Brunello di Montalcino

Dark and deep in appearance, the 2012 Brunello di Montalcino bears many of the hallmark characteristics of the vintage. Sangiovese produced smaller berries and thicker color extraction in this vintage. This Brunello does indeed show more muscle and brawn, but it does so with an impeccable sense of balance and persistence. I cannot but admire this achievement. The quality of fruit is succulent and rich, and there are many pretty aromas of dark cherry, pressed blackberry, underbrush, cola and licorice to earn your admiration. Its textural fortitude is equally admirable.
Drinking window: 2017-2028

Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate, 28th February 2017

Bright and ripe classic Sangiovese notes on the nose of red and black fruit vying for attention, with a certain meaty nuance in the background. Lots of fine red fruit on the palate, tempered by crisp acidity and fine, ripe tannins, all in balance with a pleasing mouth-feel and satisfyingly complete finish. This is hard to resist now, but will become even more harmonious if cellared for another four to six years.
Chris Pollington, Private Account Manager

Deep ruby with a narrow orange rim. Cool fruit and herbs on the nose. Remarkable sweet and ripe fruit on the attack with firm, bitter tannins. A successful balancing act, showing great concentration while keeping perfect focus and poise.
Drinking window: 2020-2036
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com, 21 March 2016

A successful vintage for the best producers in Montalcino, now fully mature, this will be great if partnered with a Bistecca Fiorentina.

Tucked away off the Torronieri road the small Cerbaiona estate had been home to Diego & Nora Molinari since 1977, who produced their first vintage in 1980, all 70 bottles of it! Due to advancing old age and ill health, Diego and Nora have reluctantly had to sell the estate recently. This led to an opportunity to purchase some of their back vintage holdings of their rare and highly sought-after Brunello di Montalcino, which we leapt at.
The estate comprises 3 hectares of vines and 12 ha of wood and olive grove; half planted to Brunello, the rest to Sant'Antimo and IGT Toscana (using Cabernet Sauvignon, Malvasia Nera, Merlot & Syrah). Production is limited to 8,000 bottles.

Lying on the north-eastern shoulder of the Montalcino commune the estate enjoys a fine eastern exposition at 390 metres elevation, with good aeration & galestro/alberese clay soils. This imbues the wines with a naturally good acidity. Diego did not use herbicides, pesticides or fungicides on his vines. This hands-off approach is reflected in their tiny winery, which is bolted onto the back of the 16th century property. A wooden press is preferred, followed by gentle vinification in cement & ageing in 20hl Slavonian botte. The Brunello spends 30 months in oak, followed by a year in bottle pre-release.

This Brunello di Montalcino was bottled in September 2014, having spent 3.5 years in large slavonian oak botti (the flagship Ugolaia sees chestnut). Filippo recalls the late harvest of 10th October, giving a richer alcohol that balance out the crunchy structure.

The nose is composed, tranquil, harmonious, perfectly poised, with brambly/strawberry/iron fruit, both fruity but also restrained. Fermentation in cement for 25 days, the result is a racy, cassis/redcurrant crunch, with transparent, vivid, delicious cassis freshness, energy, plenty of ‘ping’; a classic Lisini Brunello, with fruit and refined tannins. Tasted in Jan 2015
David Berry Green

This wine spends four years ageing in oak (three and a half years in Slavonian oak and half a year in chestnut). The vines are planted on volcanic soil, with a southern exposition, which gives a more exuberant style of Brunello, with a weightier body. The tannins are very firm, but there is a ripeness to them which is apparent on the finish.
Drink 2017-2027.

Delightful red and black Sangiovese fruit, good ripeness and depth on the nose. More of the same with the addition of crisp acidity and ripe tannins on the palate, it’s all about the Sangiovese grosso fruit here, with notes of cherry, grilled meats and red currants. Good length and a harmonious finish, another great Brunello from Costanti, this will be at its best from its tenth birthday, but could be drunk from 2017.
Chris Pollington, Private Account Manager

As soon as you pour the wine its remarkable nose immediately fills the air. Sweet cherry and raspberry dominate the lifted, beautifully fragrant nose. These are joined by crushed mint, sweet rose petals and just a very hint of graphite. The palate is wonderfully focussed, reassuringly tight, given the future this has ahead of it. The raspberry fruit is there again on the palate as are the rose notes, there is a fantastic intensity to the palate yet it remains wonderfully focussed. All this is rounded off with a lovely savoury garrigue-esque note. 2020-2040
Matthew Tipping, Fine Wine Sales Manager

The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Annata was among my favourite Brunello releases earlier this year, so I had high hopes for the 2010 riserva. It’s always immensely satisfying when those expectations are met and in this case, exceeded. An immediate superiority to the Annata is obvious on the nose, with an extra layer or two of depth, complexity and focus. The notes of ripe red fruit, spices and grilled steak are compelling and implore you to taste it. It is of course still very young, but even at this stage the concentration and impeccable balance are stunning. All of the above notes are echoed on the palate and combine to create a delightful mouth-feel and a finish which goes on for over a minute. This is a very special wine and one that will make very old bones, if you can resist drinking it while it’s still young.
Chris Pollington, Private Account Manager
 

Intense garnet-rose, the nose sings of the pine needles that litter the ground at Cerbaiona, along with more classic redcurrant and blackcurrant notes. Placid, juicy, the palate conjures up redcurrant skins, sapidity, masses of flesh, forest fruit and cool, red-cherry finish. Impeccable, as ever; Diego and Nora continue to maintain the highest standards.

Nora Tadros Molinari is at the helm of this much-lauded Montalcino property, while her husband Diego recovers from a bout of poor health. More fortunate are the grapes that grow on their three hectares of alberese soils at perfect altitude on the northeastern shoulder of the Montalcino zone. The Molinaris have been there since 1977, gradually building up the reputation of their tiny estate through traditional practices. It’s now regarded as one of the very best.

Loredana and Antonio read the sunny 2011 vintage perfectly, choosing not to deleaf, so protecting against the rays, and macerating the skins for 15 days (versus 24 for 2009). The result is a luminous, sunset-blush, strawberry-red wine; one whose nose – of finely-tuned, warm, precise, kirsch, cassis and strawberry – one could dive into. Aged for nearly three years in third-fill Austrian oak barrels, the trim palate rolls gorgeously on, a thread of succulent cassis, soft but refined; a flow of pure delight.

This jewel of a Montalcino estate was first planted in 1978 by Federigo Abbarchi and Angela Corioni on marne and iron-rich, red, silt soils at 450 metres above sea-level on the north-western corner of Montalcino; bottling began in 1982 under the eye of Giulio Gambelli. Skip to 2009, and locals Loredana Tanganelli, husband Antonio and daughter Giada started to rent the 1.5-hectare gem from Angela Corioni, adding another 1.5 hectares of their own land. These smooth wines are sensitively and traditionally made using stainless steel and 33-hectolitre Pauscha Austrian oak botti.

Reassuringly pale garnet colour, there’s an effortless roll of soft, pretty, ethereal, gleaming cassis, ginger and deft tea leaf aromas on the nose, recalling the big skies, generous sun and wild herbs that bless this end of the Montalcino zone. Velvety to the taste, it suggests crushed, Tuscan strawberries; as enveloping as ever, with sensual red fruit, spice and galestro rocky notes. Such charm and facility. Akin to bathing in essential oils.
David Berry Green

I’ve long been a fan of the impressive Brunello from this wonderful cantina and I’m delighted 2009 is no different. The wine is pale and limpid, oozing red cherry, baked earth and a distant pine note – picture Tuscany on a summer day! There is a lightness of touch here than makes the wine almost ethereal. Fresh, structured and very pure. If I could only have one Brunello, this would be it.
Fergus Stewart - Private Account Manager

A hotly-awaited wine, the 2010 is Andrea’s first Riserva since the 2007 vintage. Only 8,000 bottles were made of this profound, deep-garnet beauty from the mythical 2010 vintage. Aged only in large botti, not barriques, the nose is rich with tamarind, kirsch, dark cherry, tobacco and loganberry. It's so finely detailed, yet flows effortlessly, a thread of dark, forest fruit, and white-stone minerality.

Local lad Andrea Mantengoli’s organic fruit, modern approach to winemaking and use of both large Slavonian barrels and small French barriques for ageing, provides a more contemporary expression of Brunello di Montalcino. Indeed so much so that we charged him with making our new own-label Brunello di Montalcino. The seven-hectare property is well located close to neighbours Cerbaiona, on the north-eastern shoulder of Montalcino, blessed with atypically white, tufo, limestone soils.

Richer, more obvious in its fleshy, raspberry charm, this is very inviting, sensual, creamy even. Darker and broader in colour, the palate is generous and sumptuous, with an almost raspberry-ripple richness. The texture is one of crushed velvet, of sweet currants and heady fruit; in a word – lush.

One of Montalcino’s oldest estates, dating back to the time of the Medicis, Lisini is known more recently as one of the founding fathers of the Brunello di Montalcino Consorzio of the 1960s. The Clementi-Lisini family, at the 154-hectare property near Sant’Angelo in Colle (20 hectares are under vine), make a thoroughly traditional range that builds on ancient Eocene sand, clay and iron-rich soils; wines that were first bottled in 1967. Oenologist Filippo Paoletti stands guard over the estate’s pre-eminent position.

Right from the off this is clearly a serious wine, it has a deep brooding nose with spice, heaps of morello cherry and chocolate notes. The palate is beautifully dense, multi-layered, textured and beautifully done. The morello cherry is there again, this time accompanied by liquorice and smokey notes. The intensity is such that this has a long future ahead of it and long term it is a wine that is sure to enhance the 2010 vintage’s legacy. Drink 2020-2035
Matthew Tipping, Fine Wine Sales Manager

Almost opaque and still very youthful looking, the nose is still dense and underdeveloped, but gives hints of the greatness to come, with its brooding dark cherry fruit.

The only word to describe this Brunello  wine on the palate is massive; full bodied and spicy, packed with black and red cherry fruit, all tightly wound in a magnificent structure, fine tannins, mouth watering acidity and supporting alcohol, all in perfect balance. This is a monumental wine for the Cellar and will be magnificent in 2012-2014 and drink for a decade or two after that. A serious candidate for the best Ugolaia ever.
(Chris Pollington, Fine Wine Department)

Lisini’s Brunello remains doggedly old fashioned. Broodingly opaque, it is square and dense with spicy clove notes and more earth than fruit. There is simply nothing that you can teach this ancient Montalcino family about how to produce fine wine at a reasonable price. A product of the fine 2006 vintage, this wine will repay cellaring.
David Berry Green, August 2011

Talk about a treat: I somehow managed to spirit a precious few bottles directly from Stella’s cantina! A formidable, indomitable, emphatic Brunello, the second she made, that oozes that great 2006 vintage.

Still twinkling bright and vivid, the nose a resolute, still young and closed but profound leather, dark cherry, savoury mix. The palate an entrancing weave of ginger, liquorice, a sense of great importance, so solid, implacable! Still a bambino, but decant if you must.
David Berry Green