Villa Al Cortile Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2015
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Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Concentrated and dense, with notes of dark plums, dried raspberry, tobacco and leather. The wine offers a bright garnet colour with power and fine tannins on the finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Complex aromas of plums, cherries and toffee with some cedar, following through to a full body with tight, polished tannins and stone and sandalwood undertones. It’s fine and tight at the end.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of scorched earth and new leather mingle with whiffs of hay and blue flower. Full bodied and poised, the palate features dried cherry, tobacco, toasted hazelnut and grilled herb framed in firm tannins.
Other Vintages
2011-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine
Villa al Cortile is the Piccini Family estate in Montalcino. It is situated in the south side of the Brunello di Montalcino production area with 12 ha of vineyards distributed between the northern area of Montosoli and southern area of Lavacchio. The location of both their Lavacchio and Montosoli vineyards provides their wines essential features.
Villa al Cortile creates wines that speak to the balance between a grape varietal, Sangiovese, and its terroir, Montalcino. It is the specific characteristics of the two vineyards that give the wines their uniqueness. Villa al Cortile Brunellos are crafted with patience and dedication. Nothing is rushed; Montalcino has everything to do with the slow flow of time.
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
Famous for its bold, layered and long-lived red, Brunello di Montalcino, the town of Montalcino is about 70 miles south of Florence, and has a warmer and drier climate than that of its neighbor, Chianti. The Sangiovese grape is king here, as it is in Chianti, but Montalcino has its own clone called Brunello.
The Brunello vineyards of Montalcino blanket the rolling hills surrounding the village and fan out at various elevations, creating the potential for Brunello wines expressing different styles. From the valleys, where deeper deposits of clay are found, come wines typically bolder, more concentrated and rich in opulent black fruit. The hillside vineyards produce wines more concentrated in red fruits and floral aromas; these sites reach up to over 1,600 feet and have shallow soils of rocks and shale.
Brunello di Montalcino by law must be aged a minimum of four years, including two years in barrel before realease and once released, typically needs more time in bottle for its drinking potential to be fully reached. The good news is that Montalcino makes a “baby brother” version. The wines called Rosso di Montalcino are often made from younger vines, aged for about a year before release, offer extraordinary values and are ready to drink young.