2016 Brunello di Montalcino, Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona, Tuscany, Italy

2016 Brunello di Montalcino, Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona, Tuscany, Italy

Product: 20168214948
Prices start from £245.00 per case Buying options
2016 Brunello di Montalcino, Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona, Tuscany, Italy

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
Case format
Availability
Price per case
6 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £245.00
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £250.00
New To BBX
New To BBX
BBX marketplace BBX 2 cases £299.00
See more listings+
See more listings
You can place a bid for this wine on BBX

Description

Lovely aromas of bright red cherry fruit, tempered with spice, pure and concentrated. Fabulous weight on the palate, rich and ripe, great balance of red fruit, fresh acidity and very fine tannins. Persistent and fine on the finish. Delightful to drink now, this also has the structure to age for a decade or more. Drink 2022-2031+.
Chris Pollington, Private Account Manager (February 2021)

Mid ruby with an orange hue towards the rim. The bouquet is buoyant and bright with ripe red berries, black cherry, spice, cloves and earthy wood – these are the kind of notes you want from a Brunello! There is a long, clean finish and despite the heat there is great purity and acidity, mostly managed by the large Slavonian oak barrels. Drink 2023-2035
Joshua Friend, Private Account Manager (February 2021)

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

Critics reviews

Wine Advocate95+/100
The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino (with 56,000 bottles made) shows bold cherry, spice, crushed stone and balsam herb that come together in seamless fashion. This estate has honed a unique style that becomes a common theme traced to each new vintage. I'd describe it as delicate but also succulent with a rich and almost pulpy quality of fruit. The wine is fueled by the golden light that hits this part of Tuscany in those last hours of the day. Here is a wine that shows spirit of place. Drink 2024-2040
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate Read more
James Suckling95/100
Lots of red and blue fruit to this, evolving into wet leaves, freshly turned soil and brewed tea. Light herbal notes. Sweet cherries, too. It's full bodied with silky, firm tannins. More minerality and tea notes on the finish. Elegant and driven. Drink after 2023.
James Suckling, jamessuckling.com Read more

About this WINE

Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona

Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona

Located in the south east of the Montalcino region close to the beautiful medieval village of Castelnuovo dell’Abate, the estate of Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona can trace its roots back to the 17th century. The Ciacci family owned the estate for over a hundred years until the death of Countess Elda Ciacci in 1985.

As the Countess had no children, she left the property to her long standing and well-respected estate manager Giuseppe Bianchini. His hard work and dedication have been continued by his son and daughter, Paolo and Lucia, who have developed the property and wines to their current respected position.

They have a total holding of 220 hectares of the rolling Tuscan hills bordered by the Orcia River which helps moderate the temperature of this hot and dry part of the region. 53 hectares are devoted to the wonderful Sangiovese Grosso grape which produce the Brunello di Montalcino together with small amounts of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Find out more
Brunello di Montalcino

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.

While Brunello di Montalcino's climate is mildly Mediterranean, thanks to the sea being a mere 20 miles away, the elevation of the vineyards provides an important diurnal temperature variation (ie hot days and cool nights). This benefits the grapes by maintaining acidity levels and extending their ripening time. The howling tramontana wind can also play an important role in drying and concentrating the fruit.

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

Find out more
Sangiovese

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.

Find out more