2017 Brunello di Montalcino
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Tasting notes
The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is beautifully bright and stitched up with extreme focus and sharpness. Sangiovese has this gorgeous ability to show linearity and lift, but it remains elegant and tight at the same time. This wine accomplishes all of this, and that's saying a lot given the heat and drought of this vintage. The acidity is bright and the finish is long and smooth with citrusy end notes of blood orange followed by wild rose and lilac. Fruit comes from a 4.5-hectare site with sand and galestro soils. Production is exactly 15,014 bottles. Maria Laura Vacca Brunelli and her team harvested about one week early in 2017 to capture that varietal freshness.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jancis Robinson MW
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
More reviews and scores
Lustrous mid ruby with orange tinges. A cherry nose that is a tiny bit herbal. Plenty of succulent cherry fruit balancing the load of powdery tannins. The fruit turns a little sour and thin on the finish. (WS)
The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is deeply expressive, showing peppery red berries and pomegranate plus hints of tomato leaf and sage, reminding me of that moment you add fresh herbs to a just-finished ragù . This is pure silk on the palate, rich and pliant, as it slowly saturates the senses with mineral-laced red and hints of blue fruit. Intensely primary and licorice-tinged, it tapers off grippy and classically dry to lasting rosy florals. The 2017 is a bit like a tamed beast of a Brunello.
Mid ruby. Shaded rim. Really interesting, intriguing nose that, at this stage anyway, does not seem to be reflected on the palate . Some light sweetness and a slightly disappointing lack of oomph on the mid palate. This has the dryness of Sangiovese without quite enough fruit to compensate. Bit of a fast fade. (JR)