2019 Brunello di Montalcino, Poggio di Sotto, Tuscany, Italy
Critics reviews
Dusty roses, worn leather, dried strawberries and arid earth form a classic bouquet as the dynamic 2019 Brunello di Montalcino blossoms in the glass. This is feminine yet deep and textural, with ripe plums and black cherries motivated by brisk acidity. Violet inner florals and licorice hints form toward the close. The 2019 leaves a salty mineral staining to mingle with fine-grained tannins and spice, as it finishes with incredible length, yet still so fresh. This is incredibly youthful and inward today, but the potential is off the charts. I expect the 2019 to put on some weight and blossom over the next five to ten years. Glorious.
Drink 2027 - 2042
ERic Guido, Vinous (November 2023)
Mid ruby. Very subdued nose that only shows hints of minerals. Elegant palate that is still firmly closed yet suave and finely balanced with gritty, yet fine, tannins. Very long, focused and exciting.
Drink 2026 - 2038
Walter Speller, JancisRobinson.com (October 2023)
Although this wine was very shy initially, the Poggio di Sotto 2019 Brunello di Montalcino eventually hits all the high notes of Sangiovese. This is a wine of enormous inner tension, showing a punchy, lifted personality with aromas of cherry skin and blackberry. You get brandied cherry, strawberry glazed pie with the gelatin, underbrush, blue flower, forget-me-nots, balsam herb, mint and licorice. A few hours later, the wine had developed into a classic beauty with slender lines, firm structure and a sparkle of brilliant acidity. The oak is integrated to the point of invisibility, the tannins are elegant and fine and the acidity is that proverbial cherry on top. Ultimately, I liked this village bottling more than the 2018 Riserva.
This is a set of impeccable wines. It must be said, however, that they started off very closed, and it took me a long while, with multiple tastings, to coax out the adjectives and descriptors you read here. I encountered the same thing with the wines of San Giorgio, which is under the same ownership. With this in mind, I definitely recommend more bottle age for Poggio di Sotto's new releases. It would be a shame to open these wines without giving them five more years at a minimum.
Drink 2030 - 2055
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (December 2023)
Sweet cherry and flower aromas with some orange peel and lilac character. Medium-bodied with pretty depth and focus. Ripe, fine tannins and an attractive finish. Subtle richness and class. From organically grown grapes. Give this three or four years to come around. Best after 2025.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (September 2023)
Poggio di Sotto is the top wine from Castelnuovo dell'Abate, facing Abbazia di Sant'Antimo on one side and the end of Orcia valley on the other. Selected yeast for the fermentation were introduced recently (from the 2018 vintage) otherwise the winemaking is very classic, with long maceration and long Slavonian-oak ageing: ‘We assume the French oak is too intrusive, giving too much tannin to Brunello,’ said managing director, Leonardo Berti. This 2019 shines for its vibrancy of fruit ranging from peach skin to strawberry, with balsamic depth and a minty whiff. Dense and velvety with refreshing acidity and a chalky finish, this is youthful, chewy and long.
Drink 2024 - 2034
Aldo Fiordelli, Decanter (September 2023)
I was able to taste the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino three times for this report, and it’s one of the great wines of the vintage. It takes on a bit more muscular style for the Poggio di Sotto estate, but it retains the DNA of the estate at large with its outstanding clarity. It’s medium ruby-colored and reveals notes of pure cherry, anise, wildflowers, wet stone, and tea leaf. Structured and long on the palate, it has ripe, chiseled tannins, a balanced spine of acidity, and notes of salted orange through the finish, with a long-lasting perfume. Its transparency, balanced with its complexity, makes this one of the most intriguing wines, and if stored properly, it will only improve with time in the cellar.
Drink 2027 - 2047
Audrey Frick, JebDunnuck.com (February 2024)
About this WINE
Poggio di Sotto
Poggio di Sotto was founded in 1989 by Piero Palmucci, rapidly becoming known for benchmark, classical Brunello. Since 2011, it has been managed by the ColleMassari group and chief enologo, Luca Marrone. The wines are radical in style, challenging in youth but built to cellar. The estate is on the south-east extremities of the region. The vineyards perch above the Orcia river, in the shadow of Mount Amiata. The extinct volcano is often snowcapped, even in summer. Its cold winds soften the summer heat, bringing finesse to these wines.
The estate is split into three vineyards. The soils vary: the vines soak up mineral details from the rocky marl; marine-fossil-filled galestro; and the prized vineyards towards the top of the hill, which hold iron-rich clay.
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
A selection of the estate’s oldest vines, natural fermentation was carried out in traditional large Slovenian oak with one month infusion on skins. 36 months in botti, and 5 months in cement which soothes the tannic charge pre bottling Incredible clarity and purity on nose, wild mint, rose and a smoky kirsch essence. The palate is compact and energetic, with the translucent crushed raspberry and peach skin fruit core, saline rocky details, mentholated lift and earthy rich Tuscan tang. Tannins are sweetly composed, almost crocante ‘crunchy’ but solid and built top last. Long, savoury and fiercely mineral on finish.
Drink 2026 - 2045
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