Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2018: 20 recommendations

Tasting Brunello’s 2018 Riservas alongside new releases from 2019 required a conscious palate recalibration. The good news is that vintage variation – which is genuinely one of the appeals of fine wine – is alive and well in Montalcino.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 20 top Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2018 wines

In 2018, cool temperatures in August and recurring rainfall in the weeks before harvest challenged ripening and yielded thin-skinned grapes. The resulting wines were fine in frame, slim in textures and moderate in concentration.

According to the traditional mindset that a Riserva should possess structure and power requiring long maturation and conferring ageability, 2018 is not an archetypical candidate. For this reason, many producers opted out. Furthermore, there was the risk of impoverishing the annata. ‘I am very happy with my 2018,’ asserts Fabian Schwarz at La Magia. ‘But if I produced a Riserva, I wouldn’t have had the quality.’

Unsurprisingly, there were significantly fewer Riserva compared to the 2015 and 2016 vintages; yet still more than I had anticipated – a similar quantity to 2017.

Certain estates seem to produce a Riserva every vintage, while others are more discerning. Some, like San Polino, chose to release a 2017 but not a 2018; Caprili came out with a 2018 Riserva after skipping 2017. ‘We didn’t produce 2017 due to the excessive concentration,’ explains Giacomo Bartolomei. Along with several of his peers, he referenced the freshness and elegance that set 2018 apart.

Of the three dozen or so that I tasted, I have recommended less than half, eliminating those that presented as ‘over the hill’. In many cases, long ageing in wood dried out the wine, exhausted fruit, or robbed freshness, which was one of the vintage’s attributes.

Alongside the variable 2018 Riserva, Col d’Orcia released a captivating Poggio al Vento from 2016 – surely the greatest vintage of the last decade. It is emblematic of a Riserva and demonstrates why this category exists.

Among those 2018 Riserva I have recommended, a handful spent less time in wood than normal – to the benefit of the wine. Podere Le Ripi, Poggio Antico and Poggio di Sotto are among these examples.

As with the annata releases, the Riservas I liked, I really liked – for their purity of aromas and flavours, and finesse. Similarly, most are accessible now and offer near- to mid-term drinking. Il Palazzone and Camigliano Gualto will be lovely over the next seven to eight years, while Capanna and Castelgiocondo’s Ripe al Convento should persist even longer.

Standouts

There were a few stunning surprises that merit (and will reward) cellaring. Once again, Sesti’s Phenomena topped the chart. San Filippo’s Le Lucére and Corte Pavone’s Vigna Poggio Molino al Vento also proved to be well justified Riservas.

Another standout example came from the under-the-radar Fattoi estate. ‘In our opinion, Riserva should be more complex, persistent and longer-lived than the annata,’ asserts Lucia Fattoi. Indeed, the estate achieved this, and the 2018 represents excellent value in the context of Brunello Riserva.

As 2019 offers so much to choose from, my advice, if you are tempted to go the Riserva route, is to stick exclusively to 2018’s very best.

Michaela’s 20 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2018 recommendations:

Plus one late-release 2016

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