2019 Brunello di Montalcino, Lisini, Tuscany, Italy
Critics reviews
Medicinal blackberries, sweet sage, stone dust and candied oranges define the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino. This is juicy and vibrant with violet and lavender-tinged wild berry fruits and chalky mineral tones that form a saturation of minerality toward the close. A web of fine-grained tannins resonates as the 2019 finishes long and staining yet feels only lightly structured. Salted licorice suggestions linger on. This is a classy southern Montalcino Brunello from Lisini.
Drink 2025 - 2033
Eric Guido, Vinous (November 2023)
The Lisini 2019 Brunello di Montalcino has a dark and spicy bouquet with prune, cardamom, asphalt and wet stone. The wine is quite developed, and for that reason, I wouldn't suggest a very long drinking window. There is cola and dried rosemary sprig at the back. This is a dark Brunello with concentrated fruit to drink in the medium term. Production is 40,000 bottles.
Drink 2024 - 2037
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (December 2023)
Deep ruby with orange tinges. Very deep and still slumbering, with minerally and exotic dark-spice notes. With aeration more and more complex. Supple, suave cherry fruit tightly packed with fine, chewy tannins. Very long and focused, and with great potential.
Drink 2026 - 2038
Walter Speller, JancisRobinson.com (October 2023)
A sleek and structured red with black cherry, cedar and spice aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with fine tannins and a chewy finish. Integrated and flexing.
Drink after 2027
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (September 2023)
Below the town of Sant'Angelo in Colle, Lisini sprawls over 120 hectares, 24 of which are planted to vines. The 2019 embodies this warm, munificent, exotically scented southern stretch of Montalcino. Ripe arbutus berry and red rose meld marvellously with chestnut, iron and sunbaked earth. Sumptuously textured, it is generous in body and flavour, exuding fleshy persimmon and ripe strawberry. The palate drips with luscious acidity and a mineral drive lifts the core. Sandy tannins are relatively supple without sacrificing their commanding hold, and it finishes with crushed allspice.
Drink 2026 - 2038
Michaela Morris, Decanter (November 2023)
The Lisini 2019 Brunello is compelling, starting with its captivating aromas of fragrant blue flower, hay, perfumed berry, dark exotic spice, new leather and aromatic herb. It’s also delicious, delivering a great depth of flavors including juicy Morello cherry, raspberry croissant, licorice and crushed mint before a blood orange close. A backbone of velvety tannins provides seamless support while fresh acidity keeps it vibrant and balanced. What a gorgeous wine and the best Brunello I’ve had so far from this historic estate.
Drink 2028 - 2039
Kerin O'Keefe, KerinOKeefe.com (November 2023)
About this WINE
Lisini, Tuscany
The history of Lisini dates to the time of the Medicis. This is one of Montalcino’s oldest estates, and a founding member of the Corsorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino. Lisini is one of the few producers in Sant’Angelo in Colle, in the south-west of Montalcino.
The proximity here to Maremma gives maritime breezes warding against summer heat, which is especially important in as hot and dry a year as 2017. Thick woodland, olive groves and wild scrubs surround the 25 hectares under vine – a rural haven of the region’s finest terroir. An ancient river system sculpted the area, and with it the complex soils in Lisini’s vineyards. Fossil laced sand, clay and iron-rich soils, paired with altitudes of 300-400 metres, all play a leading role in the unique personality of Lisini’s wines.
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.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
This sees a long fermentation and maceration in cement before 42 months in large, old Slavonian oak botti. There will be no Ugolaia in 2019, so all of the prized fruit destined for Lisini’s top cru finds itself in the Brunello. This decision will be music to the ears of Lisini fans, and makes this an unquestionably essential cellar addition. Flavours centred around dark berry fruit and black cherry, with fresh thyme. Liquorice notes add a beautiful lift, alongside deeper tones of cacao and spice. Alongside this, there are fine-grained, melded tannins and a bold structure. There is a unique intensity to the 2019. Carlo says that, if kept correctly, this will live forever. Longevity can be found aplenty; its real glory days will come to pass in 10 or so years.
Drink 2026 - 2045
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