2016 Cantina di Montalcino Brunello di Montalcino

2016 Cantina di Montalcino Brunello di Montalcino

2016 Cantina di Montalcino Brunello di Montalcino “An excellent wine.  Polished, refreshing and expressive, possessing scents of red cherry compote, fresh cranberry and rose, with a fine-grained palate packed with flavorsome red berries, black plum and sage.” – 95 Decanter Magazine

“What a beautiful nose this suggests of dried tea leaves, earth, tobacco, cedar, five spice, dried cherries, orange zest, and Christmas spices.  The tannins have a brambly quality to them, but they slip effortlessly into place, around finely indented creases of red-plum and red-cherry flavors.  Long and composed, this is a silky, balanced, delightful offering.  What a wine from the only cooperative in Montalcino!” – 94 James Suckling

The 2016 vintage is a historical year for Brunello di Montalcino that nobody should miss. The wines show impressive precision of vivid fruit, fine tannins and freshness in acidity despite their ripeness and richness which makes them some of the most exciting in years.

James Suckling, the leading authority on Italian wine says “The wines have beautiful depth of fruit and endless length. They are dense and rich wines with great structure of tannins yet they remain finely textured and comprehensive in the mouth. The seamless tannins seem to melt into the wine – a characteristic I have never seen in my 36 years visiting the area as a wine critic and journalist.”

Mostly all of 2015’s have been released, but today’s offer is without a doubt one of the best I have seen.  This is one of the first Brunellos I ever tasted, and is always one of the finest for the money.  Amazing scores, amazing price, and an amazing wine.  The wine is Cantina di Montalcino’s 2016 Brunello di Montalcino and the wine is a showstopper for the money.  Plush, round and lengthy, I was simply floored by the quality price ratio.  When Brunello drops under the $40 mark, a lot of times you are paying to have “Brunello” on the label, but not here.  95 from Decanter Magazine, 94 from James Suckling, with free shipping on a case makes this a sensational buy for anyone looking for a stellar key vintage, undervalued opportunity from Italy’s most prestigious wine growing region.

Cantina di Montalcino was founded in 1970 and it is the only cooperative winery in the Brunello area.  Today it counts 94 members, small farms that own about 385 acres of vineyards, on average less than 5 acres each, located between 350 and 2000 feet above sea level.  These are small growers that produce high quality grapes.  They work with care and dedication.  Produced in the traditional style this 2016 Brunello is an excellent example of the quality they turn out.