Cerbaia Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Cerbaia 2015
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
An elegant blend of complexity, finesse and power: this Brunello truly represents Montalcino’s authentic terroir.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Lots of raw cacao nibs, black cherries and bark on the nose. It’s full-bodied with firm, fine tannins. Dark chocolate and dried cherries with savory black-olive and tobacco notes at the finish. Best from 2022, but already open and attractive.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Cerbaia's 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Cerbaia is only made in the best years and represents a special selection of fruit from the estate's oldest vines planted in 1978. This is a sultry, velvety and dark expression with plum, rich cherry and blackberry preserves. Cured tobacco, campfire ash and mahogany also appear. I feel the sunbeams and that golden Tuscan warmth in the ripeness of the fruit. I love the wine's fruit-forward style but am less a fan of that oak-driven heaviness. Production is a mere 2,000 bottles.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Black-skinned berry, underbrush and saddle-leather aromas lift out the glass. The savory, enveloping palate features dried black cherry, star anise and tobacco alongside fine-grained tannins. Drink 2023–2032.
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.