Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2016 Red Wine

Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2016

Tuscany, Italy

95 pts. Wine Advocate:

"The Castello Romitorio 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a classic expression of the vintage, showing lots of ripe fruit, crushed mineral, herbal nuances and varietal-driven purity. This wine nails that sweet spot between elegance and power that is not easily achieved. It offers an expanded array of Sangiovese flavors with wild cherry, forest floor, crushed clove and medicinal herb, but it also shows plump density and a velvety texture. Filippo Chia and his team have created a solid wine for medium or long-term drinking."

95 pts. Vinous:

"Dark, brooding and geared for the cellar, the 2016 Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino takes its time opening up in the glass, yet patience is rewarded, as a mix of blackberry and cherry further blossoms, adding crushed stone minerality with hints of sage, lavender and violets. It’s silky and textural upon entry, yet it firms up quickly through a mix of vibrant acids and saturating fine tannin. However, there’s plenty of density to its primary fruits, feeling almost weighty in this youthful state yet perfectly balanced all the same. Savory herbs and spice linger along with tart red berries on the long, structured and dramatic finish. The 2016 is full of potential yet needs time in the cellar to show its best."

94 pts. Wine Spectator:

"A core of pure black cherry marks this compressed red, which is fresh and balanced in its rigid way, with wild thyme, rosemary, iron and tobacco flavors. The aftertaste lingers with the fruit and balsamic elements. Best from 2025 through 2048."

94 pts. James Suckling:

"A well structured red with lots of dried mushrooms, oysters and crushed stones. Dried blueberries and herbs, too. It’s full-bodied with firm tannins. A little dusty on the finish. Let it soften. Drink after 2024."

FROM THE WINERY

The Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino is our flagship wine and reflects more than 30 years of working in harmony with nature within the terroir of Montalcino.

It is a wine that expresses the Montalcino territory with purity and embodies the finest aspects of the area’s longstanding tradition of cultivating world class Sangiovese.

The Romitorio estate has vineyards in the Northwest area of Montalcino. Our classic Brunello is produced with Sangiovese grapes carefully harvested and selected by hand on the sorting table, both before and after destemming.

Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks with an initial short period of cold maceration (below 20°C) on the skins for about 15-20 hours. This is followed by up to 20 days of maceration at a higher controlled temperature. Malolactic fermentation that is naturally caused then lasts for about 10 days, before the wine is rested to separate the lees.

The wine matures in oak for approximately 24 months, and after bottling the wine is aged in Castello Romitorio’s temperature-controlled cellars for approximately an additional 12 months before release.

Tasting notes:

There is something heady and invigorating about this: a lifted nose of oak and fruit with notions of Marasca cherry, violet and pomegranate. Earthy hints appear, too, as do nuances of sage and soy with increasing age.

The body has densely woven, firm but fine tannins, according the wine a great structure; a skeleton upon which fruit, oak and aroma can express themselves fully.

The wine unfolds slowly in the glass, becomes more sinuous and sensuous with air while the gentle astringency of the tannins is very moreish. Bottle age brings welcome tertiary notes of leather and herb, both grip and aroma are long lasting. This is impressive upon release but even more true to itself with advancing age. -Anne Krebiehl MW