Brunello di Montalcino is anything but a simple and easily accessible wine. A first-class Brunello is decidedly tart, often cool, very firm-textured and possesses a fruit that demands rather than flatters. In addition, there are often aromas clearly reminiscent of soup herbs such as lovage, earthy tones as well as notes of undergrowth or sometimes foliage. Both tannins and acidity are present, although never bulky in the good examples.
These characteristics mean that even powerful drops with significantly more than 14 percent alcohol by volume, of which there are plenty in the excellent year 2006, still seem taut and fresh and, unlike many other wines in this weight class, can make great food companions.
After a qualitative up and down around the turn of the millennium, which was probably not least due to the too rapid increase in the area under vines and the number of producers, Brunello di Montalcino is experiencing a splendid vintage with the 2006 vintage. Probably never before have so many wines been so good. At the same time, many of the Brunellos tasted are still rather reserved, despite aeration. We believe that some of them will improve further with a few years of bottle ageing.
BEST OF Brunello di Montalcino" (PDF document)