2017 Brunello di Montalcino, La Magia, Tuscany, Italy

2017 Brunello di Montalcino, La Magia, Tuscany, Italy

Product: 20171165982
Prices start from £228.00 per case Buying options
2017 Brunello di Montalcino, La Magia, 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 £228.00
You can place a bid for this wine on BBX

Description

Low-yielding old vines yielded stunning quality at harvest, allowing for extended maceration–giving depth, texture and complexity. Maturation for 36 months helped reduce oak sweetness and maintain freshness. The heady and perfumed nose offers blood orange, cigar box, black cherry and rose tea. The palate is opulent, seductive and fresh, with stony grip and a long, mineral finish.

Drink 2023 - 2032

Davy Żyw, Senior Wine Buyer, Berry Bros & Rudd (Feb 2022)

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

Critics reviews

Eric Guido, Vinous92/100
Sweet roses, lavender, blood orange, raspberry preserves and hints of camphor waft up from the 2017 Brunello di Montalcino. This is soft and fleshy upon entry, but it quickly gains a tactile grip, as a mix of tart wild berries, minerals and exotic spices penetrates deeply. That said, there’s plenty of vibrant acidity to balance as it enlivens the experience through the finale, where hints of black tea come together with candied citrus and cherry pits to form a long, lightly structured yet ultimately mouthwatering finale. Nicely done. In 2017, yields were down by a whopping 40% to maintain integrity. The winery also chose to add 600-liter tonneaux into the mix of their typical 500-liter barrels to help maintain freshness. The end result is a highly successful 2017 Brunello.

Eric Guido, vinous.com (December 2021) Read more
James Suckling96/100
Beautiful red with floral and black-cherry aromas. So floral and perfumed for this hot and dry vintage. Full-bodied with ultra-fine tannins that are energetic and long. Structured and manicured. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but better after 2024.

James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (November 2021) Read more
Decanter91/100
Fabian Schwarz ages his Brunello in 500-Litre French oak tonneaux. In 2017, he introduced some slightly larger 600-Litre barrels with thicker staves to reduce micro-oxygenation and preserve freshness. Such a pretty, pretty nose - the aromas are vibrant, expressing ripe cherry and cherry blossom. Wood notes still need to integrate on the palate but there is undeniable fruit purity. The tannins are quite brawny and chewy, especially on the spice-tinged finish. Give this a few more months in the bottle. Drinking Window 2022 – 2028.

Michaela Morris, Decanter (November 2021) Read more

About this WINE

La Màgia

La Màgia

The Schwarz family have owned La Màgia since the mid-1970s. Originally from Alto Adige, they were among the first Brunello producers to estate-bottle their wines. This organic estate is farmed by second-generation Fabian; born in Montalcino, he succeeded his father in 2005. He has since redefined the estate’s direction, continuing to realise the potential of this hallowed site.

The farm sits high above the Abbey of Sant’Animo – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – and faces south-east towards Mount Amiata. The exposure to the cold mountain winds, morning sun exposition and altitude of 400-450 metres provide a cooler microclimate, adding to the freshness, tension and energy in the wines – even in a warm vintage like ’17.

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