advantage of the good fortune. Aromatic volume is sound turned up and flavours reach every corner of the palate. The harmony between all parts is conclusive and the sangiovese-ness cannot be missed. It’s like a perfect vintage in many ways, though 2020 will take things to a more structured level and could very well outlive this vintage. Not many will agree but the subtleties in 2020 and the beauty in its tannins tell this story. The ’19 is both approachable and aggressive. This wine is appealing and doing what needs right now. Last tasted November 2024

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

Col di Lamo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG A Diletta 2019

A special label for the estate and so very different as a sangiovese than either the Annata or Riserva of 2019. There is no missing the vineyard and climate because a special kind of Machia Medditerranea exudes from out of the evergreen perfume. No confusion whatsoever and a quality but also demand of tannins that Riserva will here show. This Etichetta is a special wine and clearly represents a singular expression that could only be of itself. Last tasted November 2024

“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

Cortonesi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Poggiarelli 2019

Vigna, not Riserva, an extra year in bottle, off the main eastern north-south Montalcino road svolta to Poggiarelli surrounded by bosco with the Orcia Valley laid further southeast below. A micro-climate like no other in Montalcino, warm yet always breathing because of the forest, elevation, orientation and angles it holds. Or bends which does well to describe single vineyard sangiovese, a wine so well composed, fortified and structured it will take decades to unwind. Drinking after five years and for 10 more after that is recommended but this could very well be a two decade Brunello di Montalcino. Drink 2027-2037. Tasted November 2024

Fanti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Vallocchio 2019

High level perfumes and the interior chew of sangiovese make for a mix of unique expressiveness, giddy curiosity and friendly fun from this single vineyard Brunello. So much flavour, texture and integration of parts made exclusively for each other. A 2019 of feeling, generosity and yet seemingly readier than many. Take full advantage of its charms in the next three years. Last tasted November 2024

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 more dubitable and 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

Gaia Pieve Santa Restituta Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Rennina 2019

Serious, stoic and tightly compact Brunello for 2019 and one to spend plenty of time getting to know. Feels like a wine of agriculture from experts that measure, calculate and develop the master plan for using plots and blocks towards top probability. A measured response in this sangiovese, of one with its parts aligned and ducks in a row for the most linear and vertical of the ‘19s. Has moved but an iota since last year. Tasted November 2024

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

With Sofia Gorelli and Gigliola Giannetti – Le Potazzine

Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Top vintage, a year later with a small amount of settling, still nervy and of an energy that will take many more years to relent. Crispy for the vintage and characterized by the same Potazzinese acidity and local balsamico that can’t be described like any other sangiovese. When acidity resides in the 6.5 g/L TA on average and you consider position, soil, exposition and elevation – it all adds up to one essential answer. Sapidity. These are some of the most sapid wines in Montalcino. This is the ultimate truth of Le Potazzine. Last tasted November 2024

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

Mastrojanni Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Schiena d’Asino 2019

There are notes off the top not necessarily typical of the vintage, like blood orange and fresh roses but they are not unusual for this estate’s Vigna wine. Pure sangiovese to be sure and high acid as well. These are aspects of honesty and credibility to allow the wine to speak in clear, unequivocal and essential Brunello terms. Last tasted November 2024

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

Ridolfi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Notably higher in concentration and yet you just can’t shake that Ridolfi style, here exaggerated as compared to other Brunello tasted, including ’15, ’16, ’17 and ’20. More volume, both in aromas and mouthfeel, increased sapidity and tang, elevated volatility and that can’t miss roasted vegetable twang. More serious as a wine, a sangiovese so specific to the estate and a can’t miss prospect for Brunello di Montalcino that will not be confused with any other. Last tasted November 2024

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

Terre Nere Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019

Terre Nere Campigli Vallone farms 10 hectares of vineyards in the southeast part of Montalcino near Castelnuovo dell’Abate, on the hill past Castello di Vallone, purchased in 1995 by Pasquale Vallone, along with the owner of Altesino. The Brunello comes from a warm vintage, not unlike the following 2020, yet more structured and also closed by comparison. This is something that more than a handful of 2019 Brunello are want to show because the vintage should rightly make it so and Terre Nere really finds the season’s winning formula. A spiced, tightly wound, chalky and layered sangovese, big to be sure (at 15 percent alcohol) and a wine that really attracts your attention. Plenty of wood as well and it will integrate with some more time so that the spicy chocolate dissipates and all the parts come together. Drink 2025-2029. Tasted November 2024

Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Spuntali 2019

First vintage for the Vigna Spuntali as a single cru Brunello was 2008 and from 2019 there is no mistaking the western Montalcino Macchia Mediterranea character. Evergreen, specifically pine with resins running and spices piquing through the entirety of the wine. That and a scrape of orange for citrus spreading through. It’s all so obvious! Last tasted November 2024

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

With Winemaker Federico Radi – Biondi-Santi

Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2018

A season of many rains, every day in the early months, pushing so much vegetative growth leading the team to do quite a bit of clipping through the spring and summer. An average of nearly 600mm through the four main vineyards, of Greppo (653), Pievecchia, Pieri and Scarnacuoia. Rain again in September, sometimes heavy, with more humidity than usual and thus a scary prospect. Big berries, thin skins and danger. Required a heavy selection, a reduction of 40 percent, only cleanest bunches used. This is last vintage ahead of the beginning of regenerative agriculture that began in 2019. Started the pick on the 1st, through to the 15th, then off and on through to the 27th. An accumulation of 100mm of rain, no sleep, lots of stress and thankfully the Tramontana wind showed up, lowered the temps, dried out the vines and allowed for the final stages of the harvest to happen. The result? Levity, finesse of tannins and a lower structured wine than most Biondi-Santi, alcohol at 13.26, pulpy and high in acidity. Delicate extraction means a nobility in the tannins and a savoury aromatic quality, tomato and leaves, tarragon and freshness. A throwback going back four decades but far less rustic, very elegant and soft, in part because of high pH. Not the most intense sangiovese, of flowers and fruits, sweetness of brush and commodity crops, already ready to be served. In bottle 18 months, fully settled and the Riserva to open while so many are in need of many years further in bottle. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2024

Terre Nere Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Capriolo 2018

The 2018 Vigna Capriolo is the current market release while ’19 requires further refinement in bottle. “A good and rainy season for us,” tells Francesca Vallone and it is always refreshing to hear a wine producer celebrate these things. A vintage that delivers restrained power, aromatic layers to peel away and a sense of where this wine was born. Serous like 2019 but more focused, less wood influence and a finer texture without that creamy interior. More chew and things to mull over, consider, ruminate and to discover. Fine Vigna-designate and styled Brunello indeed. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2024

Ridolfi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Mercatale 2017

A very different Brunello Riserva as compared to the ’15, ’16 and ’19, toastier and with a real roasted tomato and eggplant flavour. Tomato paste and leaf in aromas, red crayon, black (fennel) and cherry liquorice. Dry as a desert vintage makes for heat and concentration in sangiovese parched and peppery. Not sure Riserva should have been made in 2017 but thanks to a solid late first of September rain the possibility became a reality. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2016

More than obvious as to what kind of special vintage 2016 really is and Francesco Ripaccioli thinks the window is just now beginning to open. Light on this Brunello’s future is being shed just as the reductive elements are falling away. Philanthropy and layers of Canalicchio’s combined vineyard fruit are now expressed, one after the other. The home block stands above with its red citrus and crispy freshness. Last tasted November 2024

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. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2023

Cortonesi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Mannella 2016

The feeling first considered two years earlier that this ’16 La Mannella would be a 12 year Brunello seems corroborated right here, right now. Settled, speaking in the clearest northerly vernacular and as openly generous as it will ever be. Could reside in this space for two more years. Last tasted November 2024

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.” 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 2023-2028. Tasted December 2022

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2016

Ridolfi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Mercatale 2016

Considered a top Riserva vintage and this Mercatale has done well to maintain freshness and sapidity, though secondary character is just around the bend. Crisp, herbal, crunchy and herbaceous. Not balsamico, nor is it soft and easy. There is strength and a grittiness, with wood spice everywhere and finally grippy tannins. Does not dry out, neither does it choose to relent. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Le Chiuse Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2015

In a sea of 2019 Riserva there is only one outlier and it can’t be missed for so many reasons. First and most obvious is its 2015 vintage but the question is why? The answer is simple really. This producer holds Riserva back for 10 years, releasing them four to five years after everyone else and no one copies the practice. It is his and his alone. That is a sign of ultimate respect and this being Brunello the philanthropy of aging for us, to deliver a vintage ready to drink, to be the beneficiaries of such an action – well that says everything. The ’15 is indeed settled and ready, integrated, suave and supple, naturally sweet, measured and calculated. The epitome of pure sangiovese, varietal incarnate, an expression of a single farm and a connection to its maker. An extension of ethic and an opus quietly executed. No fanfare, no banners, no social media campaign. Just a pour of a great wine. A top expression of Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. And yet not this winery’s finest ever, but oh so close. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2024

Le Potazzine Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2015

Incredible life in the Potazzine Riserva 2015, great freshness and there should be no surprise because the acidity of this place is amongst the finest in all of Montalcino. The minimum time to wait to drink a Potazzine Riserva is eight years (from release) and so the peak is has arrived with at least four more years left in this state. Last tasted November 2024

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

Ridolfi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Mercatale 2015

Of the four sangiovese in this ’15-19 (minus ’18) vertical there is only one showing secondary character and this is the one. Consistent with the following three Riserva vintages, wood very much in charge and now paint can with V.A. joining the herbaceous savoury and liquorice notes. A certain style to be sure and one that expects the Botti and barriques to smooth over, silken and elasticize the fruit. It dominates more than that and still needs some to resolve. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta Nuova 2010

Just 13-14 years ago but truthfully a Tenuta Nuova from another era, though not in every way. Namely in the extraction, the quality of the tannins and the interaction of the acidity with the kind of fruit that came in at that time. Giacomo Neri sees the current 2020 vintage as a having quite a bit in common with 2010 but again, the structural parts were approached, developed and effected in a different way. All is still very much in play, sparked with energy and vitality, though clearly secondary now. Silky smooth, so easy going down and just about as suave and chic as a Brunello of this age is going to be. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2010

Approaching 14 years of age and sharp – really sharp. Not exactly freshness defined but an argument could be made to say this is a wine at full peak performance. A special and spacial plateau achieved with room to roam for another two or three years. After that there will be a low and slow decline. Why wait? Last tasted November 2024

Brunello at 10 years is like the Rosso in advance and then not at all. The fruit aromas are all skin, scraped, studded and seasoned. You can feel how special the vintage phenols were and continue to be, now in their twilight of first stage freshness. It may be remembered as a vintage less than eventful but you can also make note of what must have been great bold bitters and demanding skeletal framing that kept pleasure down. Rising now, flesh in pulse and equitable tacit celebration. Heady and big Brunello from a vintage gone long on stuffing. Drink 2020-2030. Last tasted February 2020

Largesse and a firmess of being as per the house style are rampant in Col D’Orcia’s 2010, a wine that reminds me of 1998 and 2000. A wine that will seem lean, mean and terrifying in its youth but will prove everyone wrong when it hits the 12-15 year stride. This is a monster bringing leather and chocolate to the table. It is nearly unapproachable at the present time but you can imagine and embrace the possibility of potential. Drink 2020-2035. Tasted September 2016

Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2000

A hot vintage and a sangiovese from another time and place, a bygone era but this wine is far from gone. Making Brunello di Montalcino is a four-way street with fruit submitting to acidity on its right, acidity to tannin and tannin to a mix of climate and terroir. The 2000 season may have been a warm one but this acidity has been preserved. You could fast-forward to 2017 and a similar situation would occur but again, acidity could be captured and kept. This may tell us how 2017 might show when tasted in 2041 Well, “it’s been a long time comin’, it’s goin’ to be a long time gone.” Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2024

Biondi-Santi Riserva 1997

Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 1997

One of hottest and driest vintages that seems to be the era launching point for such seasons between then and now. That includes 2003 and most recently 2017 but the question is how has this fared through the course of its aging over 27 years? The answer is incredibly well when so many Tuscan ‘97s have gotten old. The structural integrity is still solid, the acidity very much in place, the alcohol at 14 per cent leaving a warming sensation on the palate. No tannin to speak of, faint caramelization, orange, cinnamon and other spice. The energy is alive though the fruit is no longer what it would have been but other ethereal elements have replaced and offer new meaning. Still very much a true to territory sangiovese and fresher than most 1997s you are ver going to taste. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Al Vento 1990

In a vertical of 1980 through to 2020 on the 0’s it has to be 1990 that would be the most highly anticipated vintage of the five. How could the great one known for the promise of longevity not steal the show? Or seduce the senses and instigate imagination which this bottle does but to be fair the empirical proof comes clear as fact more than anything to do with fantasy. Truth shows 1990 to be in perfect shape, taut and fine, acidity twitching, style singular and dress sharp. An ideal rendition of the local balsamico is played while doubters are expunged for thinking sangiovese is merely but a rustic grape. As for drinking well 34 years after the vintage, well her is your proof. The conspiracy is one of producer and place for an expression of the grape. Last tasted November 2024

Sometimes a vintage of great repute and universal declaration does live up to its billing. And yet this from a time when the declarers knew a thing or two about soothsaying declarations. Thirty years and no great movement save for a transfer to the ethereal, the zeitgeist and the Italian version of said realm. No sully and all clarity with a marbling of strength, as in petrified balsamico and bitter chocolate made sweet by a powerful tempering. Tannins still shot out of cannons and leaving vapour trails of dried porcini dust. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted February 2020

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 1980

The Count (Francesco Marone Cinzano) is quick to remind his guests that 1980 is truly from another era of Brunello in Montalcino. A time when winemaking techniques were so rustic and light years away from just 10 years later. This includes oenological methods of alcoholic and malolactic fermentations. This 1980 is pure balsamico, that is to say a forest-scented sangiovese with accents of old wood that determine the aromas and flavours, multiplied and extrapolated after 40-plus years in bottle. Sweetness of dried fruit and acidity do persist and prominently so. As far as older Col d’Orcia Brunello are concerned, this can surely hold its own against 1978 (Annata) and 1979 (Riserva). Tasted November 2024

With Violante Gardini and Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Other wines tasted

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Leone Rosso 2021, Orcia DOC

Leone Rosso is deeper, dustier, more structured and layered than the Chianti Superiore, feeling like a wine that draws from the sand and clay with greater intention. Higher toned and also of wider palate depth for a fuller expression of sangiovese, also here with 40 percent merlot for a today blend, a wine of this time. Short stay in wood and while freshness is key, the underlying structure keeps the wine upright, linear and grippy. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Cenerentola Cinderella 2021, Orcia DOC

The Orcia DOC (established in February 2000) resides between the areas of Montalcino and Montepulciano but it’s wines are neither Brunello nor Vino Nobile. In this case the reason is specific to Donatella Cinelli Colombini because her Cenerentola is a varietal foglia tonda. A deeply hued red of floral and peppery spice in the aromatics and no other red Tuscan grape smells this way. In fact all producers of the grape share something in common and if you taste enough examples the connection will become quite obvious. Here is a deeper, more tannic and age-worthy style, more than some, on par with others. An ideal vintage, super youthful, only in bottle since March and still working through its calculations. Wait two years. Drink 2026-2030. Tasted November 2024

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Cenerentola Cinderella 2019, Orcia DOC

The first of three that is actually showing a sliver of open widow readiness to drink, with red foglia tonda fruit, bright yet leathery and high-toned acidity equalized by settling tannins. Without Donatella and team this grape would all but have disappeared and the Orcia DOC established in 2000 is thanks to her. Yes the structure is still in charge and the finish a matter of grip meeting austerity. You can aerate and drink now but best to keep waiting because this grape and this place amount to trenchant seriousness for a wine made from an endemic grape with a verticality unmatched in Tuscany. Drink 2025-2031. Tasted November 2024

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Cenerentola Cinderella 2017, Orcia DOC

Warmest and driest vintage, tannic and still with thriving acidity because the foglia tonda actually keeps higher numbers. Veraison and ripeness came two weeks after sangiovese and so maintaining acidity is not a problem. The thing is the grape likes sun and so 2017 was a very good year, with freshness and acidity still intact. Tannins too and my goodness time is still required. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2024

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Cenerentola Cinderella 2015, Orcia DOC

The 2015 is the first in a vertical of Donatella’s foglia tonda that feels like maturity is taking place and some secondary character now coming into place. Still tannic, liquid chalky, Carlo Ferrini style, rich and caky, full, spicy and peppery finished. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Cenerentola Cinderella 2007, Orcia DOC

Now this – This 17 year-old foglia tonda is incredible! Remarkable freshness while conversely encompassing, owning and fully celebrating secondary character. Acidity keeps the faith and also dream alive while tannins are resolved and still so sweet. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2024

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Cenerentola Cinderella 2001, Orcia DOC

Donatella Cinelli Colombini had tasted a foglia tonda from Gaiole ahead of Y2K and proceeded to take some of that estate’s vines to graft at Fattoria del Colle. Her first vintage of 2021 is still a big (and somewhat untamed) wine but after 22-plus years it has softened and now rounds out with velvet sweetness on the palate. Still rugged and not yet finding the balance that the amazing 2007 shows, but nevertheless the promise was there from the start. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted November 2024

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Cenerentola Riserva Cinderella 2020, Orcia DOC

Completely different Cenerentola, a Riserva for the first time and what follows in 2021 will not be. Why 2020? The answer is depth, concentration and the sweetest acidity to wrap up ripest fruit in a way deserving of the added appellative status. Has to spend one year in wood but truth be told the other vintages do this anyway, or ever so close to that. Richness incarnate and this Riserva will hit he market in 2026. I would suggest waiting until 2027 before opening your first bottles. Drink 2027-2032. Tasted November 2024

Fattoria Del Colle Chianti Superiore DOCG 2022

A sangiovese from Fattoria del Colle vines, very specific to this place in the Orcia Valley, of full ripeness with sweet acidity and a yummy character. That feeling of fruit fresh-picked, fallen into the hand at the moment it’s plucked from the vine. A wine made from grapes chosen at their first important moment and sorted to show the best of the best. Hint of (black) cherry stone bitterness at the finish. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2024

Il Drago E Le 8 Colombe 2019, Toscana IGT

A VINTAGES wine in Ontario, to be released in the winter of 2025. Dedicated to Donatella’s husband and inclusive of sagrantino fruit off of vines given to the farm by Umbria’s Marco Caprai. Sangiovese with 20 percent each sagrantino and merlot. Strong, in balance and while not ready you can imagine that a property growing bamboo trees will see a softening of sangiovese and also sagrantino to effect quicker changes than say Umbria. Look to begin drinking this red blend of whole and full character sometime in late 2025. Last tasted November 2024

Always the dichotomy, from a red blend both light on its feet and also with bite. Acids are really showing their teeth at this middle stage of development and ideal drinking window time. Definitely a “food wine,” especially for salumi arigianale and formaggi. A wine to drink before the big wines but at the higher end of the idiom. Tasted November 2023

Dedicated to Violante Gardini’s father Carlo. A blend of 60 per cent sangiovese with (20 each) merlot and sagrantino, all grown at Fattoria del Colle in Treqaunda. The sagrantino are vines taken from Marco Caprai in Umbria. Brings the spiciness, adding to the verdancy and roundness of merlot, both to compliment the acidity and elegance of the sangiovese. A complete package, affectionately referred to as le ali della colomba, the wings of the dove and then, the teeth of the dragon. Perhaps papa was sometimes tough and sometimes gentle but truth is in a sea of women he’s the only man in the office and on the team. Always a solid and delicious red blend, satiating and satisfying. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted June 2022

Il Poggione Moscadello di Montalcino DOCG Vino Frizzante 2023

A moscadello made in the old-school way, a sweet sparkling wine that had been the dessert choice of the nobles and while 10-15 wineries are still making the still version, none are making the fizz version today. Sweet but not too much so (at 120 g/L), finishing at 6.5 percent alcohol and light on its feet. Works ideally alongside Torta della Nonna, of custard, almonds and pine nuts. Just 8,000-9,000 bottles are made. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Le Potazzine Potazzine 2023, Toscana IGT

A solo sangiovese from one hectare at (420m) higher elevation raised 10-12 moths in only steel. Potazzine, “the chickadees” and while there no longer any young ones in the family, once a chickadee, always a chickadee. A challenging vintage because of Perenospera (downy mildew) with reduced yields but the quality remains high for this unoaked sangiovese. Fresh and crunchy, potential beginning to show how Rosso DOC might just be in this IGT’s future. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2024

Le Potazzine Potazzine 2022, Toscana IGT

Sangiovese 100 precent, one hectare of higher elevation at 420m raised 10-12 moths in only steel and called Potazzine, a.k.a. “the chickadees.” An easy vintage, warm and translated through sangiovese unfazed, unclouded and unencumbered by wood. This is fruit as it is meant to be, ripe and simplified. Already maturing so drink away. Drink 2024-2025. Tasted November 2024

San Polo Rubio, Toscana IGT 2022

Regardless of the comparison between 2021 and 2022, in terms of warmth this comes across as a more developed vintage with the sangiovese, cabernet franc and merlot combining for quite a mouthful. Includes fruit grown at real elevation, upwards of 450m and the ruby-red Rubio delivers a metal-mineral punch. This with thanks to iron and schist-clay Galestro that brings the elements from soil to vine. Less acid than 2021 – but in a way more wine. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

San Polo Vignamasso Anfora 2022, Toscana IGT

A new wine for San Polo, sangiovese raised in amphorae and the results are no less than amazing. Aromatically sound, clean and pure, easy to understand, even easier to like. Silky and smooth like the Rosso di Montalcino if just a bit edgier and with a little bit of attitude. Hard to make any complaints or suggests there may be even the slightest fault. There just isn’t. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2024

Terre Nere Pociano 1863 Vino Biologico 2022, Rosso di Toscana IGT

The number 1863 is the position on the road and Pociano the name of the farm for a 100 percent sangiovese from outside the Montalcino territory, but the game is pretty much the same. Young vines (of five years), a natural ferment and the glou-glouest sangiovese you are ever going to taste. Comes from “sea” soil with lots of clay for juicy-peppery, almost gamay like red wine. Dangerously easy to drink. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2024

Terre Nere Ribelle 2022, Rosso di Toscana IGT

Ribelle è colui che si distingue, translated as, or better yet in reference to “the rebel is the one who recognizes the unjust law and breaks free from it,” from Ernst Jünger’s 1951 “The Rebel’s Treatise” on a democratic future. Free from the constraints of Italian appellative law and a territory where rules are rules, here is sangiovese from inside the Montalcino territory but also young vines. From two blocks, one called Vigna del Sasso, with some red clay in the soil but also the sandy Vigna del Fiume, from the same plots that feed the Rosso di Montalcino. Juicy and easy like the Pociano but here with a carbonic pulse, a slight CO2 on the palate and a pepperiness to boot. A chalky underbelly suggests a modicum of structure but once again the easy drinking style is duly noted. That said the 100 percent whole berry (natural) fermentation would explain the energetic buzz. Sangiovese as cru gamay. You know exactly who this will appeal to. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2024

Corte Pavone Merlot Sant’Antimo DOC Levante 2021

Not from the Loacker’s Corte Pavone estate but from southerly Montalcino in the Sant’Antimo area, where there is increased blanketing warmth and a vintage that made sure to back that up. Formidably this means rich, caky, fine-grained texture and tannin, no lack for acidity and a well made merlot no matter the location. Much higher acidity than expected which can often (and surprisingly) be a factor of vintage like 2017 and 2021, contrary to many beliefs. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Corte Pavone Le Veline di Pavone Extra Brut Metodo Classico Vino Spumante di Qualità Millesimato 2016

First vintage of the traditional method, 100 percent sangiovese sparkling was 2011, this now being the 6th, seven years spent on the lees. Still fresh and sharp though the years have obviously seen it able to accumulate some flesh and biscuits, mild gingered spice and the suggestion of crème brûlée. It’s actually a subtle and elegant bubble, balanced and even a little bit tannic. Hard to find anything better in Montalcino. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2024

Good to go!

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Montalcino, November 2024

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Tag Archives: Ferenc Máté

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

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

A look at vintages from current Rosso to future Brunello

More harvest intel for the 2019 and 2020 vintages

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

Rosso di Montalcino DOC

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2021

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2020

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG – Older Vintages

Toscana IGT and Other Wines

Montalcino Previews 2024: Brunello 2020, Brunello Riserva 2019 and older vintages

Changes to Rosso di Montalcino DOC

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vintage 2020 – Much more than a pleasant surprise

Vintage 2019 – A top one for Riserva

Vigna vs Riserva

Benvenuto Brunello 2024

Rosso di Montalcino DOC

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2020 – Vigna + Etichetta + Altra Tipologia

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva 2019

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2019 and older

Other wines tasted