2015 Brunello di Montalcino, Vigneti del Versante, Pian dell'Orino,Tuscany, Italy
Critics reviews
The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Vigneti del Versante opens with a captivating bouquet, delicate yet pleasantly sweet, showing ripe cherries and wild berries complemented by a dusting of cinnamon. This is soft and fleshy, with a hint of balsamic spice giving way to red currants and hints of violet candies. Round tannins linger, mingling with residual acids and inner florals to create a truly harmonious finale. It’s not as long-lived as the bigger vintage 2016 will be, but this is an absolutely glorious expression of Vigneti del Versante. Tasted twice with consistent results.
Drink 2025 - 2035
Eric Guido, Vinous.com (December 2021)
Luminous deep red. Aromas of herbs (thyme, rosemary, bay leaf), sweet spices (cinnamon, nutmeg) and ripe red cherry. Very saline, juicy acidity lifts and extends the blue and red berry flavors on the long delicately herbal and spicy finish. Very ready to drink, but will age well. This will go on sale at the end of this year.
Drink 2022 - 2033
Ian D'Agata, Vinous.com (April 2020)
The 2015 Vigneti del Versante Brunello is luxurious and polished on the nose with ripe plum, lavender floral, vanilla bean, and cedar. The palate is seamless, with velvety tannins that wrap around a fresh core of black cherry fruit, baking spice, and mineral-rich earth. Though there is a present oak influence, it is well-integrated without masking the purity of the fruit, while also lifting off the palate with ease in a super-long finish. This is accessible now but will be well worth the wait to cellar 3-5 years.
Drink 2025 - 2042
Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com (March 2021)
About this WINE
Pian dell'Orino
Brunello di Montalcino
Along with Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino is Tuscany's most famous DOCG and the region's boldest expression of Sangiovese. Located 30 miles south of Siena with the hilltop town of Montalcino as its epicentre, its 2,000 hectares of vines are naturally delimited by the Orcia, Asso and Ombrone valleys. Brunello is the local name for the Sangiovese Grosso clone from which Brunello di Montalcino should be made in purezza (ie 100 percent).
The Brunello di Montalcino DOCG has a whale-like shape: at its head, at 661 metres above sea level on ancient, stony galestro soils facing east and southeast lies the town of Montalcino, where the DOC was founded. As you follow the spine south towards the tail, the vineyards lose altitude – those around Colle Sant'Angelo are at 250 metres – while the soils become richer with iron and clay. Further east, in the shadow of the 1,734 metre Mont'Amiata lies the village of Castelnuovo dell'Abate where the vineyards are strewn with a rich mix of galestro, granitic, volcanic, clay and schist soil types.
Historically, the zone is one of Tuscany's youngest. First praised in 1550 by Leandro Alberti for the quality of its wines, it was Tenuta Il Greppo who bottled the inaugural Brunello di Montalcino in 1888. By 1929, the region had 925 hectares of vines and 1,243 hectares of mixed crops, while in 1932 it was decreed that only those wines made and bottled within the commune could be labelled as Brunello di Montalcino. Since then, the number of producers has risen from 11 in 1960 to 230 in 2006, while over the same period the vineyards have expanded from 1,000 hectares to 12,000. The region earned its DOC in 1966, and was upgraded to DOCG in 1980.
Brunello di Montalcino cannot be released for sale until five years after the harvest, or six years in the case of Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. During this time the wines should be aged for at least two years in oak, followed by at least four months in bottle (six months for Riservas); maximum yields are 55 hl/ha.
Rosso di Montalcino is declassified Brunello di Montalcino, released for sale 18 months after the harvest.
Recommended producers: Costanti, Fuligni, Lisini, San Giuseppe, Soldera, Cerbaiona
Sangiovese
A black grape widely grown in Central Italy and the main component of Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano as well as being the sole permitted grape for the famed Brunello di Montalcino.
It is a high yielding, late ripening grape that performs best on well-drained calcareous soils on south-facing hillsides. For years it was blighted by poor clonal selection and massive overcropping - however since the 1980s the quality of Sangiovese-based wines has rocketed upwards and they are now some of the most sought after in the world.
It produces wines with pronounced tannins and acidity, though not always with great depth of colour, and its character can vary from farmyard/leather nuances through to essence of red cherries and plums. In the 1960s the advent of Super Tuscans saw bottlings of 100% Sangiovese wines, as well as the introduction of Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blends, the most famous being Tignanello.
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Description
The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Vigneti del Versante opens with a captivating bouquet, delicate yet pleasantly sweet, showing ripe cherries and wild berries complemented by a dusting of cinnamon. This is soft and fleshy, with a hint of balsamic spice giving way to red currants and hints of violet candies. Round tannins linger, mingling with residual acids and inner florals to create a truly harmonious finale. It’s not as long-lived as the bigger vintage 2016 will be, but this is an absolutely glorious expression of Vigneti del Versante. Tasted twice with consistent results.
Drink 2025 - 2035
Eric Guido, Vinous.com (December 2021)
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