Wine & Spirits - April 2021 - 120

Focus Tuscan Sangioveses
balanced, it feels the most complete of the
three wines, with plenty of aging potential. §
Wilson Daniels, St. Helena, CA
523420

Montalcino, is rosy and red-fruited, brimming with fresh cherry and raspberry flavors
framed by fine, sweet tannins. It's a beautifully bright expression for this warm vintage,
with plenty of staying power for the cellar. §
Kobrand, Purchase, NY
523433

95 | Tenute Silvio Nardi

94 | Castiglion del Bosco

$175

2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Millecento ^ This is a dark and spicy Riserva, with
fruit from the estate's oldest vines yielding
deeply concentrated flavors of red cherry
and cassis that reflect the intense ripeness
of the 2015 vintage. Firm, leathery tannins
envelop the fruit tones, relenting with air to
reveal scents of pressed florals and notes of
sweet spice. § Maisons Marques & Domaines,
Oakland, CA
523423

94 | Castiglion del Bosco

$65

2016 Brunello di Montalcino ^ This wine
offers ripe cherry and plum flavors infused
with bright acidity and sculpted by firm,
raspy tannins. Its scents of crushed violets
and lavender are enticing, as are the notes
of licorice and cherry pit that accent the bold
fruit tones. There's plenty of concentration
and structure for the cellar, even as the wine's
freshness and verve offer immediate appeal. §
Maisons Marques & Domaines, Oakland, CA
523457

94 | Conti Costanti

$150

2015 Brunello di Montalcino ^ Deeply concentrated flavors of dark cherry and cassis take on warm spice notes and candied
orange peel in this rich and layered wine.
The flavors are deep and penetrating, supported by ample yet fine tannins that allow
the fruit tones full expression. § Empson, Alexandria, VA

120

WINE & SPIRITS

APRIL 2021

$60

93 | Caparzo

$70

2016 Brunello di Montalcino ^ Flavors of
tiny red berries and blood orange mingle
with notes of caramel and warm spice in this
lively wine. It has an appealing inner brightness and slightly brusque tannins that dovetail well with the bold fruit tones. § Winebow
Imports, NY
523446

$145

2016 Brunello di Montalcino Manachiara ^ The Manachiara vineyard lies in Montalcino's southern sector, near Castelnuovo
dell'Abate. Its 40-year-old vines, planted on
sandy clay slopes with southeastern exposures, yielded a powerful expression of
Brunello in the 2016 vintage, one that will
reward patience. Its firm, ferrous tannins are
refined and polished, encasing a core of rich
dark-berry and cherry flavors. Those tannins begin to relent with several hours of air,
revealing notes of licorice and savory underbrush. § Kobrand, Purchase, NY
523495

93 | Altesino

523427

94 | Il Palazzone

$90

94 | Il Poggione

$85

2016 Brunello di Montalcino ^ Complex
aromas of red cherry, orange zest and subtle
spice are mirrored on the palate, the flavors
propelled by brisk acidity and girded by cool,
mineral tannins. The wine captures the freshness of the 2016 vintage, the vibrant flavors
drawing out on a long, rose-scented finish. §
M.S. Walker, Boston, MA
523428
2016 Brunello di Montalcino ^ This bold and
spicy Brunello packs plenty of power and
extraction, a style that, according to panelist James Conley of NYC's Keens Steakhouse,
would be an easy sell at establishments like
his. Notes of cedar and smoke weave through
the wine's rich dark-cherry flavors, those fruit
tones gaining brightness with exposure to air.
Cellar it a few years and then serve with an
aged ribeye. § Terlato Wines Int'l, Lake Bluff, IL
523429

94 | Tenute Silvio Nardi

$85

2016 Brunello di Montalcino ^ Fruit from
Nardi's estates in Montalcino's northwest
and southeast sectors is combined in this
firm, broad-shouldered wine. It reflects the
freshness of the 2016 vintage in its crunchy
red-berry and cherry flavors, those bright
fruit tones balanced by saline notes and
earthy hints of underbrush. Firm, mineral
tannins clench the flavors at present; the
wine will benefit from several years of cellaring. § Kobrand, Purchase, NY
523453

94 | Val di Suga

$105

2015 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Spuntali ^ Vigna Spuntali led the way among Val
di Suga's three single-vineyard Brunellos
from the 2015 vintage (all recommended
here). Spuntali is situated in Montalcino's
southern sector on limestone-clay soils, with
southwestern exposures that bring cooling
breezes from the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its juicy
dark-cherry flavors are laced with notes of
licorice and dried herbs, the fruit gliding
over smooth, polished tannins. Fleshy and

2015 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La
Casa ^ La Casa is a five-acre plot of vines
planted in galestro soils on the Montosoli
hill, just north of Montalcino's village walls.
Its fruit shows good freshness for this warm
vintage, coming together in this wine's flavors of fleshy red cherry and juicy raspberry
that offer immediate appeal. Pleasant bitteralmond notes balance the bright fruit tones
as the wine finishes with hints of warm spice. §
Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL
523490

93 | Donatella Cinelli
Colombini

$117

2015 Brunello di Montalcino Prime
Donne ^ This is a rich and savory Brunello,
its black-cherry flavors woven with notes of
roasted mushroom and grilled game. Powerful tannins lend a cool, ferrous undertone
to those dark, dusky flavors. In a break with
the historically male-dominated culture of
Montalcino, this winery is run entirely by
women, and this wine is produced from barrels of wine selected by a panel of four female
tasters-two Masters of Wine and two sommeliers. § Banville Wine Merchants, NY
523425

93 | Martoccia di Luca
Brunelli

$70

93 | Martoccia di Luca
Brunelli

$117

2016 Brunello di Montalcino ^ Luca Brunelli
trains his vines low to the ground with just
four clusters per plant, keeping yields
extremely low (about one bottle per vine).
Those low yields resulted in a deeply colored 2016 with flavors of red berry and sour
cherry that are bold and concentrated. The
wine begins to unfurl with time in the glass,
gaining notes of bergamot and warm spice
as well as scents of lavender and pink petals.
Firm tannins give shape to the plummy fruit
tones, and the wine finishes brisk and lively. §
August Wine Group, Seattle, WA
523491

2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva ^ This
Riserva is bursting with scents of rose petals
https://www.ilpalazzone.com/en/vintages-and-notes/2016-brunello-di-montalcino-docg
Wine & Spirits - April 2021

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