Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino 2015

Professional Ratings

• 96 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  Poggio di Sotto doesn't miss a beat with this very special release. This is a glorious expression of the vintage, and the wine has absorbed the golden sunlight of Tuscany, delivering beautifully ripe, round and subtle fruit layers. The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino shows concentration, but not too much, and richness, but not too much. You get the power and the opulence of the vintage presented with the elegance and grace that is the house style at this venerated estate. Poggio di Sotto is one of the benchmarks of Montalcino, and the winery team continues the tradition with this 22,000-bottle release. There's a lot of red fruit energy deep inside that should stir this wine on course as it ages over the next two decades.

• 96 Decanter
  On steep slopes in the southeast of Montalcino, Poggio di Sotto's vineyards are cooled by breezes coming off the nearby Monte Amiata. The Brunello is crafted from plots that range in altitude from 200 to 450 metres. Fermentations are spontaneous, maceration lasts one month and ageing is in 30-hectolitre Slavonian oak casks. This demonstrates the generosity of the vintage but is still fresh and graceful. Sweet fennel, underbrush and thyme blossoms give intricacy to pure red cherry fruit. Abundant chalky tannins build stealthily across the palate and provide a welcome dimension of texture, while Sangiovese's appetising juiciness shines through.
• 94 James Suckling
  There’s a real Burgundian feel here to the sour cherries, five spice, citrus, nutmeg and fresh oregnano. The tannins have a beautiful, porcelain-like feel; the acidity cuts a wide and long shape. Delicate, floral and refined. All about grace and elegance. Drink from 2021.
• 92 Wine Enthusiast
  Delicately scented, this offers alluring aromas of red woodland berry, camphor and a whiff of rosemary in bloom. It's elegant to the point of being ethereal, with an almost gossamer-like texture featuring taut silky tannins that lithely support sour cherry, pomegranate and star anise. Bright acidity keeps it fresh and light on its feet before it finishes on a drying note evoking raw coffee bean.
• 92 Wine Spectator
  Wild herb, cherry, iron and tobacco flavors mark this dense, compact red. Stiff, dusty tannins form a defensive finish, yet there is ample ripe fruit up front. Best from 2023 through 2040.