2020 Brunello di Montalcino

The 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino has a deep brick red color and is ripe with aromas of black cherries, tarry earth, rosemary, lavender, and sweet tobacco. Medium to full-bodied, it saturates the palate with ripe tannins, savory notes of tea leaf, even acidity, and a very well-balanced finish. It boasts a good deal of depth and is going to offer a wide window for enjoyment over the coming 12-15 years.

With 2,000 hectares, mostly of woodlands, Castiglion del Bosco dominates Montalcino’s northwestern quadrant. Vineyards bathe in the intense light that bounces off the nearby Tyrrhenian Sea. The 2020 echoes that luminosity as it wafts with fragrances of Mediterranean scrub on a warm, sunny day. The palate brings in ripe strawberry, red cherry and cola. Acidity is soft and mellow yet still lends a fresh twist, and the smooth tannins frame the wine effortlessly, ending with a characterful finish of bitter orange and cocoa.

The Castiglion del Bosco 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is a softly enriched and contemporary interpretation of Sangiovese in which ripeness and oak aging play big roles in shaping the final product. The wine is plush and soft and definitely feels like it is geared to an international palate that is less interested in the acidic sharpness and rigidity of traditional Brunello. Blackberry and dried cherry cede to cured tobacco and barbecue ash. The finish is on the dry side. This is an ample 100,000-bottle release.