Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Brunello di Montalcino (375ML half-bottle) 2012
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Ideal companion of roasted and stewed meat, game and mature cheese.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Dark spice, ripe berry, forest floor, Mediterranean brush and new leather aromas lead the nose on this powerfully structured wine. On the full-bodied palate, baking spice, licorice and pipe tobacco notes accent a juicy black cherry core while firm, velvety tannins provide the framework. Drink 2020–2030.
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James Suckling
Wow. I love the texture and beauty of this young Brunello. Medium to full body with a dense and tightly compacted palate. Dried cherry light cedar and chocolate. It goes on for minutes. Gorgeous now. Excellent acid fruit balance, but will improve with age.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino is a beautifully finessed and elegant wine. It offers a very pleasing sense of balance in which no one characteristic overpowers the next. A dark ruby appearance gives the wine an open and inviting personality. The bouquet produces a subtle medley of wild berry, blueberry, underbrush and toasted almond aromas. The mouthfeel is lean, but it also shows polished and silky persistence. If you don't have the patience to wait, it tastes great even at this early stage.
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Wine Spectator
A tight, leafy, balsamic style, delivering strawberry, cherry, underbrush, wild sage, tobacco and iron flavors. Though tannic, this is more fluid than its peers, with a lingering aftertaste. Best from 2021 through 2033.
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Ciacci Piccolomini is one of the most sought-after producers in all of Italy. This ancient estate has 35 hectares of superior holdings in the prized Castelnuovo dell’Abate zone, including the ‘Pianrosso’ vineyard (meaning ‘red field,’ a reference to the iron rich soils) and the ‘Fonte’ vineyard, which produces grapes for the Rosso di Montalcino.
Plantings of Syrah, Cabernet, and Merlot are to the south, where the Orcia river provides a milder microclimate. The non-traditional wines are as exciting as the Brunello and Rosso: ‘Ateo,’ which means ‘atheist,’ is a statement against the restrictive laws that govern winemaking in Italy; the wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. 100% Syrah ‘Fabius’ is one of the greatest expressions of that variety in Italy and Parker once called it “the finest Italian Syrah I have tasted.” The estate is a member of the EU ‘Lotta Integrata’ movement, which promotes reduced use of chemicals and organic viticulture; at Ciacci, fertilization is organic, and pruning and harvest are done by hand.