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!

godello

Montalcino, November 2024

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Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Previews: Annata, Etichetta and Vigna 2018, Riserva 2017, plus back vintages

Feb27

Benvenuto Brunello 2022

Drawing 2018 vintage connections between breezy Annata and resolute Cru, overall less “Mediterranean as a vintage,” high acid 2017 Riserva plus retrospectives with Col d’Orcia and Biondi-Santi

Montalcino sunset

In November of 2022 the latest edition of Benvenuto Brunello was held in Montalcino. As an Anteprima the main purpose and focus was to present the latest vintage of Brunello di Montalcino DOCG wines. As a journalist the goal was to taste as many iterations as time permits in just over two days time. Looking back now the 2018 vintage for the sangiovese of Montalcino are a unique set, apropos of colour which is ironic considering this anteprima fell on the heels of the region’s first Rosso di Montalcino event held last June. “Red Montalcino” showcased the 2020 Rosso vintage and hue was the operative word, for style and just how we think about these appellative DOC wines. Fast forward to November 2022 and journalists from around the world were seeing red once again, yet this time the syndicate of sangiovese concerned the similarly tailored Brunello. I have been covering Montalcino vintages for more than a decade (and buying/drinking them for two-plus) but don’t recall such a crystal-clear, joyous and immediately gratifying set of wines. There are of course several variables involved and many 2018s are structured to age but we must always be reminded that sangiovese are like snowflakes. No two are exactly alike and yet there is a thread that binds a 2018 Brunello to its peers. Never before has tasting nearly 200 Brunello provided such a pleasing experience.

Related – Simply Red: Rosso di Montalcino

Looking north from Montalcino

The list of adjectives this report alone will use to describe the 2018 coterie of Brunello di Montalcino is long, winding and synonymic. There will be tasting notes referring to these sangiovese as accessible, amenable, beautiful, breathable, bright, crushable, drinkable, effusive, fluid, halcyon, handsome, lithe, open-knit, traditional and transparent. The vernacular goes on and on to describe this vintage. Many ’18s are fit for early consumption because of producers abiding by the fruit available to design wines reflective of the climatic conditions of the season. Yet there are some pockets of Montalcino where a more serious and structured Brunello could be made and those who took advantage of this opportunity were able to make wines that will endure amongst the best of the best. The areas of Canalicchio and Tavernelle are frazioni where nature and climate conspired symbiotically but we must also look at pockets to Montalcino village’s immediate north by northeast, as well as west by northwest. Southerly vineyards showed remarkable consistency for sangiovese because of less hydraulic and overall stress. There are also other valleys and rifts here and there from which top wines were produced. For the vineyards around the northerly Montosoli hill the 2018 season may have been less of a hyped one – but these are consistently wines in the regions’s upper echelon because that promontory of a cru has been holding such a distinct advantage in recent times.

La Fortezza di Montalcino

My discussions in Montalcino with four prominent and experienced yet precocious producers points to a vintage summation that supports if also adjusts the aforementioned general theorem. First up is Caprili’s Giacomo Bartolommei. “The weather was the complete opposite of 2017. Cooler temperatures and some winter snow, even in the southern part of Montalcino,” he tells me. “Also good rainfall during the year with lower average temperatures.” Bartolommei sees the 2018 Brunelli as “lighter wines but with good potential for aging, much like 2013. Those are showing beautifully today.” Giacomo is quite convinced the ’18s will do the same. Adds Katia Nussbaum from San Polino. “I don’t yet have the 2018s under my skin and you need that. We only just bottled this past September. We’ll see.” There are always two sides to every story.

With Tommaso Cortonesi and Francesco Rippacioli

Tommaso Cortonesi contemplates the thought. “A vintage where you can recognize the link between the producer and the terroir,” he begins. “Because it wasn’t one of the warmer (recent) vintages and 2018 does not show its potential in the first two years in bottle. The wines of 2007 were like this.” So interesting to see different producers trying to make connections with the past. “But 2018 has a deep link with the terroir. I taste the real Galestro soil from the southeast of Montalcino, the soil of Poggiarelli.” Cortonesi explains that it is the northern sector that usually speaks with the greatest clarity but in 2018 others zones did this, and in balance.

As for Canalicchio di Sopra’s Francesco Ripaccioli, his first harvest pick was on September 10th – a green one. The last rain took place on September 16th and then the Tramontana wind arrived, right on time, to dry the grapes. The later or second pick was on September 20th and at a time when Ripaccioli was looking for “dimension” in the grapes. Concentration of sugars and acidity also occurred but the vintage was not one of chronologically developed phenolic maturity. So at harvest Francesco considered this ripeness factor to be a 7.5 or an 8 on a scale of 10. Three passes of selection were made, to achieve the best possible outcome. “Remember,” explains Ripaccioli, “ten doesn’t exist and I don’t want to reach it. The pH would be too high. Maybe 8.5 is a number to reach.” In any case without the winds Francesco admits the vintage would have been a disaster.

There is no one I would rather taste Italian wine alongside other than La Miha. If you know of her grace, intelligence and palate then, well you know.

My trip to Montalcino this past November was one of the shorter, quicker and fastidious ones with less time afforded to paying estate visits. My arrival was late in the evening ahead of the two-day Benvenuto Brunello sommelier tasting held in the Chiostro Museo Montalcino. Flight delays were the root cause and were it not for the hand of an angel (that being Chiara and if you know here then you know what I mean), well, I might still be waiting in Firenze. At the conclusion of each of the two tasting days there were visits paid to Biondi-Santi and Col d’Orcia. Each involved memorable retrospective seminars, discussions and tastings. The first at Biondi-Santi was with CEO Giampiero Bertolini and oenologist Federico Radi. We looked at Tenuta Greppo 2016 Annata, Riserva and the 1999. The next day was with Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, his son Santiago Marone Cinzano and Filippo Bartolotta. Father and son gave a most poignant retrospective look at the history of Montalcino before pouring six Rosso and Brunello on the ‘8s dating back to 1968. The breakdown for Godello’s 2022 Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Previews are as follows: 96 Annata, 28 Etichetta and 22 Vigna 2018, 20 Riserva 2017, plus 14 back vintages. That adds up to 180 wines tasted and reviewed across two and a half days in November.

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Agostina Pieri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Perfumed ’18, roses and bright red fruit and that early scent of structure. Surprisingly glycerin and full in mouthfeel which makes for an impressive and impressionable transition. Doesn’t seem to finish which is a sign of positive portents to come. Should live a long life with slow developments and the prolonged of ever so gently descending decline. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Albatreti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Deep clay depth, like Santenay, in a way. Sangiovese of darkening fruit yet serious, of salumi cure, a touch skin musky and if not quite brooding then at least contemplative. No lack of extraction which also brings and extra layer of herbaceous ness and earthy-savoury elements. Meaningful. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Altesino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Chic, modern, silky and suave. Full, rich, layered, tightly compact in that regard and of all the sweetest things. You too will love the generosity and ease of such a beautiful and amenable Brunello. Not to mention the scent and flavours that come along with markedly obvious oak aging. Barrique special. Early drinking example. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2022

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Perhaps considering the vintage there would be expectation for an easy, fluid and liquid Argiano 2018 but think again. The notion is immediately about tradition and structure, most definitely as noted in the serious, finely chalky and deft set of tannins. The fruit is more than there in fact there is a 10 foot swell of the stuff cresting and waiting to crash over the palate, surely on repeat. Yet Argiano is built for a long haul, like many that have come before. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2022

Armilla Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Much ado about everything in a Brunello 2018 that swells with fruit, brings the extraction and the extract, doles resolved tannins and pushes immediacy like few others. Yet there is an underbelly or underbrush of herbs, earth and cured prosciutto to see complexity and layers still to unwind. A true now wine that will drink well for five to seven years. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2022

Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Easy, immediate and wholly gratifying access to 2018 Brunello Annata in the great accumulation of fruit and persistent sweetness of unlimted structural components imaginable. A sangiovese to discover right now for those who know, wish to know and don’t really know where else to begin. For the people. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2022

Sommeliers at BB 2022

Beatesca Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Wood off the top, vanilla swirl with white chocolate, white pepper as well. Good fruit on the mid palate keeps this sangiovese moving forward and the structure is no doubt a part of the equation. Some green tannin however so don’t keep this for too long. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022.

Bellaria Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

As expected or better said anything but unusual is the full compliment and intensity of fruit to define Bellaria’s 2018 Annata. That and a most generous amount of wood in how vanilla and also chocolate and graphite dole in aroma and then texture. Thick and unctuous though also blessed with important and elasticizing tannins. The bones and flesh are there so this will live long, eventually morphing into a Brunello of fungi and tartufo. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Camigliano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Camigliano surely got things right, correct and proper in 2018, all three important messages, redundant and on repeat. These are sangiovese tannins exclusive to the variety because they comes from skins and to a much, much lesser extent the casks. The wood is noted yet secondary and the wine will drink well after just another season has come and gone. So long as winter actually comes go Montalcino. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Campogiovanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Great fruit and wood swirl from Campogiovanni’s 2018 in ways correct, expected and forecasted for how a specific wine will become and we know just how it will get to its vanishing point. In low, slow and expressive exfoliation, inhalation and exhalation until all settles into a calm and tranquil state. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

How can one not see and feel how this as an Annata from Francesco Ripaccioli and family just stands out as a most mature and experienced Brunello meeting expectation beyond the years of its collective experience? What comes from aging is purely spice and texture. The true style, body politic and beautiful mind of the wine is delineated by the purity and agricultural capture of fruit in an emotive state of phenolic fruition. This is a real deal in Brunello di Montalcino. Bank on it. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted November 2022

Capanne Ricci – Tenimenti Ricci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Resides on the firm and tart side of the vintage with some Ribena showiness in the potpourri floral tendency of the high-toned aromas. Surely less indicative of the vintage as compared to dozens upon dozens of 18s. Crunchy and just a bit too volatile. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted November 2022

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Beautifully sweet scented in red berry and flower perfume which can’t help but tell us about this hallmark and potentially halcyon style that is the 2018 vintage. No drama here and nary a moment of trying to be something its not but my how the creativity and charm of sangiovese emerges and emits in Brunello Annata form. So much to love and embrace. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Caprili Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Some wines carry with confidentiality all they need and you can tell from the get go how they move and show what form they’re made of. This from Caprili is a mature beyond its years example of 2018 Brunello di Montalcino. Fruit so full and confidently suave yet never of ego. Working diplomatically with father figure like tannins that encourage yet never demand, neither attention nor success. They only wish the best for their children, in health and happiness. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Carpineto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Lovely high-toned sangiovese from elevation in south Montalcino yet of fruit so light and bright. That said do not sleep on how much wood this is currently working through and the kind of underlying structure that will assist in merging the parts over a good long period of time. Here the vanilla, cherries and brush are nearly together and will likely get there in two years time. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Brunello dinner at Capanna

Casanova delle Cerbaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Bright, fresh and frazione indicative Annata here in purity plus vintage honesty from Casanova delle Cerbaie. Good attack of fruit and especially acidity from the vintage that while not a heavy one it is also not necessarily high acid either. Crunch from that fruit, pop from the acids and grippy yet suave tannins down below. Strange but true affinity with quality nebbiolo. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Casa Raia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

And now for something next level in ways that must be experienced to understand. The generosity of fruit, sweetness of floral meets savoury perfume and most supple of tannins makes for a complete 2018 Annata package. The quality and acumen involved are special, singular and preeminent. Permanence is observed in a Brunello that will live infamously in longevity. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted November 2022

Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

So very Casanova di Neri and truthfully how could it not be yet something understated is spoken in such a handsome sangiovese. The fruit is classic Neri gather, from the plots and blocks that layer and compliment, get together on one single page. There is nothing out of place or wavering in this Annata and one exuding major confidence. So professional, firmly entrenched in 2022 style out of stoked 2018 desire and clearly spoken vernacular. The style is Neri’s and it is owned. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Tommasi Casisano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

The Annata 2018 from Casisano is a Brunello of two parts because there is the feeling of sweet fruit access now but also a next level structure to imagine ulterior drinking moments later. Very much a textural and glycerol example, gloriously liquid and soothing as it moves across the palate. Refined through and through with the ability to improve. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Castello Romitorio is so bloody on point from out of the 2018 vintage and the profundity of this assessment matters in personal ways because this was the great wine resting in casks when a first meeting with Filippo Chia opened the doors to his, his father’s and their estate’s perception. My what a matter of meaning is culled and concentrated upon from an Annata in extension of olive branch, a working team’s dedication and just plain formidable bones to see this forward 15-20 years. The 2018s can deliver greatness and yet not all are looking for decades of aging. Romitorio’s is in another league. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2022

Castello Tricerchi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Suave is the obvious operative, stylish too and yet there is a feeling of extraction and weight in the 2018 Annata. Neither taut nor tight, surely smothered by what texture and tannic sweetness the barrel has provided. A vintage wine that chooses to go for it without projecting or thinking too far into the future. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2022

Montalcino, November 2022

Celestino Pecci Brunello Di Montalcino Docg 2018

Lovely and traditional or rather lovely in its rustic attention to experience in a Brunello 2018 that captures heart above mind. Full extraction and wood compliment, vanilla sweetness and an approach to speak of a highly specific style. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2022

Cerbaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Cerbaia, classic and specific to a place where sangiovese comes to be this and only this. A fine swirl of fruit and beautifully volatile compounds that bring a lyrical lilt in high-toned notes in the wine. Everything points toward grace and charm in expression, even in the face of some edginess and musky behaviour. There is no matter, only parts yet to be integrated and needing time to settle in. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2022

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Classic and I mean classic Col d’Orcia, the kind of Annata that wears heart on sleeve and puts cards on table while imagination runs wild. Pedigree and experience tells the story of foreshadowing, knowing full well that dreams do come true in a future where a 2018 Annata is poured and its full glory is revealed. Could be 2028, ’38 or ’48. One never knows from Count Francesco Marone Cinzano’s wines but this structure over fruit dominant ’18 might just own that kind of stuffing. The next ten years will be the best but bet on more, more and more. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2022

Col Di Lamo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Oh my what a lovely swirl of sangiovese, cask and time for Brunello in real harmony as only the place that gave it life would wish to do. The cherry tree gave it up to fulfill wishes, dreams and imagination but not to worry not a berry was harmed in the process. The fullness of this wine, its grace and its charm is obvious and celebrated. Yes the wood has much to say and express but like so many sangiovese of this ilk there must be time granted. If not the story becomes one of haste and respect would so sorely lacking. Be kind, exercise patience and wait for a just, but most of all loving reward. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2022

Collemattoni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Quite amazing how one instant moment of a nose into a glass can pull perfume to cause a mind to recall the producer. What a talent that is for estate to emit with such precision and consistency. Here a sangiovese so silky smooth and studded with spice but most of all a sliding scale of necessary structure. Collemattoni has this Annata thing down to an artful craft with a minor in science to make the most well-rounded Brunello that simply marches to a wholly created and owned beat. Pure, honest, wood managed and integrated. Really fine. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Collosorbo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Both rustic (at least from the tannins) and elevated in volatility (by the acids). Fruit is lithe and transparent, surely not atypical and the mid pacing of this Annata is steady and lovely. Keeps composure through the back end and a there’s driven finish. Those early issues dissipate and this can be seen aging quite well. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Corte Dei Venti Brunello Di Montalcino 2018

Always steeped in tradition and clearly knows where it comes from with a distinct connection to the past. This experience and attention to a history of successes but also failures equips Corte dei Venti with the goods to power forward with a structural Brunello of fine but also austere tannins. Longevity is the name for a wine of this style and ilk. Need to wait for grace and charm. They lay waiting around a few corners. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2022

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

More exuberance and high toned beauty in the Mannella 2018 and it would seem that Tommaso Cortonesi chose a longer maceration for his high quality vintage fruit. The levels of extract and approaching glycerin texture are elevated and yet the underlying issue involves a tannic chain that means some purposed business. Drink this in and feel the layers, imagine the possibilities and count on what great next steps are en route. Great savoury finish. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

A vintage we’ve been waiting for from this northerly Montalcino estate because after a few formidable ones there will surely be forthcoming the greatest measure of grace. The reality is just this in exactitude, warmth and exceptional liquidity. Everything works and works beautifully, expressive in so many ways, perfumed, gathered, integrated and if there is wood (and there is) there is no sign of its work. All play and done with truth, gentility and honesty in mind. The clarity is astounding. The tannins so incredibly fine. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2022

Elia Palazzesi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

One of the more hard to get, stoic and structured 2018 Annata in this Palazzesi glass with no great hurry to come out and please. Fine intoxicant of perfume without that rush and were more people wearing this sort of aromatic delicacy than rooms would be scented without excess. And so the wine is one you want to get closer to, snuggle in and take in the scent, allow imagination to swim and thoughts to ruminate. The palate shows more wood and even more held back character. Quite the mysterious Brunello, intriguing and filled with quiet wonder. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

So real and proper Annata from Fanti once again, apposite to all previous vintages and yet so consistently procured to define a vintage. That being one of ripe and tart fruit, easy if spirited acidity followed by mild, sweet and cruising tannins. Terrific palate presence to be sure, of secure barrel couverture that accomplishes its work into succulence. Feels ready and yet five-plus years will open so many new doors. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Fattoi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Fattoi brings the joy and the wealth of healthy ripe fruit to the Annata vintage fore. A fine chalkiness mixes with the tart and the tang though not all parts are exactly together this early in the game. That is coming soon, around a corner and when it happens there will be great times to be had by all. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Barbi’s is a Brunello interpretation of yet another diplomatic and democratic vintage, structured much like 2016 and yet more openly getable like 2015. There seems little connection to 2017 but only because that vintage was such an outlier. In fact the lineage is in tact and as it is well known, a Barbi wine is tethered to history and tradition as almost no Montalcino other. The real, direct, honest, correct and purposed deal. Every time out. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Fossacolle Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Fossacolle is most definitely parochial in style and without hesitation it is said that the sense of place is exactly what expresses from this glass. A tar and roses kind of ideal, tart and spirited, fresh as it gets and so, so very sangiovese. Liking the portents and intent, the trenchant view of a vintage and a wine that abides by the season. Truth spoken without excess, certainly not in extraction and therefore also tannin. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2022

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

It takes but a nano second to recognize the two-part harmony in the Franco Pacenti 2018 Annata because fruit so high tethered to tannins so low are of an unbreakable and seamless symbiotic kind. This sangiovese sits in the mouth with trenchant purpose and in layers so powerful yet also in this amazing state of grace. This is the real red fruit sangiovese and an example that speaks to the east and slightly veer to the north of Montalcino as being a location to see the best out of 2018. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2022

Gianni Brunelli Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Le Chiuse di Sotto 2018

Terrific presence from the Gianni Brunelli 2018, both on the vintage stage and also in how it performs, especially on the palate. There is some wood to resolve as the doubling down of tannins keep the performance from remaining light and ethereal but time will do what in necessary. For now just enjoy aromatics that come from the land and flavours crusted by those persistently agitated tannins. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Giodo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Giodo’s is fine, a vintage snapshot captured but with fruit run through, including the mid-palate reached where 2018 sometimes fails to access. This full and substantial capture makes for a drink early Annata which in this kind of case makes sense and really works well. Lovely and retable wine. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2022

Gorelli Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Il Palazzone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Notable for earthy-savoury elements and grip in a righteously composed Annata of purpose and structure. Grabs attention, delivers that fennel-rosemary-garriga and cereal grain that Brunello can be, especially when location is considered. The herbaceousness and evergreen feeling persists for minutes on end. Curious and singular in every respect. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Il Poggione Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

The well is full of red fruited sangiovese Il Poggione way in a get at it straight away example of pretty much exactly what defines the 2018 vintage. More aromatic waves then some and also as compared to previous estate iterations so expectation is exceeded in this Brunello of early, often and dreamy style. Big wine that impresses quickly for any and all fêtes taking place in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2022

Innocenti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG

For this vintage one of the darker and pressed examples of Brunello Annata though not without its very own set of charms. A bit wood rich and chocolatey though again there is some peaceful easy drinking in that regard. A style not light and bright but instead smooth and deep. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2022

La Casaccia di Franceschi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

A combination of high acid and pretty clear higher level phenolic ripeness put this is top categorical vintage idiom though it will be prudent to offer time in exchange for reward. Plenty of barrel notes as well though this mediates structure without adding unwanted tannin or spiciness. Lilting here, floral and gracious. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

La Colombina Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Here the salumi and the nebbiolo like tar and roses gather for a heady and grippy initialization of sangiovese fruit, acidity and tannin. A chewy wine in the face of that edgy and firm style where extract and wood spices gather. A few parts feels disparate here and perhaps time will be the instigator and also the catalyst to clarify what this wants to be. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Extreme measure of perfume and transformative possibility to full scale capability comes from the aromatics of La Fiorita’s 2018. The mouthfeel is über intense with a sort of nut and spice cocktail that includes cumin, cardamom, cocoa and fennel. The finish is all cocoa turning into beautifully bitter chocolate. Extraordinary example of 2018 Brunello Annata. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

La Fornace Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

If a vintage example can be considered and refereed to as classic while tasting during an Anteprima than La Fornace’s just might be the one. So expressive of that effusive, open and transparent red fruit that 2018 is filled with all over the territory. Definitely some wood felt on the palate in the form of a gentle creaminess that plays well and smooths out the wine. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted November 2022

Montalcino sommeliers

La Fortuna Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

If a 2018 Annata can act with a sort of glycerin feel on the nose than La Fortuna’s would be the kind to do so in this pale red fruit vintage. Not that the palate does not follow suit with that type of silky liquidity because it does and the transition from one aspect to the next is really quite seamless. A pretty Brunello, for now and a few easy years ahead. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2022

La Lecciaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Rich and mouth-filling Brunello here from La Lecciaia, deeper of fruit as compared to many light and transparent examples out of the 2018 vintage. The tendency here is to exult the virtues of Brunello that invites all to the table, for consumers representative to a broad range of stylistic preferences. Fine work for 2018 though not one to cellar, at least not for a long and doting time. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2022

Vineyards at La Magia

La Màgia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

A Brunello that clearly separates itself from the pack namely because of the place, at elevation 400-500m in the south-central part of Montalcino surrounded by so much forest, with few neighbours and a wind gap that draws in the right breezes. These are quality tannins, powdery and yet somewhat demanding of the fruit that must work to keep up. It does without suffering, showing more fortitude and punch than many to most. Will live as long as any, in part because of it swarthy swagger. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2022

Lambardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Traditional, rustico, old Montalcinese world, both in earthy savour and emotion. The kind of sangiovese known, expected and gifted. Done the right way for the exact vintage as a 2018 gone as far as it can and must. Tart and lithe, so direct, abided by in every loyal respect. How can there not be great love for such an example? Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

La Rasina Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Soft and conversely high-toned, barrel vanilla, tannic spice and quite peppery though no sign of reduction. Good quality red fruit, sweet acids and admirable length. Fine and representative if on the timorous side of things. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2022

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Those medium-sized, assessed and picked mid-harvest berries qualify and quantify for Lorenzo Magnelli’s Annata in the exact way he would want them to, for his Brunello to emerge with all its possibilities intact. This is the wine from Le Chiuse shrouded in the most mystery even if it appears right now with an open door policy. There are many choices yet to be made as it concerns how we feel and more to the point regarding the future of such an intriguing sangiovese. Both Rosso and Riserva calculate their place and we in turn know just where they strand. Annata is more fluid and is the chameleon that will change soon, again in a year or two, after a few more and for many years in and out of its multiple rhythms. Le Chiuse’s may act so very 2018 but the hidden or yet to be determined acts of character are more the verity of the matter. Time will enact the reveal and truth be told there are none that imitate. Le Chiuse is a wolf, solo, roaming and silently stalking prey. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted November 2022

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Ahh freshness, the first 2018 in my glass and no offence to 2017 but after tasting 150 ‘17s over four days this is surely a breath of new air. Bright and almost a marine wind blowing through while at the same time showing some substance and bones. Fleshy but elastically so and these tannins are not sharp, nor austere, but forgiving and even generous. Left the barrel after the minimum amount of regulatory time to keep the wine from being tired by the wood. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2021

Lisini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

So very 2018 vintage as a Brunello with bright red berry fruit and perhaps one of the most up front, amenable, accessible and drinkable examples anywhere. Tannins are soft, supple, sweet and integrated. Almost as if they are not present at all, but this is sangiovese in Brunello ilk so we know they truly are. At least for the time being. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2022

Maddalena Cordella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Lovely perfume and ulterior aromatics on this from Cordella, a wine I’ve not encountered before. Great berry and floral swirl, glycerin texture, high tonality and a real Montalcinese saltiness. That can be a rarity but certain frazione just do this and some see it as mineral but frankly salinity is what it is. Tart yet quenching and really satisfying for an Annata out of this particular vintage. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Madonna Nera Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Generously wooded Brunello to a fuller degree than much of the 2018 class, laden with smaller barrel aromas like vanilla and lavender. Tastes like 2017 in a strange way though less forceful and the tannins lag, even get a bit brittle and fall away. No real power or structure here and yet the wine will drink well for a few years. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2022

Martoccia di Brunelli Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Can’t miss the orange zest and spray in this high-toned and fruit variegate Brunello 2018 with just the faintest moment of saffron in the air. Tart, tight, compact and stealthily structured with plenty of wood spice, creamy chestnut nuttiness and a long finish. That minor botrytis note will pronounce with time so the best window will be two to four years from now. Drink 2024-2026. Tasted November 2022

Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Mastrojanni’s is one of the firmest and driest tannic 2018s of any and all tried during these Benvenuto days. From a vintage such as this lighter and brighter one there would need to be substantial fruit to march along with this type of grippy austerity and this by Mastrojanni is set up to the task. The length is outstanding with nary a bitter moment and in delivery of nimble elasticity that will surely persist for serious long-term success. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted November 2022

Maté Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Seems like a constant refrain but a good one for a transparent vintage that has produced so many wines of this bright style. Maté’s joins the ranks and falls right into place with their beautifully paced, silky if at its heights, racy Annata. There is some excitement here to go along with the lithe beauty so give some credit where due for a sangiovese that finds its own way. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Mocali Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

A relay of really quite classic Mocali as Brunello, light to mid weight and yes just in line with the vintage though here as consistent with what has come before in terms of this estate’s sangiovese. Tannins are present and drying, mid-stream as well, alongside and in tandem with the flesh of the wine. Still traditional after all these years. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Patrizia Cenconi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Certainly a deeper aromatic expression of 2018 Brunello and of that viscous-glycerol kind but in this instance the condition replays on the palate in just the same way. Unctuosity like few others and for those who live an breathe Montalcino by mouthfeel this is truly the one for you. Still in the lithe vintage style but silky smooth, rich and satisfyingly so. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Montalcino, direction southeast

Pian delle Querci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Querci is the appropriate adage for a Brunello so steeped in oak tea it’s just swamped by what the wood brings. Sweet vanilla, clove, cinnamon heart and a mix of tannin that is part austerity and part masala astringency. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2022

Pian delle Vigne Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

No real surprise that Pian delle Vigne expresses some of the darkest fruit from and for the vintage. That and thick consistency, suave tannins, chalky yet liquid. There is a hint of classic rusticity for good savoury measure but most of all there is über forward modernity and great professional appeal. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Piancornello Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

What a special wine from Piancornello out of 2018, standing clear from the vintage because of concentration and seriously impressive tannins. No it may not be über typical of the open-knit, lithe and forward vintage but sometimes there arrives a wine and I’m referring to a wine that will takes steps, little by little, as is its meaning, to arrive at where it is intended to go. Stick with it and stay for the journey. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Pietroso Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Pietroso incites a smile with their 2018 Annata because it’s beautiful, composed and expressed just so right. Captures the vintage as a perfect snapshot, lit from behind, casting a glow upon fruit and giving meaning to what that can become. The wine is like a wave of sangiovese, slowly rising and cresting then gently tumbling down, all the while sliding sideways urged on by fine acidity and supple tannins that permeate yet groove with the fruit. This is so wise and quite frankly delicious now. I would not hesitate to cellar it for up to 15 years. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted November 2022

Pinino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Right there amongst the dictionary entry for a vintage that wants to be enjoyed as soon as possible. A year from which the producer who understood did nothing to mess with the lithe beauty and ease of attack. No tension here, sweet acids, red fruit and ease of play. Good chewy texture through the finish. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2022

Podere Bonacchi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Bonacchi’s is more traditional, chalky tannic and savoury sangiovese with real bones and an intensity of intent. Taut and a bit tart at present but you can imagine with charged forecast what will become of this structured wine. For now it must rest and allow the austerity to melt away into the background. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2022

Podere Brizio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Chewy wine here in 2018 from Brizio, leathery with a cedar earthiness, savoury of more evergreen and a distinct high toned Montalcino style. A bit antithetical to many of the ‘18s yet comfortable in its skin. Acids are pronounced and tannins effective if not overpowering, nor lingering dry and too long. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Poggio Antico Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Good quality fruit no doubt and so the rich compliment of wood is both agreeable and understood. This is the Poggio Antico style, modern and fulsome yet even they have abided by the litheness and bright luminosity of the vintage. Perfectly reasoned and seasoned mid-term Annata for the next three or four winter seasons. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2022

Poggio dell’Aquila Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Perfumed and of a harmonious composition, if notably creamy and spiced by the full cupboard as supplied by the aging in wood. Plenty of savour and more so flavour, a rich swirl of vanilla, three-toned berries and tell-tale graphite. Surely some barriques are involved. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2022

Poggio di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

If on the lighter side of Brunello there can be no denying the cause, purpose and effect of a Poggio di Sotto sangiovese and how it’s just all Brunello di Montalcino can be cracked up to be. Break this down into parts and you will note the concentration, the effect of tannins from the beginning and the way the power and the charm build as the wine fleshes in the glass. Of course there are more “impressive” and also structured vintages but the guarantee here is in the consistency of farming and winemaking teams, both with an equally, substantiated and dedicated set of values. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Paradiso di Cacuci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Spot on Annata of values in evaluation of both aromatic and textural unctuousness that settles, persists and remains long after the scents and flavours have drifted on. More than sneaky tannins as felt on the drying at the finish yet for the most part these acts of structure work well as part of the team. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Poggio Landi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Quite the aromatic Annata and yet also one of the first to act just a touch peppery reductive. Quite tannic as well, herbal and of sweet acidity. A most unique and curious 2018 with its own special set of circumstantial style, at times bracing and at others fluid. Needs some time to come together. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Poggio Lucina Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Enticing and inviting nose, classic for vintage and località, roses and dried nasturtium. The right kind of push-pull tug between the posit tenets of fresh and dried, middle weight in which wood neither interferes or tries to fill in holes. Classic Galestro earthy-savoury and true tension towards edginess. Should fall in to place sometime after two plus years. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Ridolfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Very impressive stature and a bit of attitude are hallmarks of and the consistency explained from Ridolfi’s 2018 Brunello Annata. A sangiovese of grip and backbone, fleshy fruit hanging taut, especially considering the lighter overall view of this vintage. Really crusted and earthy yet sweetly perfumed and acids as high to fine as they come. Not the most elegant but definitely chivalrous, handsome and charming. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Roberto Cipresso Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

High extract and concentration brings viscosity and unctuousness to Cipresso’s 2018 in ways not so many Annata were able to deliver. This is true textural ascension more than anything else for a wine of grip and anti-vintage circumstance. Speaks quite a bit about location for a Brunello to turn out this way. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Greppone Mazzi

Ruffino Greppone Mazzi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

This bottle shows some TCA but seeing past this limitation this would bee a fine vintage example of Brunello with ample wood creaminess, a blanched nut sense and a creamy cheese note. Most interesting in all regards, complex and a bit different to the 2018 norm. The redeeming qualities are in the details for a sangiovese that will drink well a year forward and for three top five after that. No rating, however. Tasted November 2022

Salvioni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

A Brunello for the ages that opens its story and gambit with more intensity and thought then most with a vineyard load of fruit also like no other. What comes out of this glass is aromatic concentration in a way that is more than what the air can handle. Good thing the backbone holds onto flesh that will not fall so the years will be kind to a wine so far away from changing into new clothing. There are so many levels involved you wonder just how long a life lays ahead. Likely two plus decades. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted November 2022

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Surprisingly heady, grippy and hearty wine here from San Polino in 2018, well perhaps not a shock but this stands up to be immediately counted. No shrinking violet and firm, upright, juicy yet really floral. Spices everywhere and quite frankly also spicy, of cinnamon and capsicum, a full onslaught of power and flavour. In a league of its own. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

San Lorenzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Firm yet fair Annata, fruit exuberance and also good quality tannins, built on sandy clay and notable Galestro for a truly variegated sangiovese that really acts as a dictionary entry for what 2018 is wont to be. Cruising and will slowly unwind over a seven to 10 year period of time. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

San Carlo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

All in Brunello Annata with a swell of red fruit that shows some black cherry intonation. Good quality tannins carry the weight primarily for some early access yet the construction will do well for mid-term Annata. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Scopetone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

A bright sangiovese from Scopetone so the vintage feels immediately represented and yet one can’t help feel some underlay of seriousness. Not the most glycerin 2018 but it’s there in emotive viscosity. Nice levels of tart and intense, reasonable, very seasoned and apropos in so many ways. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Scopone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Noticeably high-toned, edging up to volatility with a minor though not egregious presence of Brettanomyces. Dry and brittle tannins sum up the fighting issues of this wine. Would be beneficial to try a second bottle. Tasted November 2022

Sesti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Quite a mouthful of fruit breadth and structural candidacy in a sangiovese of large cask nurturing and so much texture you feel like you’re running out of time and space. Clearly one of the longer steps paced, spiced and architecturally drawn wines of the vintage, not to mention the layers of design that drape over the pencilled sketch. There is a lot to assimilate here. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

One of the finer perfumes of any and all from a 2018 Annata by way of Talenti as sangiovese that draws you in with fineness from the start. That said there are aromatic and even more flavour profile notes so singular and unlike just about any other wine. Like pine and porcini, for the first time, freshly plucked needles and fungi pulled direct from the earth. Kind of wild and earthy in that regard with beauty occupying the mind. Bravo Riccardo for this snapshot of your collected vineyards in a wine so silky and of humble design. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Fine and upstanding collection of qualities are the assemblage in cuvée of Tenuta Buon Tempo’s 2018 Annata and though the fruit is of a deep tone for the vintage it also offers so much seasonal and seasoned breadth. This is indeed a mouthful of sangiovese with an almost equal amount of supple tannin yet the weight and spice really take over the room. Consistent throughout, persistent and inviting, one of those mid-term vintage wines that will do so many things right in its first 10 years post vintage. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Tenuta Corte Pavone – Loacker Wine Estates Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Rich and stylish, an Annata that pulls fruit of high solar radiation at elevation and makes for a beautiful result. Full monty of parts, dancing on the palate, ripe, red and rosy. So much going on and to go on, likely for up to a decade of time. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Tenuta Poggio il Castellare Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Curious example of 2018, not only glycerin on the palate but the nose leads as well, straight into how the wine feels in the mouth. Lots of wood, vanilla and coconut, peanut shell and baked potato. Drying and hard tannins. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted November 2022

Tenuta San Giorgio Ugolforte Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Each and every year these vines in kinship with Poggio di Sotto mature a little bit more so that they are just about in line with the mothership. This is found to be quite typical for Ugolforte in that toasty or roasted meat quality to go along with the calcareous-sandy lightning and bright red fruit tones. A bit more depth and structure from 2018 and well managed in that regard. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Classic Silvio Nardi, mid-weight, fruit and cask exchange, interchange and play. Sweetness of silky acids at work with glycerin red fruit and soft tannins. That’s the vintage talking and the winemaking has surely abided by what was at stake. Good work and better result. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Terre Nere Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

High extraction, full on press and maceration, gone for broke 2018 in Annata clothing. Done well in the style, no real astringency and perhaps necessary to reflect a sense of location. Some mildly hard tannin and wood liquidity more glück in feel than nut toasty. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2022

Ucceliera Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

One of the most grippy and also finest structural Annata of the vintage, fruit variegated and true, an honest snapshot of what the farm produced matched by the firmness of both acidity and tannin. Rises and rises, never falling into valleys and constantly climbing, on rocks, in octaves and for constructive means. Wow. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2022

Val di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Purposed, fruitful, substantial, a touch reductive and also volatile. In a good way however because there is a natural, breathable feel. Chewy and crunchy alternatively, first of leathery fruit and then by acids that support but also drive. Drying tannic finish that is quite long. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Ventolaio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Super proper 2018 concentration from also reddest of the red fruit Ventolaio. In fact the contiguous content is so consistent from vintage to vintage so as to be admirable. Tart and playful, crisp, fresh and crunchy but just enough liquorice chew to balance out the lightning and intensity of red citrus. Early drinking for certain yet sneaky enough to evolve over five to seven years. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2022

Voliero Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2018

Slightly less grippy and prettier version of the Ucceliera, two wines made by Andrea Cortonesi. Here an absolute snapshot of the vintage yet on the sharp and tannic side of the idiom. The quality of grapes is undeniable, the purpose serious and the drink-ability factor high. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Etichetta 2018

Camigliano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Paessagio Inatesso 2018

Camigliano’s Etichetta labeled 2018 is a tweener which in most cases works very well for the vintage. As it does for Paessagio Inatteso. Plenty of substantial fruit, higher acidity than some and chalky, liquified tannins are primarily interested in one another though perhaps some time would help them find further peace and accord. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2022

Castello Di Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Alle Mura 2018

Yes there is more than ample concentration in the Banfi Etichetta Brunello but also a transparency that speaks to vintage. This is a great positive to say that Banfi has paid close attention to what is needed, to exult this freshness of the 2018s. Crisp and piqued by peppery pops, pings and jolts. Tons of energy and life here, so far from the days of ‘97s, ‘99s, ‘01s, ‘03s and the like where extraction, concentration and ambition ruled the local scene. Yes this is a very different vintage but hey, even Banfi can change, find balance and play in the sand. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2022

Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Campo Del Drago 2018

As expected 2018 is predicated on bright red fruit and tension though mostly a cause of acidity rather than tannin. Castiglion del Bosco has listened to the vintage wind and made an Etichetta sangiovese trying as hard as it should so that the feeling of this northwestern Montalcino place is elevated and looked at directly in the mirror. Mild to elastic tannins and just a secondary level of texture will help see this forward a few years. That said it sure feels like the Annata pulled away some important fruit from this block of a wine. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Cava d’Onice Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Colombaio 2018

Colombaio is a five times Annata concentrate of sangiovese blood, juice and chalky texture. The unresolved tannins in this Vigna ’18 are grippy and even considered formidable. Quite a powerful single-vineyard set of circumstances bring punch and pomp to a wine that must be laid down fro quite some time. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2022

Celestino Pecci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio al Carro 2018

Plenty of purposed concentration defines the whole package that is Poggio al Carro, a specific 2018 Brunello under the labelling umbrella “Etichetta,” as opposed to Vigna. The beauty lies in the quality of the fruit which is decidedly rich, luxe and lush, swirling in its own macerated juices. Chalky underlay suggest quality tannins though there is a green note beneath, neither herbal nor savoury, a verdancy that shows just a fraction of less than optimum phenolic matter. A portion that would have been best sorted out because the pressing has resulted in a minor note of green tannin. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Progetto Prime Donne 2018

Ah the perfume of Casato Prime Donne, like taking a bucket of its friable soil, stirring the crushed duff into the wizard’s pot and hovering over while the sweet scents of the earth waft out. With the optimum if gracefully restrained drip of pure berry aroma, all swirled together as if the tones are so intrinsically layered there can be no separating one from another. The Progetto’s clarity increases year after year, the pure essence of the life it has been given evolving with the kind of maturity to speak deeper and deeper into this project’s sense of place. This is a wine that used to flirt with volatility and now the control is both commanding and effortless. It can be argued that 2018 is the launching point for the next epoch and the future. Drink 2025-2036. Tasted November 2022

La Fiorita Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG NO 2018

La Fiorita NO is just what the wine should be from 2018 in that it takes what’s given and makes beauty happen. There are florals and fruit variegation mixed together, a wild berry and rose swirl that’s really quite the aromatic intoxicant. Though a small dip occurs in the mid-palate of the wine that is completely normal and inconsequential because all other aspects fall into line with the season. Tannins are suave and supportive, the length quite outstanding. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2022

La Fornace Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Origini 2018

Very pretty aromas from Origini, all the reds, of roses and pomegranate, poppies and berries. Oranges too, cacchi (persimmon) and the zest from navels, all encrusted into and with earth to give this bright Etichetta Brunello its true sense of origin. Apropos it should be and so with the place confirmed there is beauty and there are brave new worlds to explore. These are grippy yet fair tannins so look for the wine to sing in five years, drifting and descending for 10 more. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2022

La Lecciaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Manapetra 2018

Manapetra is a swirl of aromatic compounds and liquid elements that show great potential for the evolutionary process of an Etichetta-designate wine. Plenty of cask strength aging as well and to be sure so the ambition and the traditional explanations run through most aspects of this 2018. On the largesse side of the vintage spectrum, needing two years and will drink well for five after that. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2022

La Màgia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Ciliegio 2018

Mostly Basso fruit, meaning the lower part of the old vine, most important vineyard. Quite a large part of new barrel is used, upwards of 80 per cent and the integration is nothing short of remarkable. Fabian is a different sort of winemaker for Montalcino, following his own regime, working by feel and with confidence. Fruit purity is elevated and exulted by the wood and while the barrels simply can’t be hidden there is an impressive display in this age-worthy wine. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

La Rasina Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Persante 2018

Persante is an Etichetta-designate Annata that attempts to heighten sangiovese and vintage awareness. That is does in hyper real, sensitive and emotive behaviour. This Brunello is both viscous and woody, supercharged and of a flavour profile like chalky raspberries in syrup. A bit of a tannic challenge and caught between appellative levels in that each foot seems stuck in opposite stylistics. The disjointedness is noted and time can only help so much. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Vecchia 2018

Vigna Vecchia as it always does makes sure to remind how this vineyard delivers the most compact tannins in the Brunello portfolio of Le Ragnaie. Mix this omnipresent austerity with the fresh breath of 2018 vintage air and the combination could only be a most excellent and rewarding one. In fact there is less early aggression, either because of the freshness or simply because the vineyard speaks this way in this year, but also because the wine spent less time in wood than other vintages. Sweet meanderings of acidity zig, swirl, zag and twirl to lift and elevate all the parts. Not exactly integrated fully but also not that far away. So much pleasure will come from this wine when that happens. Magnifico. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2021

Lisini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Ugolaia 2017

A beautiful specialized wine here from Lisini in 2017 to elevate Ugolaia above and beyond what possibility and probability might the Annata be able to express. There is a deep well of maceration felt in this ’17 and it’s so full of fruit so that time will bring about integration but also an extension of the freshness found today. Good quality parts result in age-ability and a blessed future. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Mocali Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Raunate 2018

Richer than the Annata normale for sure and yet not such a dramatic drifty away from that vintage wine. Another example of splitting quality fruit between the first label and the second etichetta label when some greater amount of promising fruit would have better served this label. No matter because the vintage is abided and the wine speaks in clear tones. Should age a year or two longer. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Patrizia Cenconi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Ofelio 2018

Liquorice straight away, earth and savour, chalky tannin and intensity of both acidity and how that drift works with the brooding aspect of the wine. A powerful example with that high acidity and plenty of grainy texture. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2022

Podere Bonacchi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Molino di Suga 2018

One of the more reductive and liquid peppery piqued Brunelli to be sure and needing air to open ip. The first bottle showed some TCA but this second one opened is sound and tight. There is some charm laying behind the wall. Plenty of cask sheathing as well coming through in vanilla, lavender, toasted nuts, graphite and finally bitter chocolate. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2022

Ridolfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Donna Rebecca 2018

Donna Rebecca the Vigna Brunello for Ridolfi in 2018 picks up right where Annata leaves off or perhaps the reverse should be stated because it begins, as it must, with her. Donna Rebecca is a sangiovese of purity and beauty, chalky and youthful, of freshness but also layers of fruit, earth and in this instance, much savour. The peeling will take a decade easy. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2022

Rodolfo Cosimi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Bramante Cosimi 2018

Rodolfo Cosimi’s Etichetta Brunello is a firm one, made rich and textural by extra time in cask and finishing with more chocolate than many from the vintage. There is ambition in this wine and it surely wants to be a long aging wine. Improves and opens with air to release more character and charm so it is conformed that a few years will bring benefits and reap reward. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2022

Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Piaggione 2018

Prepare yourself, open your mind and heart to embrace what Piaggione will gift if your priorities and intentions are set to correct. Welcome Salicutti and their passionate team to a Benveunto Brunello and be so very pleased they are now in the consiglieri. These vineyards are a place of magic and the way this sangiovese is made exacts, translates, transmogrifies and most of all explains the place. The smoothest and seamless flight with transitions invisible extend in a Brunello that has no end. No beginning as well because by the time you have reached what you thought was the finale the wine continues, begins again and marches on. Incredible tannins. The finest for ilk, idiom and as mentioned, place. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted November 2022

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Podernovi 2018

Seriously rich expression from the seriously important vineyard in 2018 of great depth and potential. Not quite harmonious but surely an example of sangiovese requiring time in bottle to find its equilibrium and ultimately the charm. Big wine from the vintage, welling with flavours, earth and chalky tannin for what will also emerge as sweet perfume. Because it’s estimably already there. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2022

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Piero 2018

Quite obviously a rich and beautiful 2018 Piero from Riccardo Talenti, so deserving of its name and ode to a grandfather. Fully resolved, here from the vintage following the heat but really it’s something other, or ulterior yet still exhibitive of intense concentration. Piero is a matter of ultimate respect to the finest and best selected berries. The ’18 is marked or indelibly stamped with Riserva quality tannins, slow developed and only ready well, when they will be ready. Hard to exercise and discover more incremental construction of structural identity than what Piero administers. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted November 2022

Tassi Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tassi Franci 2018

Tassi walks the fine line between restraint and volume to arrive at a twain where fruit succulence and chalky liquidity pool for one of the vintage’s coolest etichetta-designate wines. By cool the definition is minty savour from a type of sangiovese concentration that causes a whistle and cooling of the taste tract. It’s uncanny how this acts and leaves you feeling refreshed, awake and in good spirit. Turns on the lights, ups the volume and heightens awareness. A remarkable thing considering there is some density in this 2018, especially from the tannins. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted November 2022

Tenuta Corte Pavone – Loacker Wine Estates Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Fiore del Vento 2018

The first of three Etichetta labeled Corte Pavone wines called Fiore del Vento is a matter of florals and airiness, flowers and wind. Describes the swept plots aboard 500m of elevation at Montalcino’s western ridge. F del V breathes that air, delivers one of the saltier expressions but also climbs the tannic ladder. Most unique dichotomy for 2018 to drink tomorrow and beyond. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Tenuta Corte Pavone – Loacker Wine Estates Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Fior di Mellioto 2018

A few tannic forward steps puts a palate on notice when tasting the second of two Corte Pavone Etichetta wines, here called Fior di Mellioto. Still the air and the salinity though less showy and billowy as compared to Fiore del Vento. Serious chalkiness and density in fact, a wealth of textural layers that will take a long time to resolve along with the mounded and bonded structure. When the eventuality comes to pass the fruit may not be fully equal to the task. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2022

Tenuta Corte Pavone – Loacker Wine Estates Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Campo Marzo 2018

The third Etichetta Brunello from Corte Pavone shows the most glycerin and especially spice aboard the more substantial fruit of the three separated expressions. Plenty of tart acidity and chalky tang, tannins present though not nearly as formidable as Fior di Mellioto and even Fiore del Vento. Here from Campo Marzo there is more harmony, less tension and demand. That said it too needs time to work out any issues the parts may have with one another. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2022

Val di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio al Granchio 2018

Crunchy oh my this Poggio al Grancho is a wine to sink your teeth into and in fact that is how you must attack a 2018 already in such a mode. A sangiovese of grip, grit, pomp and circumstance. This is a mouthful and a half, no less impressive and trenchantly important than many of its peers, in idiom and of ilk. Factual to the nth degree, ambitious and full. Needs so much time. Drink 2025-2032. Tasted November 2022

Ventolaio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Campo dei Colti 2018

Campo dei Colti is clearly an express extension of the Annata and one wonders just how different the source plus selection is for these two wines. Just as lovely, adhering to the consistency through several different vintages, similarly tart, playful and crisp. Freshness even greater, pomegranate and red currant leading to blood orange and candied roses. The greatest difference is the wood noted on the finish, of vanilla and clay chalkiness. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Villa Poggio Salvi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Pomona 2018

In Pomona there is an obviousness or rather an expected consistency of style that permeates and then drives the Villa Poggio Salvi machine. What comes before continues so that the tang and glycerol combo of red fruit swells throughout, if perhaps just going a bit hollow sounding in the middle. The palate is so very Aperol it’s uncanny and if unusual it matters very little. Not Campari but actually Aperol, combining bitters, orange sweetness and subtle volatility. So curious! Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Vigna 2018

Altesino Brunello Di Montalcino Montosoli DOCG 2018

A Montosoli vintage for the cru and its petite hillock on the north shores down below the Montalcino hill. That is because the understatement and restraint heeded attention will do for this special set of parcels as it seems both nature and also farmer intended it to be. Could there be a finer season to consider Montalcinese “Climat?” Methinks not and from an educational point of view it is Altesino that sets the readable benchmark for such a consideration. The hopefulness and harmony are readily apparent, the grace, fluid concentration and charm appear in clear view. A sangiovese as a window, hyper real of place, altruistic and realistic, for now and to see what will be a decade plus-plus onwards. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted November 2022

Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Alle Mura Vigna Marrucheto 2018

Hard not see and intuit with great immediacy the absolute glaring difference between the Banfi Annata and this single-vineyard expression. The chalky and fine-grained tannic rush right on through is what drives and defines this sangiovese and yet the fruit is strong enough to defend itself. How it will hold its own and carry on forward will be the true raison d’être of a Vigna ’18 that shows so much possibility. Not to mention purpose. Banfi got this so right. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Bellaria Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Assunto 2018

As per the Bellaria style the hyperbole of fruit and wood swirl in this Assunto is nothing short of incredible. Not exactly a clarity or transparency as shown by so many wines from the 2018 vintage and in fact quite the opposite. Big extraction and so that fruit is thick as thieves with the barrel and as a result the doubling down of tannins is heavy and something needing to be worked out. That will take some time and rest assured there will be fungi and tartufo in the deep distance of Assunto. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2022

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna La Casaccia 2018

Great anticipation to taste La Casaccia and Montosoli side by each from a vintage carrying no option but to act out the passion play through the glaring clarity of a sense of place. There are facts involved and there is no hiding the truth formed by these plots of sangiovese in this vintage. By now it is understood how 2018 exists on its own accord at one with nature though Francesco Ripaccioli will tell you there are similarities with 2013, if only because that vintage was greatly ignored and is drinking well at this time. La Casaccia in the località of Canalicchio is the wildcard of Montalcino and tasting several wines from the frazione reveals a collective affinity supplied by the year’s gifts. Nothing was portioned or taken away from the ’18 Annata and yet this Vigna sings with even more range and depth than that wine. The acids are simply out of this proverbial world, the linear aspects drawn with precise architectural or even, in Old English speak, a Cutter’s line. Remarkable reserve in concentration and forward slicing finesse. Forever long. Forever young. Drink 2025-2038. Tasted November 2022

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Montosoli 2018

No this is not La Casaccia, nor should this sangiovese be that fine Vigna from Canalicchio. No, this is glaring and hyper real factual Montosoli, a cru-designate 2018 that speaks in the clearest ways, drinks with firm and confident grip, cools and cools some more. If getting to know Montosoli is something you find yourself needing to do then sure, please come along and taste Francesco Ripaccioli’s essential ’18 but wait and pause just a moment. Montosoli’s frank and purposed charms are hidden behind a pretty serious wall of structure, in fact there are few Montalcino examples more skeletal and Doric than this right here. Three years are needed to open even the first knowable doors to perception. Drink 2025-2040. Tasted November 2022

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna La Casa 2018

On and on it goes with these treasures of place and vintage in Montalcino. Vigna la Casa may not be labeled as such but it shares every bit of affinity in kinship with Altesino Vigna Montosoli. The geology may alter ever so slightly in Galestro hue and schist content but the clay-lime attributes gift similarly and for 2018 the hype is real. La Casa is found to be more macerated, silky, generous and glycerin. The texture acts out with more passion and controls the manifest destiny of this wine. Acids carry some weight and tannins are semi-formidable but in the end it is still mouthfeel that shows who’s boss. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted November 2022

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Filo Di Seta 2018

How incredible is it to see the likes of Filo di Seta at a Brunello tasting in the Chiostro of Montalcino? Has been some time and the glory of Filippo Chia’s 2018 is a great place and space for the return. Fruit so fine in upbringing, aging and design. There can be little doubt as to the intention of Filo, to use highest of high elevation fruit in conjunction with thoughtfully integrated cask so that first an oxidation and then a compression set up the wine for longest of life dreams. What follows is the grand parade of life affirming qualities, salty and soulful exhalations, salutations and finally, liberations. In a few years this wine will be set free and we will all be free. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted November 2022

Cortonesi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG I Poggiarelli 2018

When we talk about Tommaso Cortonesi’s I Poggiarelli we first talk about place. No discussion otherwise. Even if the cloudy picture of 2017 (in a year of glaring sun) might have been an aberration to cause some sense of località confusion there is no questioning the effect of 2018. This is the land and the vines, of grapes seen through, of a wine unable to hide both beauty and imperfections. The character is guaranteed, the complexities in abundance and the truth unequivocally spoken. Are there finer tannins then these from this sector of Montalcino? Couldn’t say and yet the quantifiable intensity, elongation and succulence suspend thought. That’s what there is to say about that. Drink 2025-2037. Tasted November 2022

Fattoria dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna del Fiore 2018

Not sure whether to say that Vigna del Fiore exists as an icon or flies under the radar as a Vigna Brunello in Montalcino? Feels like both because it is not always spoken of and yet never wavers, delivers Barbi’s great quality and ages as well as any in the territory. As for 2018? A resounding yes in terms of sweet fruit, fine acids and quality tannins. Adds up to That’s All Right classicism, a trait for which Barbi wrote and continues to write the book. Everyday, everyday. The 1956 Elvis and 1983 Costello of Montalcino wines. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted November 2022

Il Poggiolo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Terra Rosa 2018

Il Poggiolo’s 2018 is a lovely example of Vigna Brunello for the most part because of the glycol and mixed berry swirl that permeates every facet of the wine. Quite pure, silky to satiny and easier to access than most Vigna declared wines in this most transparent vintage. Terra Rosa obviously alludes to soil, where some iron oxide content runs through the sand and clay. The story is told by a hematic wave here and there but also ever so slightly green pops of tannin. No matter because the fruit is glorious. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Le Gode Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Montosoli 2018

Le Gode is situated right there at the Montosoli hill on Montalcino’s northern orientation and this work in progress is on the cusp. The winemaker is Carlotta Ripaccioli who is working with her cousin (Canalaicchio di Sopra’s) Francesco Ripaccioli to gain control and set a course for re-purposing and focusing both her cellar and her wines. This 2018 sees great improvement and the feeling of finding its northern Montalcino legs. Though tis vintage and that time are still in that Bretty zone. Initiates a swarthy sensation that can’t be denied nor eliminated, at least not at this time. The bones and blood of sangiovese are clearly high level and the tension remarkable, not to mention the benefit of a Montosoli location. Really looking forward to seeing this wine improve and march towards greatness in future vintages. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2022

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Casanovina Montosoli 2018

As for Casanovina from Montosoli there is everything one could hope for in fresh, sapid, saline, mineral expressiveness giving in to amenability as it pertains to enjoying, or projecting the enjoyment of Brunello Vigna looking a few years ahead. There is more depth and reserve in 2018 from Montosoli and if the previous vintage did not tell us just how special this northern fruit can be then better attention need be paid. Here we experience the prescience and extension to continued futures of Montalcino. A fruit to acid continuum of fresh sweetness and singular expressiveness. Also a backbone but not one rigid and compact, rather linear and stretching northward. Crisp and with terrific crunch, upward movement and great potential. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted November 2021

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Paso Del Lume Spento 2018

As with the Brunello Annata and in fact all of his ‘18s, Riccardo Campinoti decided to take this out of wood at the discipline number of months to stave off any chance of tiring and oxidation. As with the Annata there is of course great freshness but here magnified with even greater clarity, blue sky brightness and what a palate cleanser it is. Thanks to the 621m of altitude the wine maintains a level of acidity at the top of the tops but it is neither spicy nor piqued, no sign of peppery grinds nor sharpness neither. Cool, gelid, sandstone salt licked and a sangiovese that will never blind a traveller nor turn out the lights. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2021

Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigno Loreto 2018

After tasting the Annata there is great expectation in assessment of Mastrojanni’s Vigna which is by now one of the archetypal such wines of Montalcino. Vigno Loreto brings power and also confidence, that much is clear. Yet there is a gentle parent’s patience and touch as well, a nurturing if you will and as a result this sangiovese will slowly mature over a very long period of time. Loreto is equipped with succulence and grip, from acids through tannins and these are some of the finer set of both, to be found anywhere in the land. Fine work, unsurprising and deserving of praise. Drink 2025-20234. Tasted November 2022

Poggio Landi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Chiuso del Lupo 2018

Not the literal translation “the closed of the wolf” but like the French “clos,” meaning an enclosure or walled in place. Perhaps a wolf likes to roam this vineyard and thus the name. Poggio Landi’s Vigna is a singular one, a well full of red citrus fruit in the pomegranate, blood orange and tart plum range. The layering is full of love and affection, the liquidity of the chalky tannins right in line. Great 2018 acidity, especially for the style and the vintage. Could drink this all day! Less structure than many, nary a moment of green and just a delight. Makes me hungry like the wolf. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2022

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Helichrysum 2018

Helichrysum will do, as only this Vigna wine or more to the greater point only this estate’s sangiovese will scent. That being something high-toned, other worldly, like coniferous trees would emit at their tips in the wind. The aromatics are wild hyperbole, savoury and from some specific place never visited, on the bucket list, far, far away. That and these crazy ranging tannins, scaling up and down, this way and that, tohu vavohu. Chalky, heavy tang, tart and intense. settle. Please wait for the settling. Drink 2025-2033. Tasted November 2022

San Polo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vignavecchia 2018

Deep well of savoury and highly characterful flavours make this old vines San Polo Vigna Brunello well with liquid density. Or volume more like it as this is truly one of the more voluminous Vigna wines for the season, especially considering the type of vintage 2018 has come to be. That said we really don’t yet know the sum total so as a rule time is the operative and the necessity to answer all the questions. Meanwhile you will note the linearity and tension involved so exercise a greater amount of patience than the average requiem. Sangiovese awaits. Drink 2025-2034. Tasted November 2022

Tassi Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Colombaiolo 2018

Molto profumato as it is said from a Tassi Vigna designate Brunello that exudes the clarity of 2018. From a vintage where if the entire process, from farm to bottle needed to express the greatest sense of place possible. Tassi has done exactly that for a season of no shroud. There are times when minor technical difficulties can be shrouded in wood (especially) and from this ’18 there is an ever so subtle feeling of Bretty volatility and yet it helps characterize and lend expressiveness to fruit so honest and pure. No one should find fault because there is just too much beauty to ignore. And drink this relatively early because the level of tension is well below the difficult. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG P. 56 Oliveto 2018

Oliveto is a sangiovese animal unto itself, a thing of moveable feast and yet immoveable tension. The very fact that so much vintage fruit substance wells into the pool of liquid chalk and spice masala tells us that wood is a factor but there is plenty of flesh to hang around for as long is necessary. This wine gets better and better all the time. I will admit. Not sure 2018 fits the temper and personality as well as it does for some other top Vigna wines but the maturity and what will surely come from 2019 will surely alter towards another course altogether. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Tenuta Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Manachiara 2018

Manachiara is a deep dive into 2018, a deeper plunge into the 2018 pool than many actually and an ambitious take on the vintage by Nardi. Really voluminous and chalky, so very chalky. Tannins are impressive and yet also dense, chewy, complimentary to this mix of liquorice and fennel. There is some animale as well, a musky prosciutto or cinghiale so the gastronomical point now comes into view. Still there needs to be time got between this wine and your glass. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2022

Tiezzi Vigna Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Soccorso 2018

Vigna Soccorso hits with a fruit bomb thump then lands upon the palate with great volume and weight. Aromatically speaking the emission is liquorice, toasted nuts, braised fennel and cavolo nero. But the mouthfeel is challenging with its heaviness and drying tannin. Afraid there is some cooked fruit here that has turned vegetal while mixed into brittle tannin. Drink 2022-2024. Tasted November 2022

Val di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna del Lago 2018

Nice subtle toasty note draws first aroma from the vineyard by the lake as if chestnuts are roasting over an open wood fire. There is some lovely fruit in this Vigna Brunello, much like the Annata but more barrel in the form of texture and also spice. Feels very masala seasoned, of cinnamon mostly but also a few shakes of nutmeg and pepperoncini. Characterful wine, not too hard and not too soft. Neither heavy nor light and finding that zone in between. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted November 2022

Ravioli at Capanna

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio alle Mura 2017

Take an about turn away from Poggio alle Mura (Etichetta) 2018 and note the very Mediterranean, markedly concentrated and notably warm Riserva from the previous season. Day turns to night as the calendar flips back to 2017 where small berries, low yields and so much glycerol fills the mid palate, especially at this appellative level. Impressive stuff here, expressive of vintage, less so place and with pretty suave tannins for the year. Drinking well already and will do so for a while yet. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted November 2022

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

No surprise that Caparzo in Riserva form is the full deal and real monty of Montalcino sangiovese taken from finest fruit subjected to the whole spa treatment. All the aspects of Riserva are captured, aged and bottled. Luxe richness, full fruit set exulted and personified as the layered and textured filaments of fineness so worthy of the appellative credo. While preference for Vigna la Casa is not unusual it can’t be helped to see Riserva as something exceptional. That it is. Drink 2024-2036. Tasted November 2022

Carpineto Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Deep well of 2017 here from Carpineto and considering the vintage challenges the levels of freshness and bright acids are really quite special. Just what one might expect from Riserva, the vintage and that combination of warmth and elevation by Carpineto. Should develop some tartufo with five more years of age. Drink 2024-2028. Tasted November 2022

Casanuova Delle Cerbaie Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Vigna Montosoli 2017

More than surprisingly wow – A Brunello Riserva of dichotomies. Warm vintage versus fruit from a cooler site. Riserva aging style cast against one of Montalcino’s most sought after cru. Concentration after extraction and maceration against a backdrop of fine acidity and tannin. All of the above pursue excellence and this from oenologist Paolo Vagaggini succeeds because it embraces the two-sided approach. Montosoli and 2017 are a match made in Montalcino heaven. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2022

Celestico Pecci Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Plenty of energy here and in terms of 2017 that’s an important way of approaching Riserva. Spicy Riserva, buzzing and piquing, unrelenting and clearly driven by acidity. Chalky tannic, full on swagger and tension, a determined Riserva for the vintage. Should live really long. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2022

Fattoi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Like many Fattoi sangiovese the wine is taut and immediately explains that quite a bit of extra time is required before any softening will occur. This is the traditional sense of Montalcino and in Riserva terms the idea is magnified to a great degree. Yet there is beauty and generosity which in Riserva means a mirrored image of itself. Rich and exemplary of time and place, so well made for an accomplished wine that will drink beautifully, if likely best at the eight to ten year mark going forward. Drink 2025-2030. Tasted November 2022

Fattoria dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Well done Barbi. Well judged Riserva from 2017, more tannic than many, fruit substance so very close to being perfectly equipped to handle the task. Drying sensations occur, here and there, with bursts of freshness and piques of spice in between. A massive attack at once, then slower machinations when that kind of temperance is required. Barbi moves in and out of action and slumber, raciness and controlled movements. It knows what we need and also what is must own. Those who taste this wine must be left with an impression, of vineyards coalesced and centuries of experience distilled. Barbi’s is the kind of Riserva to tell a story, not just of a vintage wine aged longer but also where its fits with what came before and what is still to come. This 2017 will help to explain the democracy of 2016 and transparency as succinctly as any in the territory. It is a sangiovese predicated on acids, of fruit picked and connected in a most pragmatic way, the result ready and yet willing to travel deep into the future. In Bourgogne there are wines that go through dumb phases and rise up to freshen and excite again. Could this be how Barbi Riserva ’17 travels through its life? Definitive. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted November 2022

La Cassacia Di Franceschi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Deeper aromatic rise and red fruit in the well as compared to so many 2017 kin by a sangiovese that acts powerful and heady at this stage. Clearly Riserva in style, attitude and acts that way because it must and will. More crunch than chew, elevated acids, chalkiness and even swarthy behaviour. An exciting and inviting wine from 2017, clearly, allegedly and fittingly. Must try. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2022

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2017

There is no doubt that Le Chiuse’s Riserva delivers the heights and the depths, of fruit and structure, in freshness rising in and out of the tannic river below. There is everything in this and to no surprise, as its aging abides by the chosen ones, they being the gift of grapes small and selected for their great potential. All the depth and ten times the quality, not to mention this calm, tranquil, layered and nurturing expression. For Lorenzo Magnelli this is the pinnacle of his work and for those unaware, Riserva from his farm is precisely what he wants it to be. Because he just knows. Drink 2025-2041. Tasted November 2022

Mocali Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

More reductive than many Riserva, rubber and cracked pepper, wood spice, liquid chalky texture and intensity. So many things happening here in a sangiovese of great complexity if needing quite a bit of time to settle. The peppery piques and the heat need to dissipate. Hopefully the fruit will hang around. Drink 2024-2027. Tasted November 2022

Paradiso Di Cacuci Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Sappy, wood wholly in charge, resinous and bristly tannic. Vanilla, liquid smoke and jarring. Drink 2023-2025. Tasted November 2022

Patrizia Cencioni Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Classic Riserva flesh, bones and drive here from Patrizia Cenconi in a wine to explain a vintage with as great a sense of reality as you are likely to find. That is because the warmth is here but so is the extra time, from barrel of course but also what came before meaning fruit hung just long enough to extend the phenols and balance the original sugars. This just got the timing so right, in all respects, including tannin and texture. Most definitely a Riserva vintage for Patrizia. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Pian Delle Querci Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Really chewy Riserva from Pian delle Querci, full of appellative emotions, spice and textures. A Riserva that captures all that is available and layers those aspects for one of the richer you will find in the vintage. Plenty of wood still working its way in this sangiovese but also tannins from really musky skins and strong willed bunches. Needs time still. Drink 2024-2029. Tasted November 2022

Poggio Antico Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Only Poggio Antico noses in Riserva like this. A gregarious mix of ripe fruit, wood in and out of every pore, resins, saps and essential oils. A veritable stew and rich tisane that oozes from pores, spills through the aromatic profile and then repeats everything across the palate. No shortage of tannin and the future is long if filled with developing maturity by way of mushroom and truffle. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Poggio dell’Aquila Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Reductive and smoky, a mess of fruit, roasted nuts, stewed meats and balsamic. Salumi cure as well with some Brettanomyces though the biggest issue is not that. More a cause of wood and the type of seasoning it imparts. There are some wines from other parts of the world where this effect is created. South Africa and Chile come to mind. Not Montalcino. Drink 2022. Tasted November 2022

Roberto Cipresso Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Great aromatic hyperbole, a five times vintage sangiovese expression so very steeped as a tea made complex by evergreen, herbs, pepperoncini and something exotic, like rooibos. Plenty of cask here, perhaps some tonneaux involved, maybe even barriques. The vanilla and creamy nuttiness, like chestnut purée or almond in marzipan form all combine to tell the barrel story. Then the texture following suit while the wine lingers on. Lots of parts involved here. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Teatro 2017

Teatro is no Piaggione but it is so bloody Salicutti. This is purity incarnate, not just of sangiovese but the exacting kind that grows in this storied, re-planted in 1994 vineyard. This is also honesty in its most explicit form, open, glaring and hyper to über transparent. The balance in the vineyard translates to the bottle and into each and every one of our glasses. Salicutti as Teatro is extraordinary, a capture of angles, aspects, slope and soil agglomeration all distilled into the fineness of sangiovese blood. My goodness the qualitative accountability runs high to a vanishing point almost beyond comprehension. A rarity or a 2017 to be a wine for the ages but behold Teatro. Drink 2024-2039. Tasted November 2022

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Plenty of sweet fruit defines and fills up the San Polino cup while compounds inject tinctures, distillates and tonics into the veins of the wine. Here sangiovese takes on a decidedly swarthy and savoury character but the volatility oscillates, sometimes standing out and more often than not melting into the background of the wine. It’s perfectly on the edge in a Riserva that drips with red fruit flavour. Feels so very natural, unhurried and unadulterated, a fermentation left to its own devices that’s not quite there but feeling its own special way. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted November 2022

Sesti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Phenomena 2017

Super intense Riserva from Sesti, a phenomenon of 2017 and how Sesti is so able to make a vintage once occupied, then owned as a translation from the vineyard. The spice and herb component is astounding, emitting as a prescient permeate of cinnamon, sage, sumac and annatto, citrusy and nutty. So much intrigue and layers to unfold, so many undiscovered treats to pluck from the pool of scents and flavours. Surely one of the outstanding Riservas for 2017, edgy, tense, nervous and fresh. Drink 2024-2033. Tasted November 2022

Tommasi Casisano Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Colombaiolo 2017

This is 2017 in a nutshell, not only for vintage but also for Pier-Luigi Tommasi’s Colombaiolo as Casisano. Reminds of 2010 in more ways than one and if comparing anything to 2017 is a stretch or wrong to some, well so be it. I find the fruit to be bold in the face of powerful structure and the result is this ropey and elastic sensation that always return unto itself in balance. Great effort here and worthy of laying Riserva down when many thought it either impractical or impossible. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2022

Tenuta Il Greppo

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG (Older Vintages)

Capanna Di Cencioni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Nicco 2017

Nicco was Patrizio Cencioni’s great-grandfather and the patriarch for a lineage that includes one of Montalcino’s 25 founding members Giuseppe, Benito, Franco and now Amedeo, Patrizio’s son and representative of the fourth generation, who supervises the oenological and agronomic parts of the cellar. Nicco’s fruit comes from a block nearly facing Canalicchio di Sopra and their Casaccia vineyard. The wine is oak fermented for 11 months and then spends 30 months in Slavonian casks. Nicco’s Montalcino work dates back to Fattoria dei Barbi and this homage to his memory recalls his passing when Capanna was purchased. This 2017 is one of extreme punctuation, elaborating on the Annata and the hot climate/high acid ways of 2017. There is ample concentration squared, high level perfume and warmth in spite of the northerly location. Clocks in at 15 per cent alcohol, handles it well but this is a big sangiovese. It will age well. Drink 2024-2030. Tasted November 2022

La Magia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2017

Slowing just a bit but what’s coming won’t hasten maturity. A Brunello from a much bigger vintage and one to see living longer than many. Great fruit quality and even greater tannic structure. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Always a most interesting and ulterior aromatic profile, brushy and herbal while shifting gears to juicier and quite frankly fruitier positions. Has its moments here, there and everywhere, drinks with gratification but also reminds of vintage variation. Timing and winemaking are high end here so expect a wine of composure and length. Drink 2023-2027. Tasted November 2021

La Magia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Ciliegio 2017

Much like the Annata ’17 this Etichetta Brunello is also at the apex and just beginning to descend but evolution is a long and winding road. Bears repeating that this is the child of a magnanimous if low quantity vintage with striking acids and sneaky structure. Hyperbole of all great fruit quality, even greater tannic structure and more. “Don’t keep me waiting here. Lead me to your door. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.” Last tasted November 2022

A Massive attack of fruit and power comes at you fast and furious in Ciliegio from La Magia. Not just a wine of concentration and substance but some of 2017’s grippiest set of surrounding parameters. Big bones, barrel impart and really impressive facial structure. Chiseled and upright, linear and near formidable. A bruiser now that will bring so much umami later. Imagine the porcini possibilities. Drink 2024-2031. Tasted November 2021

Biondi-Santi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Riserva 2016 is the 42nd such vintage since 1888 from estate vineyards and the oldest parcels therein. Meanwhile olive trees and other compatible local species grow in those places and there always seems to be lower pH and higher bright acidity coming off the grapes. The Federico Radi team seeks to broaden biodiversity with unlimited scope and more vineyards would benefit by following such a plan. When Biondi-Santi gets to their next position we can expect even more refined and higher quality wines. Meanwhile the harmony and extant abilities in this ’16 Riserva are almost impossible to believe. A Riserva of fruit termed as the locus of the points drawn at an equidistant from the centre. Sangiovese of no stops and starts existing on a special kind of ellipse in which the eccentricity is zero and the two foci are coincident. Simple descriptors like crunch, chew or crust are not in the lexicon nor do service to speak about the texture of this remarkable sangiovese. Subtlety and strength, a dappling of early morning light, patterning and shimmering as if on water. The phenolics are spot on, coherent and the connection with both palate and tannins perform as an unbreakable bond. A canvas flooded with colour and while there is a level of transparency there are no white spots. Everything is filled in. Clocks in at 14 per cent abv. Drink 2025-2040. Tasted November 2022

Federico Radi and Giampiero Bertolini, Biondi-Santi

Biondi-Santi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta “Greppo” 2016

The stoic, demure and understated Brunello in Annata garb, still quiet and yet to assume what formidable character it is surely destined towards. Aromas exist by dint of DNA and yet its custodians will call it “a really nice vintage at Il Greppo. We feel the energy as being a true estate vintage. A normal season, warmth without heat, rain here and there, winds blowing through for freshness.” Indeed there is palate voltage, fruit is substantial and approaching its apex. Crisp as sangiovese yet chewable, ripe with a voice predicated on acids and a flavour profile of varietal truth, but also reason. Last tasted November 2022

As with Rosso 2018 there is magic in 2016 and for Federico Radi it was just a matter of blending, having inherited the wines already waiting in cask. Magic because a tempered in control level of alcohol and purity of satin-glycerol consistency is purely and expressly Biondi-Santi. Bottled seven months ago and will be released in March of 2022. The notion of optimum balance will likely set in two or three months from now with a lingering peppery pique and kick still in tow. Also a freshness of summer making for a minor balsamico but one that is far from concentrated in dark syrup. The alcohol is at 14 which for the vintage and current day Montalcino is relatively low, or at least modest. And yet the wine captures your immediate attention, partly because the fruit is fortified but more so by dramatic acidity and a lingering austerity. Also the reddest of citrus notes, almost pomegranate. The acidity number is actually 0.5 per cent higher than (Riserva) ’15, with notes of orange skin, violet and subtle underbrush. More Paco de Lucia than Slash. The latter will fall away in two, better still three years. The Brunello will likely remain in that next state for 10 years and then begin to evolve, slowly, incrementally towards and through a few to several decades life. Drink 2024-2041. Tasted November 2021

Col d’Orcia on the 8s

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Al Vento 2008

The windy hill or ridge in the heart of the estate guarded by a 300 year-old grand oak tree and the first vintage planted by the family in Montalcino. The first Poggio al Vento single-vineyard came out of 1982, eight years after the vines were put in by Francesco’s father (and Santiago’s grandfather). The vineyard is the sandiest, with the lowest hydrological retention but it makes for a Piedmontese approach, thinner of backbone and upwards of elegance. The acidity is one of the highest for Col d’Orcia, but also one with the most extract. Saline sangiovese, of iron and spice, balsamic and all the minerals that might be found in a Brunello from this place. Showing well, secondary timing in full effect, plenty of life left. Last tasted November 2022

Only 8,000 bottles were made of Col D’Orcia’s always formidable and classically structured Brunello. Elegance offers a glimpse of hopeful emergence even while its firmness is still fully intact. The added determination and epic struggles of the vintage translate to a singular Sangiovese type of funk from a vineyard, like so many other south facing Montalcino slopes, of what may just be the greatest physical involuntariness in the world. The fruit and texture are delicate, of a veritable Tuscan gastronomy, pure vernacular and of a leathery lightness of brogan being. The youth in this Brunello is palpable, nearly awkward but certainly not backward. It is progressing as it should, lentamente, lentamente. Three more years minimum is needed to coax it out of its coriaceous hide. Drink 2019-2028. Tasted March 2016

Biondi-Santi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 1999

“It started as a revolution,” explains Giampiero Bertolini, CEO of Biondi-Santi. “Tancredi was called in by the Italian government to draft the Brunello production rules. He was the Dottore.” Then in 1994 Franco organized a tasting of Brunello 1888-1988 to show that the wines could stand the test of time. This 1999 Riserva takes the same approach and survives in much the same way. It was sandwiched between the hot and hyped 1997 and beautiful 2001, not to mention cool if nurturing 1998 plus the wildly unpredictable 2000. And so welcome to a vintage that in retrospect is in a league of its own but also a teammate of the forward thinking, slow releasing, yet to be fully imagined 2016. From the 1999 vintage the Riserva was produced with Biondi-Santi’s proprietary clone known as BBS11 (Brunello Biondi-Santi 11) that was identified at Tenuta Greppo in the 1970s. Vine age in here exceeds 25 years and my what a fine streak of salinity running through this Riserva’s veins. All this to say that 1999 is developing and maturing slow and steady, fruit freshness persistent, acids are a factor of vintage and time will continue to be kind. Lots of evergreen in the ’99 and an austerity in the tannin that must have been formidable once upon a time. You can feel what would have been generosity that has now split into three parts; roundness, creaminess and so much spice. Fleshy and rare meat juicy with resolved tannins, supple and consistently persistent. Really flexible Brunello, long ago come into balance and energy still to burn. The 1999 is very special, a reluctant revolutionary, end of an epoch sangiovese with the charge to help usher in the next. Lovely sweet porcini note at the finish. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted November 2022

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Al Vento 1998

If not thought upon this way at the outset there is now an understanding that 1998 is a truly age-able vintage. The original defect was the idea that it came between 1997 and 1999. Today those who know, know better. The depth is important, not at the top of how this is quantified but the linearity and forward fresh survivalist attitude is absolutely fascinating. There certainly is some darkness here in the context of a big nighttime sky too immense to imagine but the wine feels like it continues to move forward. Acids are lovely and sweet though not the crux of the situation while tannins are melted and soft at this point. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio Al Vento 1988

One whiff of the eaux de parfums verity by 1988 and suddenly the idea of what to expect next from the following 8s comes clearer into view. This vintage has by now shed quite a good amount of the notions it long held onto; volatility, balsamico, herbaceous accents and spice. The epoch into equation can be now be witnessed as elegance and beauty at this 34 year point where Orcia Valley derived shiny cool savour is now in charge. A happy place, fruit in its sweetest phase (aside from infancy) here in 2022, very much alive and kicking, structural parts stepping aside. And here a wine of maturity moving through a period of transition but the fruit just seems sweet, naturally and without adjustment. Aromatically the earth and age are in charge but there is the great dichotomy to be noticed and appraised. Unsurprising considering the times they were and are again now. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2022

Filippo Bartolotta, Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano and Santiago Marone Cinzano

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOC 1978

A most intriguing old Brunello, of salinity and orange pekoe tea, orange zest and more so the juice of an orange. Plenty of energy though there is something different here, especially aromatically speaking. Muddy to some but it’s really quite amazing as a sangiovese of clarity, with oak accents really there, of vanilla and caramel. The length is nothing short of incredible on this wine. Drink 2023-2029. Tasted November 2022

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOC 1968

A most unusual set of aromatics, hard to define, put a finger on, gather thoughts about what is there. Acts like black fig and liquid cocoa, balsamic and sweet tart. Lots of perfume from a bottle re-corked two years ago, sulphites adjusted and same vintage used to top up. Also the first vintage bottled by Francesco’s father in 1974, from barrels found in the cellar. Brighter acidity, orange citrus, light caramel, feeling like there are other grapes in this wine, perhaps ciliegiolo and even trebbiano. Not likely canaiolo because the pH here is as low as it gets and that grape would bring it up. Drink 2022-2023. Tasted November 2022

Fabian Schwarz, La Màgia

La Magia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2021

All the 15 hectares of vineyards are Brunello classified and so Rosso is a vintage decision, based on quality, challenges and potential. Clearly wanting just to be consumed as witnessed by an amazing fruit quality, so substantial but there is tannin involved. A whole lot of precious tannin so do not sleep on keeping a few bottles for a few years. Drink 2023-2026. Tasted November 2022

With Federico Radi, Biondi-Santi

Biondi-Santi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Tenuta “Greppo” 2019

From the last of the “regular” vintages, cold spring with late rains, drying early summer months, some harder climate change induced rains but no mildew or disease pressure. Good summer temperatures, no heat spikes, fluctuations from day to night and picking beginning mid-September. Most of the fruit comes from the lower southeastern parts of the estate vineyard below Tenuta Greppo, in predominately clay soils close to Lorenzo Magnelli’s Le Chiuse. Also Ribusoli just below and Pievecchia north of the village. Ripeness is a virtue in Rosso, never too ripe while right there with present yet softly persistent tannins towards what is quite the mouthful of rich and age-worthy Rosso. There just always seems to be a savoury-mineral quality to Biondi-Santi’s Rosso, especially on the finish in residual sensation remaining on the palate. Perhaps less so out of the fruit wealth and beauty by 2019, but make no mistake it is surely there. Structured for Rosso and yet at the end of the day a 2019 B-S RDM is there to drink, any day or night of the week. Even at the cost it has arrived to, “free to those that can afford it, very expensive to those that can’t.” If you find yourself thinking “we want the finest wines available to humanity. And we want them here, and we want them now!” well, this would be a pretty perfect place to start. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted November 2022

Col d’Orcia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Rainfall in winter (within average), snowfall in February and 600m between April and September and then a substantial hail at the end of July. Required labour intensive work in the vineyard to remove damage, to control odium and mildew. Thinking that a Rosso di Montalcino from a leaner or “smaller” vintage would not have the fortitude to age but think again. Fruit freshness persists, no doubt. Even for Rosso the selection of healthy bunches was key to this Rosso’s success. Understated grip will see it through a few years and Col d’Orcia has proven the possibility can be ten. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted November 2022

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Benvenuto Brunello 2022

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Benvenuto Brunello 2020: Montalcino surges ahead

Nov2

Montalcino Sunset

Anteprime di Toscana’s culminating 2020 presentation of 2018 Rosso DOC and 2015 Brunello DOCG raised the bar for Montalcino’s venerable sangiovese

Montalcino, February 2020

The sangiovese of Montalcino are not to be taken lightly nor for granted and they are, to a wine, crucial to mind, culture and life as we know it. When presented in times of adversity they are the sort to help us keep our wits about us. To an extent the Rosso and manyfold the Brunello are of an ilk that allow our animal selves to assist in ensuring the survival of our species. Allowing them to age incrementally and gracefully is an important part of the contract. Either by dint or by choice, drinking Montalcino, especially young Brunello, deregulates our homeostatic processes with a kind of sudatory sedation. This is because of an unavoidable youthful aggression and incredibly dense succession of tannins, as if each were linked to the next by an invisible force, to a chain singular and melting into one another. They are known to induce fruit sweats while simultaneously controlling emotion and so we remain in balance. In some reflective respect the act of drinking Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino is akin to a full-fledged carnal embrace. If what follows is a feeling of compunction then guilty as charged is our pleasure.

The Rosso and Brunello of Montalcino have for decades been recognized as residing in the premium realm of Europe’s finest red wines. You might think that a territory with such rich history, iconic figures, foremothers, forefathers and next generation figureheads would be content to rest on laurels and see little need to fix something that isn’t broken. Not so and while the new or next era of wine producers are certainly the obvious catalyst for exacting evolution, if at times gentle revolution, the answers run deeper and the interconnectivity with the past is well, unavoidable. In the trusted duty as ambasciatore for Montalcino and its vital sangiovese next month I will play host and moderator to two dozen of the territory’s most prominent and illustrious producers in six pivotal seminars. In trying to get to the source of what in recent years has been the impetus for a more than discreet across the board profound rise in quality, I recently asked a gaggle of Montalcino producers some pressing questions.

Tasting at Benvenuto Brunello in Montalcino, February 2020

Brunello inspired to the best wines made by my grandfather produced between 1970 and 1980

… Donatella Cinelli Colombini

Ten producers, six questions

What recent vintage would you say marked the turning point for your winemaking, to bring your wines into a place and style that speaks of your particular vineyards, their location and terroir in Montalcino? What or why is the reason?

Francesco Ripaccioli, Canalicchio di Sopra: “2013 may have marked the turning point for our winemaking, in looking for their particular sense of place, for a unique eastern to northeastern Montalcino sapidity in our wines.”

Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella: “2006 was the first vintage during which I have followed every aspect, from the vineyard management to the winemaking. So that was a benchmark for me. 2012 is a reference vintage in terms of style, with the introduction of the family brand “Cortonesi” and the two different crus La Mannella and Poggiarelli. From this vintage, Brunello “La Mannella” is made just with La Mannella vineyards grapes. Two different Brunellos from two very different Montalcino terroirs. I had in my mind the idea of Brunello di Montalcino as pure expression of his terroir.”

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse: “2006, my very first one. From the very beginning it was clear from me how it’s necessary making wines that speak about sangiovese and Montalcino, that’s what make unique a wine from this region and it’s even more important when you have an important historic background like we do here at Le Chiuse.”

Riccardo Talenti, Talenti: “The 2010 vintage, not only for the beautiful quality expressed, marked the definitive passage of an awareness and an approach to wine that I am still following today. It was the first to be done in the new cellar where we chose to carry out the fermentation in conical steel with the use of punching down at controlled temperatures. In addition, since 2010 a good percentage of new vineyards have been in production which have helped improve agronomic management. The 2004 vintage marked the awareness of a differentiated management of the vineyards given their different exposure and different terrains. For my youth and little experience they were years and harvests difficult to interpret.”

Elisa Fanti, Tenuta Fanti: “Our vintage is absolutely the 2006. During the harvest and the aging of the Brunello 2006 we have learned the characteristic of a very elegant Sangiovese and we have loved this! We started to select the different Sangiovese from different vineyards, to select also our four different areas of the vineyard and we have started to make our two selection of the Brunello di Montalcino, the Riserva before (on the 2007 vintage) and the Vallocchio later ( 2010 vintage).”

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi: “We have had some turning points. 1931 was the first vintage with “important numbers,” 35,000 bottles instead of the normal 5,000/10,000 we had for a century because my grandfather Giovanni Colombini decided to try to sell it more widely. By mail and through agents in Rome, Naples, Florence and Milan. It was a success, the wine was more alcoholic and very austere. 1964 was rated the best red wine of Italy by the Italian Ministero dell’Agricoltura, obtaining the “Torchio d’Oro” It was a rich, powerful Brunello in a very traditional style, and our first vintage in which we produced more than 100,000 bottles. This was our first vintage appreciated by the Italian journalists, and also the first widely sold abroad. 1975 was a very classic Brunello but more “easygoing”, a turning point in style and marketing. Not so tannic as our previous wines, ready to drink after only five years but able to age very well for decades, it was the final result of years of research on fermentation and on a shorter period in wooden vats. This was very probably the first “modern” Brunello, a style that became the normal one for all the producers. It was an unbelievable commercial success, 235,000 bottles sold from the USA to Japan. 1995 was again something new, still in a very traditional style but larger, bolder even if very elegant. It was our first “fat” Brunello, in a period in which the wines had to be more and more “important” we reached this result avoiding any mechanical concentration with osmosis or similar devices. We increased the vineyards from 50 to 100 hectares, and reduced very strongly the production per hectare. 2007 was another important turning point, after five years of experience we could use for all our production dry ice, the new Ganimede fermenters and a completely “vintage program” which reduced to less than one hour the time from the picking of the grapes to the arrival in the fermenting vats. The result was a better extraction and a better concentration of the traditional flavours of Sangiovese. A more typical and more intense one.

Riccardo Campinoti, Le Ragnaie: “In 2006 I started working in a more traditional style with longer maceration time and only big barrels. Also I started focusing on single vineyard sites.”

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia: “At Col d’Orcia we pride ourselves in producing traditional wines with long aging potential since even before the arrival of my family in 1973. When we conduct vertical tastings (often going back 50 years) the most important aspect for me is that tasters find aromas and tastes that are constant over time. The key of this approach is that we use only grapes grown on this hill and that we are true to the character of the soil and climate of this estate. Of course there has been an evolution over time, but rather than adopting different manipulations to the wines, we have improved our quality control and the equipment that allows us to follow with greater precision the fermentation and aging process in order to intervene with greater timeliness on decisions such as pump-over, end of maceration on the skins, racking, contact with air, etc.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne: “In the vineyard the year of change was 2012. This was the first year with very high temperatures, hydro-stress and intense rainfall just like monsoons. We have leant how to trim back the vines in a different way, using the leaves too protect from the sun. We have learnt that we must reduce the surface of active leaves to reduce the transpiration and so to lower the canopy. We have also learnt that the de-leafing usually done in September (and unfortunately still done by many wineries) damages the grapes because now the UV radiation is much stronger than before. In the harvesting of the grapes the 2017 vintage was a turning point for us. It marked the return to a selecting of the clusters, just as my grandfather used to do, for opposite reasons. 50 years ago his problem was too little sun, we now have too much. In the end, to pick the grapes at their maximum level of ripening we need to pick the clusters one by one, going through the vineyard several times. Since 2017 we have continued to select the clusters. The concept of “Vigna” as was intended at the end of the 1900’s must be revisited so as to obtain qualitative excellence. For fermentation maybe 2011 was the year that marked the change. The year that taught us most in the management of the grape and must PH. In 2011 the Montalcino wineries encountered Brettanomyces, which previously, was practically unheard of thanks to the high acidities. Now attention on PH and the cleanliness in the wineries are much superior to before.”

Giacomo Neri, Casanova di Neri: “With 2010 we have reached a balance between perfume, structure, length, finesse and elegance which has had a constant following in the following years. The age of the vineyards, a greater experience in the management of woods and in winemaking.”

Filippo Chia, Castello di Romitorio: “The vintage that most changed my life was the 2015 vintage. It was the first year that our new vineyards produced Brunello quality fruit, the marriage of the new vineyards and old vines coincided with one of Montalcino’s most interesting growing seasons. It was a slightly warm vintage that tested the health and vigour of the vine pushing it to the limit but not beyond. Fruit was beautiful and crunchy and with ripe seeds and stems which gave way to wines with a good potential for ageing but also very generous and voluptuous also in youth. A confluence of factors, climate, vineyards, and careful choice of oak framed the 2015 as one of Romitorio’s best vintages of all time.”

Tasting hundreds of Sangiovese over the course of 10 days in Italy would be inconceivable without the tireless work ethic, attentiveness and dedication of all these talented sommeliers. #aissommelier #italiansommelier #associazioneitalianasommelier

What mistakes have you made and how have you learned from them so that you can make better wines and the wines you need to make from your property?

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse: “I always make mistakes and always learn from them, every vintage it’s another story and every time I try to do the best choices for my vines and wines. I love it because those mistakes could makes your land-wine-feeling connection stronger.”

Riccardo Talenti, Talenti: “I started in 1999 with the first harvest made entirely by me, not having too much direct experience. I can say that the first five harvests were difficult as an approach in the vineyard and then in the cellar. The agronomic part was the same in all the vineyards, but with completely different vintages; hot 1999, very hot 2000, very rainy 2002 and very hot 2003. This diversity made me understand on my skin that the vineyards had to be managed differently. The research on the grapes as well as having excellent ripeness and health is to manage the acidity in the best way during the ripening in order to have an elegant and persistent character on the wine.”

Elisa Fanti, Tenuta Fanti: “Our principal mistake in the past was to “clean” too much our wines. We had left much space at the perfect analytical parameters, at the perfect wines with very definite characteristic. Now we understand it is important to have the real characteristic of the vintage and the terroir in the bottle. Sometimes a little shades and also a little imperfection (why not) are very important to respect the personality of the wine.”

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi: “I am really lucky, because my ancestors take notes of the many mistakes they did in the last two centuries. In vineyards they tried at least two times very dense plantation, 1.5 metres per 0.80 and then in 1930 2 metres per 1. They tried alberello, guyot and cordone speronato on two levels. They tried to anticipate the vintage or to delay it. They tried chestnut vats. They tried warmer fermentation, and fermentation from three days to six months with the skins. Any kind of chemical, organic or mist fertilization. The modern Brunello is the result of centuries of mistakes of a group of producers, frequently friends and sometimes parents, which shared their good and bad results. I did just some small mistakes, because somebody else did the big ones.”

Riccardo Campinoti, Le Ragnaie: “Plenty, in the beginning I was trying to go a bit more modern and more approachable style. Also I was doing lower yields for no real reason and picking too late sometime. Now I just go for balance.”

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia: “Up until the turn of the century, we had a tendency to submit the wines to excessive extractions during fermentation, often extracting dry tannins that needed a very long time in wood and in the bottle to soften. We are now using a much lighter hand thanks to the use of the spectrophotometer as a quality control equipment that tells us exactly when the wine has taken from the skins all it needs to achieve a balanced and elegant wine.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne: “To begin with, when I left my family’s activity in 1998 to create my own, I needed to differentiate myself, do different things, to experiment a little…A bit like the Barolo boys in Piedmont. Slowly I understood the value of the century-old expertise of the Montalcino grape growers a now we are doing practically the same as them. We are even planting old varieties of wheat on the soil before planting new vineyards. My various Brunello are not powerful and neither fat. My wines are fine, lengthy, harmonious, complex and apt for long ageing. My grandfather was able to produce such wines only a couple of times every 10 years but we can do it practically every year because the climate gives us a helping hand.”

Giacomo Neri, Casanova di Neri: “Each harvest has given us something to grow and given the possibility to correct some details, over the years I believe that our wines have bought a lot in complexity, balance and finesse.”

Filippo Chia, Castello di Romitorio: “The mistakes have been many, and it takes time to find the perfect balance between making wine in the vineyards and in the cellar. It all starts with a vision and intuition and at times the first try can seem to be a mistake and over time prove to be a resource. For instance in the early 1980’s sangiovese had a hard time ripening and most wines barely reached 13%. This was especially true at higher altitudes and often wines from the hills maintained a green “stemmy” character when compared to the wines from the valley. Today things have changed drastically. Advancement in viticultural practices during the 1990’s changed the way that Montalcino practiced its winegrowing as we start to see new methods of planting – closer spacing and more vines per hectare. New farming techniques, lower yields, de-stemming and sorting had an incredible impact on the quality of Brunello di Montalcino. However climate change has been felt also in Montalcino and areas (such as those of the Romitorio) which once may have seemed like a mistake unable to produce world-class Brunello today express some of the highest quality Brunello di Montalcino.

Francesco Ripaccioli, Canalicchio di Sopra: “We are learning from our mistakes, such as those we made in 2007. We are now much more going in the direction of purity in fruit and clean clarity out of the cellar. Brunello is all about freshness, verticality and depth. These are the three parameters of necessity, especially for Riserva.”

Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella : “One of the biggest challenges for me has been finding the right aging to enhance the terroir of Poggiarelli. Paolo Cagiorgna, our consulting enologist, has helped a lot to find the right balance. Now we do 24 months of aging in French oak tonneaux and then long bottle aging and I think we have found the perfect equilibrium for a Brunello di Montalcino from a very rocky soil rich of Tuscan limestone with big structure.”

What effect do the Tramontane and Grecale winds have on your vineyards and can you pinpoint a particular vintage when the winds made a big difference in the wines?

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi: “Montalcino is always very windy, so windy that our vineyards are accustomed. The only vintage in which I was able to note a special difference due to wind was 2013, at the beginning of September we had four days which dried the grapes on the top of the hills, which normally are the best places. The valley vineyards, which normally have mould problems, had a serious increase in quality.”

Riccardo Campinoti, Le Ragnaie: “They usually help keeping the vines less moist, they are helpful during ripening.”

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia: “Winter winds such tramontana and grecale have limited influence on the growing seasons of the grapes. Summer winds are a constant at Col d’Orcia as we are in the part of Montalcino closer to the coast and have a truly Mediterranean climate. Please remember that Riserva Col d’Orcia vineyards is called Poggio al Vento (windy Heights).”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne: “I can remember only one occasion, twenty-odd years ago, something really impressive, at the end of August a wind so hot it resembled a hair dryer that dried the vineyards.”

Giacomo Neri, Casanova di Neri: “(These winds) are very important for the quality and health of the grapes. If they weren’t there, it would be a real problem.”

Filippo Chia, Castello di Romitorio: “The Tramontana winds are usually seen as a negative, cold northern winds that brings with it disease and molds. If in the forest you need to find North you just look at the side with more moss and that is North. That said Tramontana can have varying effects throughout the growing phases of the vines, in winter and spring it is the main wind that informs the plant when to start waking up from winter, and it can help delay and cool the vines throughout the also summer months. It’s famous for coming in three’s, 3-6-9. Any wind coming from the same directions for too many consecutive days can have a negative effect. The Romitorio lives and thrives in the Tramomtana as it is located in the Northeastern quadrant of Montalcino, therefore as tricky as it might be we are extremely grateful for its powerful cooling effects which are vital for keeping a crunchy sangiovese. The Grecale winds have a similar effect though they tend to be more common during the harvest months and brings serves as a source of cool and dry air also beneficial to the health of the vine.”

Francesco Ripaccioli, Canalicchio di Sopra: “In 2018 the Tramontana wind came on September 16th and the harvest began on the 29th for Rosso. The second wind called the Grecale also blew in to cause up to 30 per cent drying of the grapes. The resulting reduced yields meant for grapes of concentration in both fruit and acidity but also a high number for dry extract.”

Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella: “Both are very important winds, especially in the months of September and October to guarantee the health of the grapes and a good temperature range between day and night for a better aromas evolution. I think they are very important for the whole area of Montalcino, but especially for La Mannella area that is a cool zone of the northern slope of Montalcino, so dry and cool winds are crucial to have a great vintage.”

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse: I like those winds as that means cooler temperatures and dry conditions witch give you a very good maturation of the grapes and elegant, vibrant wines. 2013 is a vintage that was influenced by this special condition.

Riccardo Talenti, Talenti: “All the vineyards are in the south/south-east part of Montalcino between 400 meters and 250 meters. The influence of the winds is fundamental for the health of the grapes especially in vintages where in September there may be rain or morning mists. Fortunately the mists are not so frequent in the harvest, but in case of rain the ventilation helps to keep the grapes healthy. Certainly recent vintages such as 2008, 2013 and 2014 the winds have helped to have excellent characteristics.”

Northwest Montalcino

The passion and the strong link with mother nature of the winemaker are the best factors to make original and outstanding wines

… Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella

How or why did 12 or 24 months, or in rare cases, 60-plus months further become the defined reason for how to make and qualify Riserva?

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse: “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, in this way you really can’t.”

Riccardo Talenti, Talenti: “As a philosophy we do not exceed 36/40 months of aging for the Riservas and we do not produce the Riserva every year, but only in vintages that we believe have high aging potential, making a selection of barrels from the vineyards around the company positioned at 400 meters.”

Elisa Fanti – Tenuta Fanti: “The Riserva is a selection of the best Sangiovese in the vineyard. This Sangiovese, in the beautiful vintage, probably has a big structure, complexity and acidity and it is necessary for more time of aging (in the oak or in the bottle), to have an important wine with all its aromatics feature well integrated.”

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi: “In my opinion any true Brunello is at his best between eight and 20 years, it is due to the peculiar character of the Montalcino Sangiovese grapes.”

Riccardo Campinoti, 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.”

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia: “When my father arrived at Col d’Orcia in 1973 he found wine in the large barrels dating back to vintage 1968 (60 month). This was the tradition in Montalcino and still is the practice at Col d’Orcia when a vintage requires it.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne: “The Brunello Riserva is born in the vineyard, not in the cellar. The clusters must have grapes that are very small, perfect in health and with thin skins. In other words we cannot produce Riserva with just any old cluster of Sangiovese. For this reason the amount of Brunello Riserva we make increases or diminishes, and so aggravates my sales office. Obviously the perfect grapes create wines that need a longer stay in barrel and then in bottle.”

Giacomo Neri, Casanova di Neri: “We do not produce Riserva, our Brunelli at most spend 42 months in wood. Brunello Cerretalto comes out in the sixth year but with twelve more months raised in the bottle.”

Filippo Chia, Castello di Romitorio: “Sangiovese is a very finicky grape that is really tied to the climatic conditions of the vintage, every so often in great vintages its power and abundance can withstand additional ageing in oak, large or small, and most producers tend to go to bottle sooner in order to avoid keeping the wine in stainless steel or wood for too long. Usually it’s a barrel selection and when tasting the wines it is apparent when you can make a Riserva without cannibalizing your “Vigna” and without over-oaking and oxidizing the wine. Therefore normally only the very best and most balanced and structured fruit can give way to a Riserva.”

Francesco Ripaccioli, Canalicchio di Sopra: “The oak is not an ingredient. It’s a kneading for the wine.”

Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella: “The Production Requirements ask for 24 months minimum for Brunello Riserva, but many wineries do a much longer wood aging. We do 48 months in large barrels and our Brunello Riserva is only produced in the best vintages from our oldest vineyard in La Mannella.”

Montalcino

Va a macchia di leopardo

… Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi

Do you prefer the oldest vines for Riserva or Vigna? And do you prefer them in colder or warmer vintages for these wines?

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia: “Yes, for Poggio al Vento Brunello di Montalcino Riserva we use older vineyards. For the one Vigna we currently bottle (Vigna Nastagio) we use a recent vineyard planted in 2006. Poggio al Vento is produced only in the best vintages, on average 5 vintages out of 10. For all Brunello’s I tend to prefer balanced weather with cool ripening season.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne: “Evidently I prefer the older vines. I adore wines obtained from older vineyards and I have bought a sort of mechanical mole to burrow holes to substitute the new vines where others have died. We are also learning the Simonit and Sirch technique to save the vines from Esca disease. We are, in other words, doing our upmost to allow our vineyards to age healthily. It would be ideal to have old vineyards with healthy vines and all with a regular quantity of clusters. To produce Brunello Riserva we need winter and spring to be rainy, summers to be hot interrupted by some showers, September with cold nights and sunny days. Just like in 2019.”

Giacomo Neri, Casanova di Neri: “Certainly the oldest vineyards give us the possibility of having much much more complexity. Cold vintages often give great satisfaction after 15 – 20 years, often with big positive surprises.“

Filippo Chia, Castello di Romitorio: “The blend of newer and older vineyards is vital in all phases of production of wines from Montalcino. The tension in any work is always a balance between chiaroscuro which sangiovese embodies in such a magical way. It can be a brooding dark powerful brick coloured wine as it can be a dancy, perfumed and transparent wine. What’s great about Montalcino is that there is such a wide variety of terroir and cellar practices that give way to a multitude of different expressions of Brunello di Montalcino. Romitorio is a northwestern hill Brunello and very proud to embody this aspect in our wines and we hope to communicate this from our Rosso di Montalcino all the way up to our Brunello di Montalcino Riserva.”

Riccardo Talenti, Talenti: “For the production of the Riserva there is our 40 years-old vineyard together with other younger vineyards all around the cellar, where the microclimate and the characteristics of the soil are the same and homogeneous, but the selection of the wine is the result of a choice of barrels and aging tonneaux. We do not produce the Riserva every year, but for characteristics I would say that the cooler vintages are more elegant, even if in warmer years we have produced the Riserva (see 2007 or 2012), but in any case vintages with very high potential. In the most difficult years where even the quantities of selected grapes are high, we hardly produce Riserva.”

Elisa Fanti, Tenuta Fanti: “I prefer the Riserva because in general it is the best wine of the vintage with important characteristics (the structure and in particular the acidity) well integrated with the aging in the oak. A perfect wine to drink old! I prefer colder vintages, I don’t like the wines very strong and with low acidity.”

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi: “I tried to find a mathematical connection between colder or warmer vintages and quality, but I had so success. The same happened with the rains. I prefer the best vintages for Vigna and Riserva, but sometimes these are warmer vintages and sometimes are the colder ones. Frequently the top vintages are the most “balanced” ones, but not always.”

Francesco Ripaccioli, Canalicchio di Sopra: “With vintage variation I prefer the oldest vines (Vigna Mercatale at Canalicchio) in the coldest vintages for Brunello and Vigna. For Riserva I choose the vineyard on the Montosoli hill.”

Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella: “I prefer to use the oldest vineyards to produce Brunello Riserva. I am a fan of warm vintages because with the selection systems that we have nowadays we can have a great selection of the grapes when they are at the perfect stage of ripening. In cooler vintages, where there are typically abundant rainfalls, it is more difficult to get a perfect ripening of the grapes to obtain wines with a great aging potential as Brunello di Montalcino has to be.”

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse: “We don’t do a single Vineyard as Le Chiuse is one block, so for my choice it’s necessary for Riserva. Usually I’m for excellent cold vintages that guarantee a wine full of energy that doesn’t end by the long aging.”

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse

Il Brunello vada molto meglio di altre denominazioni.

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse

The last question I posed to the producers concerned the current state of business and affairs in Montalcino.

How are things going for Montalcino?

Lorenzo Magnelli, Le Chiuse: “Montalcino is at a very good health level, we have not had COVID cases for a long time, certainly better than in other parts. On the other hand, economically it depends on the producer, there are those who have many bottles in the cellar and have sold well. In general, however, I think Brunello is fairing much better than other denominations.”

Tommaso Cortonesi, Cortonesi – La Mannella: “In Montalcino almost restaurants are open. We have a quite good European tourism now. The business is not too bad actually. Imperative now is to survive from this 2020. About the grape season, until now it’s a beautiful vintage, but August and especially September are the most important months. This week should be one of the hottest (34-36° C). The Consorzio del Brunello are investing some resources on our main markets like Canada and US. We hope to give some help to our producers and to their agencies/importers promoting our denominations and our wines.”

Stefano Cinelli Colombini, Fattoria dei Barbi: “Va a macchia di leopardo. It goes wild. More than a third of the Brunello “vintage” has already been sold and there are only two vintages in the last ten in which more has been sold. The prices of the bottles have not dropped. However, the bulk Brunello market (only 8% of the total) is at a standstill and the bulk price has dropped by 40%. Those who have an advanced commercial and / or a large brand suffer little or nothing, while the less organized ones have some problems. But there are not many. Bolgheri is fine, Maremma and Mo rellino benino, the rest of Tuscany ouch ouch.”

Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano, Col d’Orcia: “Montalcino is very quiet this year. Some Italian tourists around. Very few foreign visitors. We had a good season in terms of rain and heat, but the harvest is still a long way away.”

Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Casato Prime Donne: “Sometimes, like in 2019, we had a quantity of super grapes never seen before and so we immediately ordered more barrels. It is a shame that the lockdown blocked the delivery of the barrels and the wine went into barrel late. Unfortunately the splendid harvest 2019 has suffered the effects of the Coronavirus too.”

Giacomo Neri, Casanova di Neri: “For now the grapes are beautiful and healthy, we expect an early harvest. Let’s see what the months of August and September will give us. In Montalcino, given the situation, well, we don’t complain…”

Riccardo Talenti, Talenti: “Everything is fine even if it is really a strange period, to see Montalcino without tourists without fans who come to the company to taste.”

The Consorzio’s members come together each February at The Montalcino Chiostro del Museo and home to the Consorzio’s offices for Benvenuto Brunello, a two day showcase of the most recent vintages to wrap up Anteprime di Toscana. Though the prospect is dire for this gathering to take place in 2021, Montalcino’s wines will and always need to be tasted around the world. Let’s travel back a bit in time. At Benvenuto Brunello in February 2020 I tasted the following 150 samples of sangiovese, 36 Rosso di Montalcino DOC and 114 Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. These are my notes.

Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2018 (31 notes)

Altesino Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($27.95)

Altesino’s is consistently rich and baritone for Rosso, even in light ’18 and gone in all for one with not much left to the imagination. An amenable, commercial and viable proposition for anyone and everyone to take part. Drink 2020-2021. Tasted February 2020

Argiano Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($29.95)

Full intention and focus for Rosso here from stalwart house Argiano in sangiovese pertinence. The combination of wood and a mosaic of ripeness means flavour packet bursts and structural stumbles. Seems a bit wooly and high acid distracted but the youth is important in knowing or at least intuiting what this Rosso will become. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Baricci Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Carries all the 2018 Rosso attributes that set the vintage apart, including full fruit and old school structure but what separates Baricci’s northerly Montosoli is the sprezattura savour. Wild strawberry and a texture that reaches back for more sangiovese. Very specific to this hill that only a few other appellative wines can touch. Pretty structured stuff for Rosso. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Bellaria Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

From Gianni Bernazzi and a Rosso treated to a full compliment of Botti wood, adding a sweet vanilla and candied floral spice to his sangiovese. Old school and pure, clear and clean at the same time. Well made, not as crunchy and bright as some though as itself it speaks a true vernacular. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio Di Sopra Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($39.95)

Only raised in big barrels but not the 2500L larger oak used for the Brunello. Lovely red fruit purity and transparency from a vintage that was at a near all-time low pH. Higher acidity conversely and serious enough to use for food matching ability. Just a hint of pressing is felt but it’s really just a matter of de-stemming that makes a push but not a crush. A little bit of whole berry helps ward of oxidation and the freshness is truly a matter of gentile handling. Such a fine, drinkable and complex Rosso. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

Caparzo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 (333575, $19.95)

Though the fruit source is an amalgamation of Montalcino in a multi-disparate form you can’t help but feel or at least sense the Galestro of Montosoli young vines making their way into this Rosso. Wet stone, crumbled earth’s elements and a crust of decomposition meets the cherries head on for a salty and sharp sangiovese. Really proper wine here. You know it, I know it, they will know it. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Casanova Di Neri Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Giacomo Neri lends his name to the bottle of Rosso which speaks to his desire that meaning is to accompany the appellation. Seemingly combed from Neri’s three or four vineyards dotting the north and east of Montalcino for an estate agglomeration of dark fruit, high tones and great accumulated acidity. Here the baby Brunello concept acquiesces to the notion of strictly made Rosso and for great purpose. Big wine, fine sangiovese, lots of possibility. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Castello Romitorio Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($38.99)

From a hectare and a half of a Rosso vineyard that produced 1,000 cases. The general matrix is unique because Colli Senesi is DOCG and this Rosso is a DOC though it commands a higher price. Cool, racy, lean, tight and mean. A fighting machine, just bottled, intense and ahead of the impending magic so use your imagination to the Rosso fullest. There a fulness and a flesh behind that veil of acid secrecy. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Collemattoni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($28.99)

Such a consistently fashioned Rosso from Collemattoni, also a posit tug between freshness and structure, always to the proper precipice and edge of tang, tart and sour. Lingers with texture and wood rendering. A subtle wine that gains flesh as it works through the nervous system. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Cortonesi La Mannella Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($31.78)

Tommaso Cortonesi’s Rosso ’18 is pure La Mannella, expressly northeasterly Montalcino and bright as a February Benvenuto Brunello day. Crunchy and raised with all the land caught inside, the fruit expressive and elastic, the finish blessed with just a few years notability by structure. Promising and effective, proper and precise. Still showing some wood so wait a year. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Risotto, Sangiovese and Taleggio

Fattoria Dei Barbi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Barbi’s vintage acceptance and celebration is commendable to the degree that 2018 from vineyards ripened for pleasure is to be set this way. Such fruit, sweet thing, like “gardens misty wet with rain.” The kind of tart and tang on cherry and more cherry is what you want from sangiovese meant for the table each and every night. So right, walking and talking without ever growing old. Fresh youth is a beautiful thing. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted February 2020

Fanti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($33.84)

Gotta love a Fanti Rosso, for its outpouring of sangiovese heart and in the way it so professionally proffers what you know Montalcino is so fully capable of gifting. The fruit is high, the aging possibility nigh and the pleasure probability at the limit of the sky. All in, together of parts as one, for a proper rest day, preferably in the sun. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Gianni Brunelli Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Le Chiuse Di Sotto 2018 ($54.00)

Gianni Brunelli’s ’18 Rosso’s brightness shines as the vintage lights the way, yet also embraces deeper sentiments, from generational impressions to modern perceptions. That is confirmed on a palate brimming with sweet fruit and a salt and pepper seasoning that makes for a complete experience in sangiovese gastronomy. Just a shake of bitters on the finish indicates the request for Rosso patience by way of a year’s settling. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Il Poggione Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Top quality reach in expertly crafted ubiquity makes this a Rosso from the brightly lit vintage for all to explore. Take this road oft taken and use it to gain understanding of the DOC, the village and the ways of local sangiovese. High toned, generously oak spiced and really transparent. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

La Màgia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

A deeper, warmer, confident and comforting Rosso from the cerebral and intentional La Màgia, a bit tight and demure in youth. A Rosso that needs some time and in its Brunello-like empathy. More extraction and depth for Rosso in a vintage where some frazioni could not do what this is capable of putting into depth effect. Structured for the appellation. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted February 2020

La Poderina Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

From the younger (10-15 years of age) and lower downslope vines in Castelnuovo dell’Abate and located in front of the historical Benedectine abbey of Sant’Antimo. Insular, taut and tight Rosso, especially for 2018 so the feeling is of a site that when these vines grow more mature will surely feed Tenuta del Cerro Brunello with structured fruit. A long linger in this precocious Rosso, so very red fruit and while a bit nervy, quality and promise of site is all there. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Le Chiuse Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Not a vintage if you are looking for concentration. If you are looking to drink it is perfect. From the same vines employed for Brunello but as per Lorenzo’s idea, only the largest clusters are grabbed. “For our culture it is an important wine. As winemakers we make Brunello but don’t drink it every day. This is what we drink.” Aged in the youngest large barrels for one year (plus two months) and in this vintage it’s back up the truck, glug-glug, pour half the bottle sangiovese. So fresh and with ultimate sangiovese spirit. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2020

Le Ragnaie Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2017 ($45.00)

Still sitting, waiting and I suppose stabilizing in concrete is this Rosso 2017 that will be bottled in April. The aging requirements met would actually qualify it for Brunello and we’ll just leave it at that. The entire fruit source in ’17 is Castelnuovo dell’Abate harvested between the 8th of September through to the last days in the highest reaches. Fresh and far from heavy though there is a liqueur depth and a skin-contact feel. Youthful tang and sharpness with a minor tannic herb-verdancy and good but not that super-sangiovese 2016 length. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2020

Lisini Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Quite tonal, up there is the stratosphere where some Rosso lie, especially with a vintage like 2018. Richer and more texture on the palate with liquid chalk, wood vanillin and plenty of seasoned tang at the finish. Could use a year or two to integrate. Drink 2021-2024. Tasted February 2020

Mastrojanni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

The best of all Rosso worlds emanates from Mastrojanni’s ’18, part effusive light and part deep rich tonality. Hits the high, the lows and everything else in between. Good acids keep the balance with darker fruit and silken wood texture. All in with great expectation for 2018. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Mocali Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 (286260, $19.95)

Racy, stark and slightly feral Rosso here with some volatility of distraction. Good core of fruit, fully extracted and in that pressing some bitters and bacterials come along for the ride. Drink 2020-2021. Tasted February 2020

Fried Artichoke, La Sosta Montalcino

Podere Brizio Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Seriously polished, stylish and full compliment filled Rosso from Brizio, very much in the post-modernist Dievole vein. No expense spared to elevate the game, freshen up the fruit and the appellation. A chic wine for current consumption and replete with necessary acidity to capitalize the freshness with a proper “F.” Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Salvioni Rosso Di Montalcino DOC La Cerbaiolo 2018

What is the question? Taking this Rosso lightly, passing it by or presuming anything on just a whiff and a sip would do it great injustice. There’s a wealth of knowledge and character on the nose, a depth not yet reached because the elemental layering is hard to bypass, just as roots through the fissures in the stone will take a few years to zig-zag for to find the water table below. Segued and extrapolated into this Rosso’s structure, when the integration happens it can be imagined the salts and the minerals to really step forward. La Cerbaiolo for the Rosso ages is the answer. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

San Polino Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($48.95)

Here the loosely ambient Rosso stylistic meanders with carefree sway into a world occupied by the natural and the free. Wooly tannins surround variegated red fruit and the matter is so much fun to behold. Not for the masses, perhaps a bit esoteric for you and yet the clarity is dubious in its own singular realm. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Sesti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Sesti’s is serious Rosso but please, enjoy. Ripe red fruit with a decidedly mineral Galestro feel, liquified and run through with hematic and blood orange citrus. This could very well be Rosso Riserva, not exactly Brunello and surely Rosso with more wisdom and beauty. Impressive to be sure. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Talenti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018 ($30.00)

The Rosso vineyards here are part estate Sant Angelo in Colle and also lower down the valley closer to Castelnuouvo dell’Abate. The prominence is of sandy loam, argiloso and stony soils to make for a full expression that while holding the 2018 wild energy card is represented as deeper than many. Rich and also expressive, full on red fruit of berries fresh picked and a solid core of Rosso tannin. Easily one of the bigger 18s available. Approximately 3,000 bottles made. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Tenuta Buon Tempo Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Tenuta Buon Tempo’s is a deep one, first in fruit and then welling with acidity. The fruit runs a wide gamut, from tang by berries through blackening red currant to dusty plum. Quite full and worthy of the warm climate from whence it came with an elevated 2018 sentiment in mind. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Tenuta San Giorgio Rosso Di Montalcino DOC Ciampoleto 2018

Quite the expressive Rosso here at heights across the valley from Sant Angelo in Colle and situated at a half tier away from parent Poggio di Sotto. A well extracted and healthy macerated sangiovese that brings some structure, multiplied by the rich barrels making their seasoning statement. Really like the finish on this flashy wine. Drink 2020-2024. February 2020

Tenute Silvio Nardi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Very cherry, ripe mainly, some sour edges and all dominant in a very fruit forward wine. Explores the essence of sangiovese with a heart struck and set into a Montalcino land. Could be from nowhere else and demands drinkable attention. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted February 2020

Ventolaio Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

On the high tone, fruit rising on an acidity elevator up to the upper floors of character. A bit wooly as compared to previous vintages and shows a consistency of style that adheres or more so fully accepts the tenets of the vintage. One of the more effusively sour ‘18s. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2020

Villa Poggio Salvi Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2018

Simple red fruit Rosso as per the giving vintage of high acidity and ease of structure. No real bones, road blocks or requests for time. Play on through to a draw at the final whistle. Drink 2020-2021. Tasted February 2020

Riccardo Talenti

Rosso di Montalcino DOC (other vintages, five notes)

Podere Salicutti Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2017

Organic, biodynamic and unfiltered, from the then first in Montalcino, at the hands of Francesco Leanza, in 1995. Now (and since 2015) in the custodial hands of Felix and Sabine Eichbauer, halfway between Montalcino and Castelnuovo dell’Abate. Here ’17 is clean, pure, silk threaded and simply put, juicy. One of the longest Rossos you are likely to taste and a triumph for the vintage. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio Di Sopra Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2016

The ’16 Rosso takes all the extract and acidity of the combined coming two vintages and gleans every ripe aspect for the ambitious way that Rosso can go. Deeper and less crushable and truth be told the Brunello appellation is cozied up to. Salty and full of proper tang with seasoning and spice. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2020

Carpineto Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2016

Carpineto’s 2016 comes from higher (450-500m) elevation than many, is aged longer (three years in large oak barrels) and so 2020 is just about the perfect time to enjoy its charms. This 100 per cent sangiovese off of marl and clay was picked into October and it so dutifully expresses the appellation, grape and territory. The all in fulsome red cherry is now joined by a silkiness of texture because the calcaire and the wood have softened, liquified and swirled right through the fruit. A fresh one from a structured vintage and put succinctly into that five to six years Rosso di Montalcino aging window. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February and November 2020

Le Ragnaie Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2016

Most of the grapes come from Castelnuovo dell’Abate but some are also off of estate vines. A late release Rosso, nearly 18 months after most other Montalcino wineries. Has really settled since October and is drinking beautifully right now. Last tasted February 2020

Top quality vintage, elegant and balanced, from the non disposto star of Montalcino, Riccardo Campinoti. His is a Rosso for Rosso sake, discriminant, linear, vertical and come up for the rising. If Rosso can be spiritual it would be like this, poignant and effen-solid good. These are the acids of Montalcino and the depth of earth which holds you firm in the face of a fluent perfume. It’s all in this bottle, fluid and affluent. What you need to know and what you want to drink. It can live for a dozen years. Drink 2019-2029. Tasted October 2019

Canalicchio Di Sopra Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2010 ($39.95)

Wildly fresh considering Rosso was not often thought to show such longevity, but in can and will exhibit such tendencies. Potential ability is magnified in a dark fruit vintage that advances with wisdom, morphs and settles. Lives and evolves within itself. Sweet fruit persistence is more than admirable, it’s outright amazing. Scents of carob, dried orange and liquorice, now coming into a baking spice place with persistent acidity. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Col D’orcia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2010 ($39.95)

From a vintage that is increasingly showing its stripes at the 10 year mark for Rosso and why should we be surprised? Evolved and into a next level freshness, sideways, sidled, savoury and yet still sweet. The alcoholic and comforting warmth persists, as does the ripeness of 2010 acidity. Proper 10 year move, just past peak and happy to gift another few pleasurable winters. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (71 notes)

Agostina Pieri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

As ripe as it ostensibly gets for 2015 in this sweet scenting and viscous sangiovese with real spice cupboard seasoning and a piquing of gathered acidities. The grain of chalkiness runs through and should take this into an umami set of values in the not too distant future. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Altesino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (994095, $59.00)

Very polished and made Brunello with a wealth of statuesque parts sculpted out of the high level materials presented the team that crafts this wine. Speaks to a very broad swath of place and a perfectly good drink of consumer appeal. Last tasted February 2020

From the vintage where agriculture, winemaking and now selling came and will come easy so you can expect the warm, fuzzy, generous and soft. Perhaps too straightforward to be what the powers that be call a five-star vintage but if Brunello is what you want or even what you think you need then begin or continue the journey right here. Very berry, ultra liquorice and über morbido. Soft, amenable and unencumbered. Positive but certainly not overbearing structure. A now and through mid-term years drinking Annata. Drink 2019-2024. Tasted October 2019

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (15460, $59.959)

Argiano goes all in for this sumptuous and unctuous ’15 of fruit, earth and acids long, sharp, linear and long, Big expressive and chocolaty sangiovese with wood a major factor and structure a fact of the matter. All purpose Brunello and so bloody effective. Drink 2022-2027. Tasted February 2020

Armilla Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

The tiniest production delivers a very pretty Brunello from 2015 and this Armilla is just the right mix of wisdom and forward purity. There is little ambition, the fruit picking was spot on and the gentle extraction a matter of great gentility. A little Ribena but this is surely a sangiovese of terroir, left to its own devices, without distraction or interference. Drink 2020-2030. Tasted February 2020

Baricci’s Federico and Pietro Buffi

Baricci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

There’s just nothing that scents, acts, tastes or structures like a Baricci Brunello. At the height of traditional excellence and slow change improvement there is so much nobility and perfectly seasoned bitterness that allows this linear and purposed Brunello to rise above. No less fruit than structure and more solidarity amongst the parts than so many others. This my friends is Brunello made the way it was and has to be, without compromise and for all the most righteous reasons. Quality is in effect the highest order. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted February 2020

Bellaria Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Bellaria’s sweet and strange sangiovese is part terroir and part barrel, like walking in the woods the other day, scents of wet forest and sweet foliage in a warm season. The humidity of this Brunello smells like the past, “seems like 100 years ago.” Needs time to hide away and allow the melting, oozing and scenting wood to dissipate and allow the wine to do its thing. Last tasted February 2020

Remarkably alternative vintage for Gianni, fresher and more effusive to be clear and sure. Shows with great immediacy and tells a story of vintage variation, especially at altitudes like Bellaria (550-600m) and from soils so poor in organic materials. It’s luxe but also so perfumed, pretty and expressive. Just gorgeous Brunello with fine acidity and sweet tannins. The window will open wide sometime early in 2021 and stay that way for as much time as you need. Drink 2021-2031. Tasted October 2019

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG “Canalicchio Di Sopra” 2015

Back to prominence for Brunello quantity is what 2015 does for business while delivering great quality without causing any undue relative stress. Both Canalicchio vineyards and Montosoli cru fruit make up the cuvée. Welcome to the beauty in cherry liqueur and outright unction from the generous vintage out of which every extra day meant more ripeness, more extract and more texture. The acidity factor is what drives this Brunello because staggered picking equates to an agglomeration of perfect timing. The true estate expression in no unspoken terms. Drink 2022-2031. Tasted February 2020

Capanna Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Quite a wood compliment to Capanna’a 2015, much like its 2009, here six years later with more fill in the middle and less angst. Creamy, delicious and soft though not without the possibility for extension to drink well into its fifth season. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (579094, $49.95)

Caparzo is surely driven by the wood it spends quality time in getting to know and the material sent to those barrels is up to the mixing and swirling task. You understand this fruit and its dark cherry upbringing. You inuit the way vessels work through the pores while acidity flushes and raises the level of ability. Finally you get to know these sweet tannic grains and chains that work magic for the fruit. Will all come together soon, or at least sooner than many vintages. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2020

Casanova di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (85498, $84.00)

Very polished Brunello tome here from Giacomo Neri, a memo from Montalcino, a song in process. A slide guitar bending entry with a spoken monologue in hushed tones and the agglomeration of soils playing beneath the words. If a Casanova di Neri Brunello could sing, it would sway your impression through its ability to conduct business with swagger and chord change artistry. This one just has a way about it. Files a quick flash of fruit, covers it with micro-oxidative blanket tracks laid down by the grandness of barrels. Then allows for it to breathe by acids, leaves for a break and returns to leave it in slumber while tannins figure out the refrain. The final verse is yet written and that’s just fine with us. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2020

Montalcino from Castello Romitorio

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (236356, $63.95)

A vintage of hue and the dichotomous relationship that bridges power and drinkability. A matter of accumulated acidity from a northwest Montalcino vineyard that doesn’t receive a whole helluva lot of afternoon sun. Salty from growing up in brackish mud and oyster shell from an ancient sea. The wood now speaks for the wine as expected and will fall away again. Last tasted February 2020

Bottled, finished, now as is for three and a half months in. Pretty like the previous declared Annata from Sandro but truth be told the level of richness and power is raised up albeit without any compromise to construct and yes, elegance. The E word applies here, like it or not because this place demands it and you would absolutely know were this messed with, made up or polished by wood, pomp and circumstance. These are some stretched, elastic and elongated tannins. Will extend for hours, days, months and years, open forever, long before it bounces back. Drink 2020-2029. Tasted October 2019

Castello Tricerchi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Reductive and underage this sangiovese toys with the idea of youthful ambition and blind faith. A touch past ripe in the teasing vintage of available exceptionalities and the race for potential glory. Certainly a Brunello very close and at the edge of excellence were it not a bit pressed and gone for the win. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

Castiglion Del Bosco Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (956391, $63.95)

The beautiful middle ground of Brunello di Montalcino expression is graced by Castiglion del Bosco’s 2015 and also because it does the same for the vintage. High level ripe fruit, supportive acids and creamy if spiced chocolate comes across the palate in texture and piqued energy spice. Takes what gives and gives back. Drink 201-2026. Tasted February 2020

Cerbaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (652446, $66.95)

Cerbaia’s is warm, comforting and blessed Brunello of fruit ripened to the maximum for the most ease imaginable out of 2015. It’s quite creamy and regardless of a northern exposure there’s no lack of unction from this sangiovese. Drink in the early stages of its energetic youth. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (306852, $53.95)

Classic closed Col d’Orcia youth, nose of earth crusted berries and not nearly the mature notes of what the future surely holds. Though meant to be consumed much earlier than Riserva or Poggio al Vento there’s no escaping the place and the winemaking ways of the house. It is truly appreciated how youth in a Col d’Orcia sangiovese does not mean chocolate or vanilla, nor any overbearing barrel notes. It does regard spice and piqued feelings that bode well for a long future. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted February 2020

Corte Pavone Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (237263, $57.95)

Heady and high floral aromas beget a formidable Brunello of fortitude and strength. Deep as black cherry emits in sangiovese from a certainty of high elevation, warm vintage solar radiation. A different sort of ’15 from the northwest adjacent Romitorio and surely a soil so different despite being so close. Rich, strong acids and loose tannin. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($89.41)

Tommaso Cortonesi’s 2015 Brunello is a ruby-red, spice studded star in 2015, high-toned and so very expressive. What spice oh my, what tripping fantastic light across the tongue and so very taut in its youth. Intensity does not begin to explain the freshness and the youthful nature of its being. Need to revisit La Mannella in one year and the 2015 sangiovese it has gifted in five years or so. Last tasted February 2020

I’d like to say the tannins on 2015 Annata are sneaky but they are so much more than that. These are grippy, layered and nearly formidable tannins. Good thing the easy, generous and lush fruit is somehow capable of defending itself. Boom this is one of Tommaso Cortonesi’s most accomplished Annata and more capable of aging than even he would probably have guessed he was making. Power and beauty. This is that and more. Drink 2021-2031. Tasted October 2019

Cupano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Cupano’s is a beautiful Brunello from 2015, aromatically gregarious, fruit sweetened in two times ripe ways but most importantly a phenolic access that lifts the spirit. ’Tis a red citrus acidity and a clay depth that combines for ultimate levels of strength and complexity. Lovely wine here and with just a smile of Brett to keep things stylish and rustic. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($74.95)

The 2015 is a deeper study in DCC soil and Brunello invention. You need to know that the northerly Donatella Cinelli Colombini terroir is more than offset, singular and testable. The makers of these Brunelli investigate every grain of sand, mould of clay and tumble of stones to forge the various cuvées of their sangiovese stable. This Annata carries a lyrical contralto in as much as that is a thing in Montalcino. A Cher, Annie Lennox, Nina Simone voice. It is precise and profound. It will live longer than the men. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted February 2020

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (112607, $74.00)

Hello, hello Fanti, you beautifully factual and racy Brunello you. Hello to your calm, your controlled tension and your seamless transitions. Hello to how you say salve and open your arms. Hello to your mind, your body and your soul. Every bit of tradition, soil and acumen runs delicately and with purpose through your mineral veins. Hello to you beginnings, your full middle and your sweet endings. “Just one drink.” Of your loving cup. “In the sweet summer sun.” Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2020

Fattoi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (33498, $46.95)

Always pleasure, always balanced, always proper. This is the Fattoi Brunello world, fruit sweet, energy running high and wine all tolled running long. You can count on this fruit to lift you up and the bones to stay propped up. Never waning, failing or faltering sangiovese with charm and grace. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted February 2020

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (928028, $54.95)

C’mon classic Barbi here and the request is for this effectual realization to continue on forever, through the decades of vintages and their Brunelli. You come to expect the sort of juice that needs time, more time, precious time, endless time. You look for this tug of firmness, this posit strength and this creamy centre that ties the sangiovese room together. This does not and don’t ever abandon these roots Stefano, always keeps the Cinelli Colombini family’s Barbi faith alive. They are the lifeblood of this wine. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted February 2020

Fattoria Del Pino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Il Pino 2015

Now for something set in the purity of the modern Brunello world. Though labeled Annata and therefore fashioned in a Classico estate-driven way there’s just something specific and particular about where this was surely born. A vineyard, a block, a plot, a Climat, a piece of terroir, a place of origin. Has that no lo so of a very special soil, likely fine clay and Galestro because it’s so smooth, confident, non-plussed, focused and finessed. Drink 2022-2031. Tasted February 2020

Fornacella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($54.00)

Fornacella’s brings a fine perfume of candied roses and fennocchio into Brunello quite linear and finely textured. There’s some cocoa dust and dark bitter chocolate shavings melting in and they are well integrated indeed. This is crisp, clean and properly structured sangiovse set to linger over a pretty long run. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Fossacolle Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Reductive and immediately glycerin noted Brunello with so much attraction and ephemeral beauty. The closed circuit is anything but a distraction or a problem because the core of fruit purity within is nothing if not a mass of great expression. Wild cherry, definite new leather and lots of sweet herbs in puréed pesto feel. Very silky and powerful though never cloying or obstructive. Very impressive. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcinio DOCG 2015 ($63.00)

The Franco Pacenti Brunello 2015 is an impressive beast. A sangiovese of hearty warmth, strength and openly fragrant but edgy red fruit. This is a vintage Brunello that takes a little risk, knows the fruit has transferred over the line into a world fully phenolic, then exposed to ultra violet light. There’s no hole to fill, no barrel to overwhelm and all the best attributes to gain. So promising and exceptional. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted February 2020

Fuligni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($67.95)

Fuligni’s is a 2015 intoxicant, a hypnotizing Brunello with no aromatic restraint. The apposite is true about its sympathy, taste and soul-searching proposition, all of which are served in great restraint. There’s a circulative musicality with unexpected and intermittent jangles, bass notes, harmonies and rapid beats. The barrel is so much a part of its present and will melt away in just a few years time. The future looks so bright for this elegant ’15. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2020

Gianni Brunelli Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Le Chiuse Di Sotto 2015 ($90.00)

You can heart this Brunello’s beat from a thousand miles away. On its sleeve, in the air and through the fine sense of sangiovese sense of elixir humour. Serious and graceful, reasoned, seasoned and saucy spiced. Gives crazy love. Opens up, every time it smiles. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2020

Il Grappolo Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Sassocheto 2015

“Stone quiet,” signature wine for Il Grappolo, from 20-plus year-old vines in the south-facing Piano Nero vineyard, planted at 300m near Sant’Angelo in Colle. Schist soils are strewn with Galestro, Alberese and sandstone, the whole Montalcino masala, all in veritable contribution. Sassocheto, exacting sangiovese, as in Brunello that is just like looking in the territory’s mirror. Pure and harmonious with sly power both “subdolo” and “furbo,” because tannins like these wind in two directions, depending on which was the fruit winds just happen to blow. A worthy “campione” of the 2015 vintage, to set an example for how to win when your vineyards gift such exemplary fruit. One of the great values of the year. Drink 2021-2029. Tasted February and November 2020

Il Marroneto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($46.95)

Completely new set of parameters applied and noted in this 2015 Brunello with an aromatic waft that’s off the floral charts. What is that exotic perfume? ’Tis a rose petal and fresh tar, sweet herbal pesto and even sweeter fruit interned demi-glacé. Rich and far from dusty, like the cool feelings from dusk to dawn, if “nobody knows where it comes or where it goes,” this Brunello has the reds and blues to live long. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Il Poggione Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (551176, $72.95)

Il Poggione’s tells a Brunello vendemmia tale, in delivery of that vintage’s generous fruit, followed by a generosity of barrel and all the spice it can carry forward. High constituent parts, syncopated for possibility and most likely, probability. That says age will not catch up to a wine of great health because it was taken care of and will continue to take care of itself. You should pay it the same respect. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

La Gerla Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($76.95)

Le Gerla strikes as always, heady and impressive, big-boned, deep and serious vineyard exhumed Brunello. A mouthful of sangiovese like few other in Montalcino, of swagger, fully formed, developed and entrenched in vintage. Boasting of the kind of humid fruit swell that adds up to a sour cherry, leathery chew of Brunello. Full exaggeration and impression, as generous as it gets, deep and mounded in 2015. Drink 2022-2029. Tasted February 2020

La Poderina Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta del Cerro 2015 ($82.99)

Located next to Barbi and near to the Sant’Antimo Abbey La Poderina is a dichotomy in Montalcino expressiveness, at once Amaro, botanical herbal and then silky smooth, a liqueur of digestif proportions. Fruit comes from the top of the Bellini Vineyard’s hill, from 15-35 year-old vines facing southeast. If you are a fan of dry Amari-spiced and in liquid chalky grain of tannic addendum then you will relish this Brunello. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Tasting Lorenzo Magnani’s 2015 Brunello only four months later tells an exacting story and speaks to how long his sangiovese holds the capability to age. The medium sized clusters are picked second (after the largest for Rosso) and ahead of the smallest for Riserva. They are the ones that gift this tempered extraction, concentration and texture. Impeccable balance from 2015 that is the one thing showing up early. Last tasted February 2020

There is a perfume about 2015, a ripe cherry that stands apart for the vintage and even more specific to Le Chiuse. There are cherry trees planted by Tancredi Biondi-Santi here that mimic or rather the aromatics do so, especially in this wine. It’s all texture and a true sense of the land, a feeling of Galestro, rich clay in mouthfeel and Le Chiuse, the place where the dam closed the water off for irrigation. So much fruit and harmony, between acidity, alcohol and tannins. Drink 2020-2029. Tasted October 2019

La Colombina Di Casseli Anna Maria Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

An older style, not so old as to bring out the grey but rather a wisdom, an educated guess, a planned parenthood. Rich savoury excess like few Brunelli and formidable of sangiovese acidity. The penultimate one for this undeniable and tractive local delicacy, in efficacy and naturally occurring phenomenon. The old is new again. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

La Lecciaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (121905, $66.95)

The vintage question is far from a concern with respect to ripeness and a far more important consideration is more about the management of extraction, wood and acidity. La Lecciaia’s work is so properly executed because the acids secure, lift and place the fruit where it needs to be. That is on a mid-level precipice where structure can take over without much ado. All in balance here for mid-term perfection. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

La Màgia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($59.95)

Rich and wealthy fruit variegated Brunello here from La Màgia, of blues, reds and blacks all layered and interacting together. That’s so necessary here because the wood sheathing is equally magnanimous and this sangiovese ultimately plunders my soul. So much warmth, depth and deep blues though to be honest I wanted more restraint. Drink 2021-2026. Tasted February 2020

Le Gode Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Le Gode farms a plot on the hill of Montosoli and while there’s a level of that elemental push there too is some less than pure fruit, Brettanomyces and creamy chocolate. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted February 2020

With Riccardo Campinoti, Le Ragnaie

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($115.00)

The Brunello that sits on its skins for three months and so sure of itself that the maintenance on that ferment is really low. A testament to the vintage because this is the longest skin-contact period Riccardo has ever attempted. Still showing its teeth and the great fruit of the year. Still, hands off, don’t touch. Last tasted February 2020

The come and get me vintage but don’t be misled, distracted or misunderstood. The fraganza di Ragnaie is an intoxicant of the highest order from the highest elevations. This is tonality of verified airy exceptionality. There are fruit landings and destinations, from patches and orchards, without pith and with stone seeds. From only six hectares of the 15 total planted and the balanced one, with Montosoli fruit joining Petroso, Castelnuovo dell’Abate and the four vineyards at 600-plus metres around the winery. Still firm and shadowy so wait three more years. A redux of ’13 but in a wholly antithetical way and only in the ways of Le Ragnaie. Drink 2022-2033. Tasted October 2019

Lisini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Lisini brings a mass of extraction and attraction from their 2015 Brunello, restless energy and a lusty precipice hard to reconcile in its youth. A wine you have a cup of coffee with “until the next time we say goodbye.” This is Brunello of expectation, tradition and once in a while affair. Meet up once a year to catch up and do this for a decade or two. It’s that kind of sangiovese. Drink 2022-2031. Tasted February 2020

Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($69.95)

Mastrojanni is an aromatic wild one in 2015, florals and full citrus scrape. There’s no letdown anywhere on this sangiovese, fruit having come to fruition and everything pulled from it’s phenolic capabilities. It’s über ripe and conversely tannic, crunchy, chewy, earthy, floral, all of the above again and more. So much length and more to come. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted February 2020

Máté Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Máté is strong mocker in 2015, high level at every angle, turn and precipice reached, namely by sour acids and gritty, brittle tannin. Not so much love at this early stage. But I can say this. Give this sangiovese 10 years and it will simmer down. dole out abbracci and make nice. It just won’t do so with generous fruit. Drink 2023-2028. Tasted February 2020

Mocali Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (64956, $44.95)

High toned and a bit lean for 2015 this does not elicit sentiments of the top, top terroir. A bit saccharine and intense with hard acids and overtly sensory edginess. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted February 2020

Musico Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Musico is at the far end of the ripe spectrum or rather sitting in fences at the edge of each. There is fruit of a sun-worshipped, solar-charred kind and then conversely a verdant group marked by dried herbs and legumes. This disparate blending makes cause for short term gain and gone long hollowness. Drink early for best response. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Padelletti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Both rustic and reductive though filled to the inside brim with an impressive core of fruit. Quite raspberry and seasoned with spice that speaks to the edginess and headiness of the wood staying presently ahead. Will integrate in a few years and drink really well. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Pian Delle Querci Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

A pretty sangiovese is a beautiful thing that makes for a beautiful life. This would only be said if a wine causes such a thought and so here, from the start, is that sentiment solicited. Sometimes roses emanate and while that may be a sangiovese peculiarity it is not something only reserved for nebbiolo. The palate too offers pretty flavours and red citrus joy. Might seem a bit light and sour-edged to some but like an enchanted old ruin, I appreciate it all the same. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Pian Delle Vigne Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (651141, $61.95)

The 2015 Pian delle Vigne is remarkably smooth, satiny and silky sangiovese. Plain to feel and see. The quality in this Antinori is undeniable so the level of rhythm, blues and soul is not really the point. The fruit is extended out of a mind of many and not just one so it rolls through the stages of its construction with effortless, lack of tension, ease. Classic steak house or cottage deck Brunello, perfect for men of leisure off the course or out of the boat, showered and ready for their steak. Drink 2020-2027. Tasted February 2020

Piccini Villa Al Cortile Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (434696, $45.00)

In full expectation that the Montalcino house that Piccini built will find seasoned and reasoned success in 2015 is proven by this proud and even profound wine from Villa al Cortille. An alignment of essential, recognizable and desirable aromas, tastes and sensorial aspects makes this as promising a restaurant pour as any from the vintage. Consistency and professionalism incarnate. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Pietroso Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

From Andrea Pignattai, winemaker, gentle soul, humble man. A small estate on the northwest corner of the Montalcino hill where so few farm that sector. Only 35,000 bottles produced split between Rooso and Brunello. Andrea’s is authentic from the word nose, rich in dark scented fruit but cool climate herbal, almost minty. Tight, pointed acids, direct and simply the right stuff. Refreshing in so many ways. Grandi Andrea. Drink 2021-2029. Tasted February 2020

Piombaia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

High tonality straight away, up and away into the volatile and the inhalant of much repute. Also a touch roasted, like nightshades under the broiler. A bit lean up the middle. If seemingly lacking substance and grace it makes up for that with formidable structure. Rustic and austere and should drink better looking 15 years forward. Drink 2024-2032. Tasted February 2020

Podere Brizio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Briizio’s is polished and stylish Brunello, perfectly seasoned and reasoned from and for the vintage. Clarity and purity are met with a set of palpable textures; crispy, crunchy and juicy. That’s the crux of what drives this lush and luscious sangiovese. Fruit and mouthfeel, both expressive and adding life, using attributes to the max. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Podere Le Ripi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Amore E Magia 2015

As per the moniker there’s a lotta love emanating from this unctuous and luxe sangiovese to make way with the generous vintage. Rich fruit of the red express kind is never relenting and while acids follow phenolic suit the tannins are sweet and mild. One of the better Brunelli meant for easy and early consumption. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2020

Poggio La Croce Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Rustic and woody to be sure, with plenty of vanilla and a creamed caramel note, though there is some solid fruit underneath. With time it will improve though will always be on the side of hot and spicy. Drink 2022-2025. Tasted February 2020

Poggio Landi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (573980, $54.00)

From the ABFV group of estates that includes Podere Brizio in Montalcino and Dievole in Chianti Classico. Poggio Landi is taken from elevations between 300-500m on heavy clay soils. The is big and rich from 2015, of that there is no doubt though you’d hardly know it for there is too much wood at this stage. Vanilla and baking spice, sweet, confected and not yet conjoined, laying dominantly overtop the fruit. Too much ambition that may yet yield eventual results. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Poggio Di Sotto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (337774, $180.00)

No less than a finessed coax of pure higher altitude sangiovese fruit delivers the southern territorial goods in 2015. That and a staggered pick, layered atop one another for a stack of juicy, ripe acid and fine grained chain of tannic goods. The seamlessness and positively structured finesse is beyond comprehensible commend-ability. It’s outright impressive. Last tasted February 2020

The red fruit of this place and only this place is amplified or better still exemplified in appellative Brunello. There is a glycerin derived and in possession of balance, from soils, elements and climate that is unparalleled for this specific area of Montalcino just to the west and below Castelnuovo dell’Abate. The fine shift from earth to fruit and into tannin through mineral bleed and finally peppery savour all works on the palate. This ’15 is proof of how a team continues to uphold standards of these vineyards no matter the ownership or the hopes, dreams or wishes of those who support and also those who drink from the deep well of this project. Drink 2022-2033. Tasted October 2019

Poggio Lucina Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Cheese and wood. Wet wool too. Drink 2020-2022. Tasted February 2020

Renieri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

From Bacci wines connected to Tenuta Renieri and Castello di Bossi in Chianti Classico. Here in the south of Montalcino at elevation (400m) and in the protective shadow of Monte Amiata. Renieri is nothing if not wise, well-rendered and compactly designed Brunello di Montalcino 2015. The fruit is ample to gainfully substantial and the exercise one that practices restraint in the name of balance. No demons needed exorcizing because the handling is one born of acumen, not desire. Another classic restaurant Brunello to represent the appellation and the vintage. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

Ridolfi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Slightly reductive and also filled with Ribena and raspberry fruit. Fully tests the mettle and the ripeness factor of 2015 and seems acidified. Disparate and problematic. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

Roberto Cipresso Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Truly big framework here in the Cipresso ’15 Brunello, fruit of another ilk, talent running through all parts from beginning to end. Full fruit compliment, rusty, dusty, plummy, ripe and sour, all in, all the way. The balance afforded by wood and time is estimable, attributable and accountable. Such a well-reasoned and silky seasoned wine. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2020

Ruffino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Greppone Mazzi 2015

A righteous and proper sense of tradition in rustic tones makes Ruffino’s Greppone a prosperous proposition if for a specific crowd that sticks to roads well trodden. Crunchy and earth crusted fruit, high tonal attitude and a linger that repeats the plays again and again. Amazing what consistency times vintage in Brunello such as this can deliver. Solid 2015 from the house built big. Drink 2021-2027. Tasted February 2020

San Giorgio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Ugolforte 2015 (212431, $47.95)

The second estate of Poggio di Sotto delivers a solid core of sangiovese fruit swagger with more than a modicum of high acid tang in 2015. Tart, driven, ultra-phenolic and on the road to both freedom and happiness. I feel they are still figuring out the nuance and the possibility of the estate and 2015 is sending the team well on their way. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (14813, $89.00)

Consistently luxurious and while at the same time of a cure grounded in the natural world. Like salumi, slow-roasted eggplant and a warm pesto of fresh herbs; rosemary, oregano and basil. Plenty of orange pulp and tannin of a liquid chalky kind. Yes this ’15 from San Polino is consistent with what came before but the new advantage and next level formative components will take it deep. All the tenets of agriculture, vintage and cellar work are conspiring to great probability effect. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted February 2020

Sesta Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Fine parts, sways and directions travelled is the directive slowly parlayed in this sweet scenting sangiovese. The purity of fruit beauty is an unadulterated mix of real time agriculture lending a discretion of honesty to the hands that take over and make this wine. No lack of signal in the transfer makes for a palate, a mid-palate and a fleshy finish with fine chains, grains and strains of structure that carry the weight. Will live infamously as one of the better to best 2015s. Drink 2023-2033. Tasted February 2020

Sesti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($117.95)

Sesti’s is lightning red fruit meets high acid sangiovese for one of the lighter, brighter and sneaky powerful Brunelli. Creeps and climbs, moves, shakes and graces the palate with sharp fruit, raspberry in tang ways and then earthy, properly volatile and respectably edgy. Will seek and find balance between that tension and the other-worldly umami before too long. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Solaria Patrizia Cencioni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

Humbly submitted 2015 from Cencioni, well developed fruit gentle in mass, explorative in design and calm in the face of dark sensorial attraction. Acids are just a touch duro but do their parts to lift and support succulence, that plus a dollop of malic cream lending a softening and blanching hand. Perfectly lovely. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Talenti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($76.00)

Riccardo Talenti’s Brunello is always a combinative, bringing together of double entendre ideals in the name of achieving the great estate balance. Fruit for the sangiovese comes from vineyards both southwest and southeast of Montalcino, aging is done 60-40 in 500L tonneaux and grandi botti of French and Slavonian oak. The vintage that does it all, a largesse of fresh fruit, the earth liquified in sand, clay, Galestro mineral and finally, the most stretched and generous tannin imaginable. The pinnacle and epitome of professionally executed high quality Brunello that never abandons its sense of place. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Tenuta Buon Tempo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (14856, $65.00)

TBT’s 2015 Brunello hits the middle notes with sumptuous ease, bringing a depth of vintage fruit into a house occupied by sweet acids, fine wood and mild tannin. The work here is proper, finessed and leads to a very drinkable wine. Perhaps a bit overtly refined in this vintage with the hopes for next level cause and effect. Highly recommended for a three to seven year run. Drink 2020-2026. Tasted February 2020

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (922054, $46.95)

Lovely little ’15 from Nardi that grows in stature as you work the glass. Begins with classic dusty cherry and leather earthy fruit then climbs upward with high level acidity. Crescendoes at a higher point and lingers well into the next hour. I can hear this one ‘knockin’. Great Brunello blues riff and groove. Vintage in, vintage out one of the most consistent Montalcino wines. Drink 2022-2028. Tasted February 2020

Tommasi Casisano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (483800, $70.00)

A lightning red fruit Brunello out of 2015 from Tommasi’s Casisano with tight acids and a lightness that allows for a breath of fresh Brunello air. A thriller this one, not a killer and blessed with ease of amenability. Tannins build with more strength then expected though ultimately speaking the heights are scaled early and no great amount of time is needed to make headway with this wine. Terrific first five years sangiovese, for food expected and wholly unexpected ways. Drink 2021-2025. Tasted February 2020

Val Di Suga Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 (713719, $54.95)

From Andrea Lonardi, incumbent winemaker at Val di Suga (since 2012) and while 2015 simply is what it is you can feel the work put in to make a proper sangiovese that speaks for the estate first and the vintage second. A balanced and professional wine that sets tor table for what will come, next vintage and going forward. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2020

Ventolaio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

All in with all that 2015 can offer to an appellative expression that demands so much. For Brunello this is a weight-packed fruit first, tannin second wine. The drive or length in between is short even in youth, somewhat agitated and exaggerated for the vintage. This one does not trade riffs but gets straight to the point, but that point is set far off in the future. The established credo is all about strength and credibility. Be patient. Wait for it. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted February 2020

Villa Poggio Salvi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015 ($49.95)

Quite a rich and creamy Brunello, more wood in taste and texture than fruit from the hip. Some spice and tannin come about as a result of tannin that again, if at first was pressed from dark fruit now seems squeezed from the barrel. Drink 2021-2023. Tasted February 2020

Brunello di Montalcino Vigna DOCG 2015 (27 notes)

Argiano Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Del Suolo 2015

The vineyard down below is appositely named in apropos significance because the sentiment is high, lightning struck and quick as a whip. Crunchy and earthy fruit is ripe and near delirious, tripping the lights and adding fantasy to an already heady if effusive substance fantastic. So much going on in complex waves, severities and notions. Will transfer and oscillate, groove and titillate for a decade to come. Drink 2022-2031. Tasted February 2020

Azienda Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tassi Di Franci Franca Selezione Franci 2015

A true sense of sangiovese volatility marks the entry in the Selezione from Tassi. So much wood and tannin, a compounding of big elements, attributes and more wood. Will need a decade to integrate. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted February 2020

Azienda Di Franci Franca Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tassi Di Franci Franca 2015

Tassi’s Franci is antithetical to its Serlezione and it is surely a wine of higher energy and drive. More precision and focus as well, better integrated barrel and length for days. Still the chocolate and the creamy texture. Drink 2023-2031. Tasted February 2020

Fattoria Dei Barbi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Del Fiore 2015 ($79.95)

Vigna del Fiore. Salty number for the Montalcino location and yet this ease of amenability and the way the Barbi effort solicits affectation is undeniable. This secrecy of structure is a house and Vigna speciality and the sauce is spread liberally across the succulence of the fruit. No denying the effort, the acumen and the persistence of unwavering potential. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Casaccia 2015

Casaccia as in the name of the house and the registered name of the vineyard, here a monopole look at Brunello from the larger 14 hectares for eastern Montalcino’s Canalicchio. The idea here is to celebrate a place within a place but without compromising the larger cuvée expression. Takes extract, concentration and purpose to another level, not to mention polish, precision and potential. The acids are elevated and the texture more refined, converse and complimentary. A tightness makes for some early attack that needs time to get past. Quite cool, tannic and intense. Will hit its stride quite far down the road. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2015

A preview sample. Comes from fruit grown in the oldest two hectare vineyard of Vigna Vecchia Mercatale. The vines were planted in 1987 and in good vintages the potential is gifted, not a matter of grand impact but one of the land, the soil, the brown clay minerals and the elements. And so it’s a matter of longevity and potential, not brut strength. A beautiful example of Riserva, focused, precise and fine. And yet the style is poised in position along a line that includes the Brunello and the Riserva so homogeneity in these soils is more than apparent. This part of Montalcino makes this kind of wine and this house celebrates the consistency. Drink 2022-2036. Tasted February 2020

Caparzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Casa 2015 (20750, $79.95)

The ripeness of La Casa in 2015 is at the precipice if not the next step where denouement begins in descent. The aromas are quite fine and discreet while the flavours pool in a deep well of full on berry and plum, dusty and of a twinge that’s Ribena in twangy tang. It is what it is, this version of gregarious 2015, seemingly easy and generous but the pick was all you had. Great La Casa is spot on. This one misses by a hair. Drink 2020-2024. Tasted February 2020

Casanova Di Neri Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Tenuta Nuova 2015 (85241, $135.00)

Tenuta Nuova takes the sangiovese of Casanova di Neri to another level entirely with a finesse and a polish unparalleled. The wave is long and arcing, accruing flesh and fine liqueur as time passes slowly while you take your time with this fruit of natural sweetness and matching fineness of acidity. Truth be told there is a come and get me now quality about this Vigna designate 2015 and one that will seduce early, in as much as the seduced is willing to be taken. Drink 2020-2027. Tasted February 2020

Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Filo Di Sesta 2015

From two hectares and only 500 cases of wine are made from vineyards out of which a significant amount of bunches are dropped. First made in 2010, one of the earlier single-vineyard declared Brunelli. “The thread of silk” which refers to the little creek that runs through the forest. A little bit more tonneaux than big barrel and a wealth of riches inherently gathered, layered and reticulated in pocket. Acids are high, mighty and persistent and there is a chalky insistence that matches the energy stride for stride. Not so much a tight sangiovese as a variegated one. Pine, rosemary and darkening fruit, full of sprezzatura. Drink 2021-2031. Tasted February 2020

Cortonesi La Mannella Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG I Poggiarelli 2015

Skipping straight pass and over the sunless, tenebrous and obscured 2014 vintage it is this Tommaso Cortonesi 2015 I Poggiarelli that rises from the vineyard looking up the Montalcino hill to the southeastern side. Te offer is an ulterior one, an expression in contrast to what comes from northerly La Mannella. Warmer, fuller and without question more precise. Cortonesi has used the tools available to provide it a bigger architectural frame and the flesh of this vineyard dutifully abides, bedecking the incrustation of the facade and adorning the fills of the interior. Quite structured and yet fully fleshy of 2015 density and weight. Impressive stuff from Tommaso. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2020

Croce Di Mezzo Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2015

A slight note of rusticity grounds this sangiovese in salty earth while high toned acidity elevates and promotes a lifted sense of composition. Not sure if this comes or goes, weighs down or flies high. Needs to settle, play together in the sand and integrate for mature times in the sun. Will find the way. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted February 2020

Donnatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Prime Donne 2015

Prime Donne is a highly specific single expression of the most important fruit raised by Donatella, Violante and team. The dichotomy here is more perfume cross referenced in adjacency to more barrel inflected structure. More notions to consider, vineyard dirt expressed through morbido tones and wood scents in gentle baking spice. Quite weighty in tannins, surely a love song so divine, certainly a wine that will stand the test of time. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2020

Fanti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vallocchio 2015 ($89.95)

Vallocchio is just perfect for 2015. Vallocchio delivers fruit like that found in the Annata but deeper, purer and under a gastronomic integration of spice. Vallocchio gives and then gives some more. It gifts sweetness for that fruit mixed with the grain of the barrel. In the end the charm, warmth and caress of kissing tannin tells us not to demand this be the longest Vallocchio but surely expect one of the most graceful. Drink 2021-2029. Tasted February 2020

Franco Pacenti Brunello Di Montalcinio DOCG 2015 Rosildo

If the 2015 Annata from Franco Pacenti was the bomb then what does that make the Vigna Rosildo? Excuse my English but this Rosildo is the shit. The great shit. Grande. Rosildo fineness is that of regal sangiovese style. Acid, tannin, structure, all together seamless and hungry to integrate simpler parts, make them complex and whole. Here is what should and must be considered one of the wines of the vintage. Drink 2024-2038. Tasted February 2020

Il Marroneto Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Madonna Delle Grazie 2015

A taut and yet to fully express itself sangiovese is this tight stunner from il Marroneto. Madonna delle Grazie is full of a cherry depth from which you feel the liqueur and yet the reductiveness keeps the wine safe beneath a hard shell. One of the few 15s that act this way, seriously tight, yet to crack and with 20 years of life safely stored within. Serious wine here from Alessandro Mori. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted February 2020

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Fornace 2015

A site in the highest elevation that used to be a lake bed so it’s rich in round stones. Picked earlier in 2015, kept away from jammy and suspended in the high sangiovese zone in which acidity keeps the dream alive. So beautifully judged. Last tasted February 2020

From Castelnuovo dell’Abate at 400m of elevation, planted in the 1980s. A former lake bed, with clay and round sand stones. Strikes the Brunello accord between richness and balance with more fruit than 10 other houses combined. The transparency is the thing; smells like fruit, perfume and the land, like rocks and sandstone. The bleed of Pietraforte into the blood of sangiovese. There’s really no reason to find fault and in fact there is every reason to breath, exhale and smile. That is what happens when you taste a Brunello like this special single-vineyard wine from Le Ragnaie. Drink 2022-2037. Tasted October 2019

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Vecchia 2015 ($177.00)

All the Brunelli from Le Ragnaie were kept on their skins for 90 days in fermentation, longest ever for Riccardo. Not convinced anyone else is making Brunello like this. Fresh, lean and linear but not. At this stage the sapidity is raging, omnipresent, marvellous. “I think when they are young they change everyday,” says Campinotti. Well it certainly has done so since October. Last tasted February 2020

Planted in 1968 and from a warm vintage all the way to the end, into October. Riccardo Campinoti is smiling wryly, knowingly and confidently after he pours and begins to speak of it. “The longer you waited the riper it became” and the healthy grapes allowed for hanging to mid-October. Deeper and of more sponge-soaked earth in the old vines with a higher tone juxtaposed against the depth drawn by long vine roots. The aromatic complexities run, jump and ride off the proverbial charts and you may find yourself drunk and mystified just from the smells. Once you gain palate entry you are hooked and then you climb in, headfirst, unencumbered, no strings attached. A tour de force beloved of sangiovese, Montalcino and old vines. Vigna Vecchia is the epitome of a true structured wine, one which does not grow old, despite the passage of time. Drink 2023-2039. Tasted October 2019

Le Ragnaie Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Montosoli 2015

The vineyard was purchased in 2014, 50m on the right of the Baricci cellar. “In my opinion it was good right away,” tells Campinoti so a single vineyard wine was made straight away. Casanovina refers to the house on the property. Another example of a site wine, as opposed to Riserva stylistics which to be honest are not Riccardo’s style. “It doesn’t add much, in my opinion.” Last tasted February 2020

Riccardo’s first vintage from the Galestro strewn soils at 220m next to Baricci on the northerly Montosoli hill is a completely different animal altogether. The tannic structure is so opposite to the southerly wines, here taut, twined laces pulled oh so tight. Not without the Ragnaie tonality mind you and the transparency, clear, distinct and honest. Not necessarily a terroir vintage and fermentation occurred in oak vats (as oppsed to the concrete for the others) and yet it’s so bloody sangiovese. Blood of Montosoli. Drink 2022-2038. Tasted October 2019

Mastrojanni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigna Loreto 2015 ($63.95)

Quite a heady and rich Vigna from Mastrojanni, full of dark fruit, caramel and chocolatey flavours. So rich and also youthfully reductive, fruit and acidity thick as thieves. The texture is outrageous, smooth and yet this is the grippiest ’15 around. A beast that attacks the senses with fervour and intent. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted February 2020

Podere Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Piaggione 2015

Piaggione stands apart, namely because the vineyard is lower, lighter in clay and the vines are the oldest of the cru. Lay of the land is 420-450m facing south, taking in sun and developing the biggest muscle. Not just more muscular but also on a broad shouldered frame. The adonis of cru, grippy and ripped, but first from a fistful of fruit strong enough to stand up and be counted. Bigger, more brawn, higher in alcohol, older in school of a certain era, or one that just seems to keep coming around. Stash Piaggione away and forget about it for a while. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted February 2020

Podere Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Sorgente 2015

Organic, biodynamic and unfiltered, from the then first in Montalcino, at the hands of Francesco Leanza, in 1995. Now (and since 2015) in the custodial hands of Felix and Sabine Eichbauer, halfway between Montalcino and Castelnuovo dell’Abate. The last of the cru, single-vineyards planted at Salicutti and not surprisingly the one with most red fruity juiciness that keeps a lineage with the Rosso. If a portal into knowing what it makes to taste the bright side of 2015 could be described then why not make use of this ethereal Sorgente to learn of such things. Voltage, tension and vibration. Drink 2021-2028. Tasted February 2020

Podere Salicutti Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Teatro 2015

Less than a hectare, planted in 1994 (same year as Piaggione) and as the name suggests the block spreads out like an amphitheatre. The yields on the vineyard are low but through the 2016 vintage they were far less than now because the team have been fighting the voracious eating nottua caterpillar, at night, picking them off buy hand. The oak on Teatro is 10 and 20hL because these are the size that work with the low yields. I love Ieatro it should be said, as it is, indeed dutifully herbal, rich yet ethereal, dry and resinous. Less muscular than Piaggione but more in common with that cru wine. Drink 2022-2032. Tasted February 2020

Salvioni Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG La Cerbaiola 2015

Salvioni’s is a deeply welling sangiovese with fully developed and formed 2015 fruit and no less than a 20 year architectural frame on which to hang. All the land’s attributes of growth are there in aromatic waves; brush and bush of herbs, mineral salts, essential oils. So much going on, character all over the expression and the sense of pace so high and squarely intact. Drink 2023-2032. Tasted February 2020

San Polino Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Helichrysum 2015

Very rich and crafty Vigna Brunello here from San Polino, rich in phenolics and chocolate though not so spirited in acidity and energy. Quite warming and caressing, a couverture of wood blankets and secures the fruit. Drinkable soon and in the near term for sure. Drink 2022-2026. Tasted February 2020

T alenti Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Pian Di Conte 2015 ($120.00)

A Sant’Angelo in Colle viilage treasure is this Riserva made from fruit grown on estate vines at 400m just northwest of the administrative frazione. There is so much wine, substance and intensity at play in this near massive 2015. It is one with a soft core in its heart and so you can imagine the elasticity, nimble agility and the incredible length that will be the matter when the time comes to right. That fruition is at least five if not to be 10 years away. So much fruit from which tonneaux, grandi botti and variegated soils support the idea. Drink 2025-2035. Tasted February 2020

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Vigneto Manachiara 2015

Serious wine here from Nardi, rich and nectareous, exotic and welling with big fruit flavours. The secondary and tertiary attributes can do nothing but lift and lengthen this wine towards epochs of imitable time. Look to open six bottles every three years for up to 20 in total. Drink 2022-2033. Tasted February 2020

Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Poggio Doria 2015

Poggio Doria is the wild child of Silvio Nardi, a high acid, bigger tannic structure sangiovese of pulse, energy and drive. Fruit substance is high, tones are equally elevated and time will do great things to this wine. Full throttle, edgy, briny, intense, grippy and full of so much Montalcino love. Drink 2024-2034. Tasted February 2020

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG (other vintages, 14 notes)

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2014

The herbal-amaro-cool savour of the vintage really shows at the present time. That said the silkiness of the tannins and the later note of salty sapidity shows just hop\w long this is likely to age. Drinking really well. Last tasted February 2020

Just eight thousand bottles made in this vintage with no Riserva in production. A completely different look at 2014 with this bottle, at the top of integrity, with Le Chiuse savour, throwback complexity and great brightness, surely blessed and pushed upwards for the future. Showing the way it was meant to. A reflection of the vintage and proof of time afforded the vineyard. Last tasted October 2019

Le Chiuse delivers one of the realer deals in 2014 Brunello, with admirably pleasing and concentrated fruit set against a traditional backdrop of ripe acidity, minor Brettanomyces and full-bodied tannins. As it’s not an overly perfumed sangiovese it bucks the vintage trend if only because it avoids botrytis-affected atypical aromas. It’s quite a rich 2014, certainly a bit volatile and capable of going longer than most. Finishes by leaving you a linger of its chewy mouthful. Drink 2022-2030. Tasted February 2019

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG “Canalicchio Di Sopra” 2013

This ’13 from Francesco Ripaccioli and Canalicchio di Sopra is sangiovese out of the excellent, variable, at times confounding and now at the seven year mark, nothing if not profound vintage. Perhaps even marks the turning point for a winemaker looking for his and his family’s sense of place, for a unique eastern to northeastern Montalcino sapidity in his wines. “We are learning from our mistakes,” he admits, “such as those we made in 2007. We are now much more going in the direction of purity in fruit and clean clarity out of the cellar.” Brunello is all about freshness, verticality and depth. The 2013 comes from what Francesco would still qualify as “not so easy a vintage, a vintage of interpretation.” Cold for a Montalcino season so he, his siblings and team passed through the vineyards on several occasions for preparation, timing and selection. “We like to clean the vineyard, to prepare for the harvest,” he adds. Picking happened in October “of amazingly floral fruit, finishing on the 11th, just as the rain arrived. Better to be lucky than good.” ‘Tis Brunello first of flowers in bloom, a candied scent and fresh herbs. Fulsome and openly fragrant, a silky texture, some chocolate and ultimately, beauty. Drink 2020-2030. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013

Showing beautifully, in a calm stage even, a respite from power and now, simply attractive. All the Canalicchio elements from clay soil show up; mild sweetness, furthered salinity and a deep sort of sapidity. Nothing fully pronounced but all there. Great Riserva vintage. Last tasted February 2020

Riserva is a selection in the cellar though certain blocks from certain vintages are premeditated and in fact 2013 Riserva is solely selected from the Montosoli hill. The perfume stands apart, rising, haughty and full of fresh roses. The expression of rocks drawn into vines from the new age, climate-affected northern exposure are for perhaps the first time in the Cru’s history a brand new Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello. Salinity, sapidity, power and elegance. Truly. Drink 2022-2035. Tasted October 2019

Castello Banfi Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio All’Oro 2013 (443267, $190.00)

Already having entered a secondary stage this from Banfi drives the point that a Brunello Di Montalcino’s aging is done for you, first in barrel and then in bottle, so that when you purchase and pop it is ready to go. Earthy secondary notes of wet forest, funghi and then balsamico are heady and deep. The acids remain strong and persistent for necessary energy and life. A well seasoned and thoughtfully crafted Riserva is the final result. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

La Gerla Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2013

Somehow, some way this is how Riserva in Montalcino is imagined. The deepest inhalant of savour and the years of barrel aging for an aromatic amalgamation of epochs primary, secondary and tertiary. This ’13 already accesses the move to the next and the next. It is the epitome of what Riserva has come to mean and carries the torch as it has been passed forth. Drink 2020-2025. Tasted February 2020

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2013

The ’13 will be released on January 1st, 2023 and as the name Diecianni suggests it is a Riserva that 10 years minimum are needed before readiness begins to take shape. The selection is from the smallest grape clusters in estate vineyards and mainly the oldest vines, originally planted in 1987. The vintage of the great polyphonic-phenolic, elastic and stretched ripeness, by photosynthesis without heat, of muscles with energy and ones that will develop, remain and use their power to keep the fruit alive. That said it’s a wine of wood and the highest level of salinity, sapidity and a tang that is exhibited by no other Brunello di Montalcino. A concentration that is simply outstanding and in some minds, will even be eclipsed (or not) by 2016. The finesse and architecture of this wine are as good as it gets. Drink 2026-2042. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2012

“Reduction is a way to preserve the freshness and the florals of the wine,” tells winemaker Francesco Ripaccioli. Sangiovese is better set up and suited this way and while some Balsamico is now speaking through this ’12 Riserva’s voice, much of the aromatics are still situated in the realm of a high-toned grace. Last tasted February 2020

A year previous to the ’13 Riserva (which will be made exclusively from Montosoli hill fruit) there is the depth of clay and controlled power out of Canalicchio cru vines. The absolute attention paid to patience and time is noted from a Brunello such as this, spoken out within the constructs of fruit extraction and wood usage. The tannins are red meaning they are ripe and request that you give this wine as much time as it gave before going to bottle and then to market. Lush, consistent from start to finish and just hinting at notes not quite Balsamico but something other, something derived from sangiovese grown in the grey clay of La Casaccia. Drink 2021-2032. Tasted October 2019

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2012

The ’12 will be released on January 1st, 2022, as per the moniker, a Riserva taken from the smallest grape clusters in estate vineyards and mainly the oldest vines, originally planted in 1987. But they were sold to Franco Biondi Santi (and the land was owned by Grandmother Ferella until she died in 1987) until Lorenzo’s parents (Simonetta and Niccolo) began making wines in 1992. Those vines were personally selected by Franco to graft from and plant at Le Chiuse. The name Le Chiuse is quite apropos for this 2012, a relatively big vintage and the wine is quite tight in spite of having already spent eight years in waiting. Yes the nose emanates an intoxicating liqueur and one of deep floral tones but it’s still a bit closed. Some 12s are very aggressive and this is one with the finest and the most balance. Almost too beautiful already so long but not forever. Drink 2023-2034. Tasted February 2020

Le Chiuse Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Diecianni 2010

The finest and silkiest of tannins and a natural complexity that has simply developed on its own. Four years ago this would not have been the case. Begin the drinking journey anytime if you can give it six to eight hours of air, or wait another year or two. The maker would want you to do it right. He held it back for the timing to be just right. Last tasted February 2020

“A muscle vintage, of huge character,” tells Lorenzo Magnelli. The name of the wine is Diecianni to tell us that Lorenzo’s Riserva is not released until the 10th year. Brings about all the complexities that come from such an extended elévage. Tobacco, savour, forest floor, frutta di bosco and frutto secco but don’t be succumbing to depths and sottosuolo because the freshness persists. A wine so wise beyond its years, like its maker. Sure you can release a Riserva one year after Annata but when it has been protected and taken care of for you then it presents as it was intended to. We are thankful for the triage and the investment on our behalf. The fruit persists with great natural sweetness out of 2010. Drink 2019-2035. Tasted October 2019

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2010

Col d’Orcia tasting on the ’00s

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2000

So hard to know how Col d’Orcia’s Brunelli are able to glide so stealthily through time without haste and with so much slow moving grace. But here is yet another bit of restrained sangiovese power, wild of fruit heart and subtle in animal behaviour. The high acidity vintage spreads the energetic love with great and intentional fervour, showing as credibly and forcefully as could possibly have hoped or expected. Cold, cloud cover vintage does the yeoman work for sangiovese lifeblood to send it 20 years forward for all to believe. 2000, baby. Drink 2020-2027. Tasted February 2020

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

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 1990

Surely an exercise in comparative liturgies to taste two Col d’Orcia 1990s side by each, first the single expression of Poggio al Vento followed by Riserva. Why the first is poured to follow the second is confounding and then the acidity strikes, the power is freed and the understanding is gained. Riserva 1990, much like the 2000 poured 15 minutes earlier is a formidable thing and hopeful in an attempt at admirable restraint. Though it may have been born in the same vintage as the ’90 Poggio al Vento the sibling rivalry is in. Here the acids are aggressive, striking, searing and almost violating. Even more so than the 2000’s. Though the morbido finesse of the PaV wins one battle, the force and further estimable longevity of this Riserva wins the other. If you could pick only one, which would it be? Drink 2020-2029. Tasted February 2020

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 1980

Oh my word 1980 carries plenty of residual acidity in an antithetically mild, wholly and utterly unexpected way. Energy, potency, drive and this unrelenting need to express itself. Tight, taut, slinging arrows of tension that make the fruit or what’s left of it almost inconsequential. In actuality there is fruit, namely red currant, sour cherry and pomegranate. Improves with these flavours away from the clay-earthy aromatics and lingers good and plenty. Stays with you, as it has done for 40 years. Drink 2020-2023. Tasted February 2020

With Conte Francesco Marone Cinzano of Col d’Orcia

Barrel Samples

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2016

Barrel Sample. A deeper well filled with that cherry liqueur and clearly more extract and concentration. The tannins are still fierce, intensely chalky and fine bitters are very much a part of the mix. A furthered texture Brunello with no less strength than most 16s will surely exhibit but the power is tempered by this feel and polish. Quite a potential here for 20 plus years of longevity. Drink 2024-2035. Tasted February 2020

Canalicchio Di Sopra Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG Casaccia 2016

Barrel Sample. Now this is something exceptional. This is what Casaccia is obviously capable of producing, The sweetest Canalicchio fruit of all, to date and with a rising low and slow angling of acidity (as opposed to straight verticality) that carries the fruit to great heights. This will be a triumph and in fact it is already tasting like a piece de Canalicchio resistance while it sings a long maestro song. A soloist that needs no accompaniment although food, company and peace would not hurt at all. Obviously this is more than just the northern side of Montalcino and more than Canalicchio. This is Casaccia. Drink 2025-2040. Tasted February 2020

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