Brunello: The many crus of Montalcino
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Its origins are based solely around the city of Montalcino, but there’s more than one style of Brunello. And there’s no better way to understand this intriguing wine than to seek out the single-vineyard expressions, says Monty Waldin
13 Brunello single-vineyard crus to try
Pian dell’Orino, Bassolino di Sopra, Brunello di Montalcino 2007
19.5pts/20 (98/100pts)
0.4ha, SE-facing, 300m, calcium-rich, free-draining sandy clay, SE of Montalcino.
This radiates clarity, has breadth and depth. Brilliant interplay between picked-to-perfection fruit and moreish tannins.
Price: £62.49 (2008) Les Caves de Pyrène
Drink 2015-2027
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Alc 14%
Salicutti, Vigna Il Piaggione, Brunello di Montalcino 2008
19.5pts/20 (98/100pts)
1.4ha, SE-facing, 420m, sandyclay, SE of Montalcino.
Real intensity, elegance, wildness, levity and digestibility. Constantly changes in the glass to keep you guessing. A jewel.
Price: £84.95 Uncorked
Drink 2015-2028
Alc 14.5%
Baricci, Colombaio Montosoli, Brunello di Montalcino 2009
19pts/20 (96/100pts)
5ha, SE-facing, 270m, fossil-rich clay, N of Montalcino.
Ethereal nose of ripe red fruits. Supersmooth tannins, breezily elegant and thirst-quenching.
Price: £31.50 Raeburn
Drink 2015-2024
Alc 14.5%
Le Ragnaie, VV Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino 2008
19pts/20 (96/100pts)
0.8ha, SE-facing, 380m, darkish sandy loam, next to Mastrojanni’s Schiena d’Asino.
A moreish Brunello whose generously layered tannin and exquisite, glycerol-rich fruit unwind slowly.
Price: £47.46 Justerini & Brooks
Drink 2016-2026
Alc 14.5%
Col d’Orcia, Poggio al Vento, Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2006
18.5pts/20 (95/100pts)
7ha, SW-facing, 300m, lime-rich clay-marl, in Sant’ Angelo in Colle.
A classic vintage, producing bright fruit and mouthwateringly ripe tannins in a carefully grown
wine, made to blossom during ageing.
Price: £90 Vini Italiani
Drink 2015-2028
Alc 15%
Il Marroneto, Madonna delle Grazie, Brunello di Montalcino 2007
18.5pts/20 (95/100pts)
1.5ha, NE-facing vines, 400m, sandy clay.
A wine that looks and initially feels fragile but whose inner core reveals engagingly tenacious forest fruits.
Price: £56 Colasanti
Drink 2016-2026
Alc 14.5%
Lisini, Ugolaia, Brunello di Montalcino 2007
18.5pts/20 (95/100pts)
1.5ha, SW-facing vines, 360m, red, iron-rich volcanic soil, between Castelnuovo dell’Abate and Sant’Angelo in Colle.
Exotic red cherry fruit on the outside, tightly wound savoury liquorice tannins within. A winning mix.
Price: £78 AG Wines, Berry Bros & Rudd
Drink 2017-2024
Alc 14.5%
Mastrojanni, Vigna Schiena d’Asino, Brunello di Montalcino 2007
18.5pts/20 (95/100pts)
1ha, SE- and SW-facing vines, 380m, clay-limestone ridge above Castelnuovo dell’Abate.
Smooth. rich. black cherry fruit with tight tannins gently rounded by oak ageing; a silky finish.
Price: £75 Forty-five 10, Huntsworth Wine, Vini Italiani
Drink 2015-2022
Alc 14.5%
Fattoria dei Barbi, Vigna del Fiore, Brunello di Montalcino 2006
18pts/20 (93/100pts)
5.7ha, S-facing, 300m on clay-shale, SE of Montalcino.
Intense rather than weighty, a cool start to the fermentation, preserving insistent bright red cherry flavours and wellweighted tannins.
Price: £44.85-£48 Exel Wines, Great Western Wine
Drink 2015-2023
Alc 14%
Il Poggione, Vigna Paganelli, Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2007
18pts/20 (93/100pts)
15ha, E-W-facing, 250m, rocky clay in Sant’ Angelo in Colle.
Sour cherry fruit nicely arranged around tannins with a savoury balsam feel. Effortlessly drinkable.
Price: £45-£60 AG Wines, Exel Wines, Great Western Wine, Noel Young, Roberson, Tivoli Wines
Drink 2015-2027
Alc 14.5%
Tiezzi, Vigna Soccorso, Brunello di Montalcino 2009
18pts/20 (93/100pts)
1.5ha, SW-facing, 500m on rocky clay, S of Montalcino.
Juicy red fruit with a spicy, wild, almost savage quality. Lithe rather than weighty, unassuming but with genuine presence.
Price: £28.26 Harvey Nichols, Lay & Wheeler
Drink 2016-2024
Alc 14.5%
Collemattoni, Fontelontano, Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2007
17.5pts/20 (91/100pts)
0.4ha, SW-facing vine, 380m on stony red clay in Sant’Angelo in Colle.
Ripe dark fruit and cedar on the nose. Sticky red berry fruit on the palate with firmly focused oak and fruit tannins. Punchy.
Price: £55 Lea & Sandeman
Drink 2017-2022
Alc 14.5%
Val di Suga, Poggio al Granchio, Brunello di Montalcino 2009
17.5pts/20 (91/100pts)
18ha, SW-facing vines, 400m, clay-based shale, SE of Montalcino.
Warm Mediterranean nose of dried fruit and sage, with levity on the palate as the berries give up their damson-flavoured juice beneath a quiet sheen of oak.
Price: N/A UK tenimentiangelini.it
Drink 2015-2023
Alc 15%
Monty Waldin is a British broadcaster, author and occasional winemaker, specialising in organics and biodynamics. His first book, The Organic Wine Guide, published in 1999, was voted Britain’s Wine Guide of the Year. His other award-winning books include Biodynamic Wines and Wines of South America. In 2008 he was the subject of ‘Château Monty’, a wine-making documentary series on biodynamic winemaking in the Roussillon, France. As well as writing regularly for Decanter, Monty contributes the entries on organics, biodynamics and sustainability for the Oxford Companion to Wine. He co-created and now hosts VinItaly International’s Italian Wine Podcast. Monty Waldin was the Regional Chair for Tuscany at the Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) 2019.