BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO RISERVA DOCG

Only a truly extraordinary harvest can produce the Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG. Since its establishment in 1984, Castello Romitorio has released only a handful of vintages of this wine.

The 2016 is the tenth Riserva ever produced by Castello Romitorio. A rigorous selection of grapes is made from the estate’s eldest vineyards located in the northern zone of Montalcino.

Each vineyard block is monitored throughout the vegetative process, blocks are chosen and each cluster is carefully tended in order to ensure that the fruit reaches a consistent and optimal ripeness. The Sangiovese clusters are then harvested meticulously by hand, with hand sorting 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 24 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 36 months, and, after bottling, the wine is aged in Castello Romitorio’s temperature-controlled cellars until release.

REGION:

Toscana (Tuscany)

CULTIVATION:

Spurred Cordon with plant spacing plantation layout 240x75 cm

GRAPE:

Sangiovese

HARVEST:

Manual, grapes are sorted by hand before and after destemming

MATURED:

About 36 months in oak

There is an astonishing and disarming consistency in this wine across the vintages. As a Riserva this has already had ample time to become itself, to show its honest soul: we find rugged soil, icy winters and warming sunshine, we find wilderness and something epic that years cannot smudge or alter. It is muscular and strong. This wine just is. The warming alcohol counters the incisive acidity, the tannins, enmeshed and resolving, still have their drying, unrelenting streak. Dried notes of Marasca cherry still shimmer. With increasing age the savory elements increase: more salt, more herbs, more soil. For me, this all boils down to one word: honesty.
(A. Krebiehl MW)

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG RISERVA 2016

97/100 Eric Guido, Vinous.com

97/100 Raffaele Vecchione, winescritic.com

97/100 Daniele Cernilli, Doctor Wine

96/100 Monica Larner, Wine Advocate

96/100 Michaela Morris, Decanter

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG RISERVA 2015

98/100 Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator

98/100 Raffaele Vecchione, winescritic.com

97/100 Falstaff, falstaff.com

96/100 Monica Larner, Wine Advocate

96/100 James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

95+/100 Eric Guido, Vinous.com

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG RISERVA 2013

98/100 Raffaele Vecchione, winescritic.com

96/100 Monica Larner, Wine Advocate

95/100 James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

94/100 Ian D'Agata, Vinous.com

94/100 Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG RISERVA 2012

95/100 Monica Larner, Wine Advocate

95/100 Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator

95/100 James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG RISERVA 2010

97/100 James Suckling, jamessuckling.com

97/100 Monica Larner, Wine Advocate

96/100 Doctor Wine

94/100 Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG RISERVA 2007

94/100 Wine Enthusiast

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG RISERVA 2006

95/100 Wine Enthusiast

94/100 Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG RISERVA 2004

TUSCAN TROPHY – CHALLENGE ‘10 International Wine Challenge UK

IWC champion red wine 2010 International Wine Challenge UK

Italian Red Trophy – CHALLENGE ‘10 International Wine Challenge UK

Brunello di Montalcino Trophy– CHALLENGE ‘10 International Wine Challenge UK

96/100 James Suckling, Wine Spectator

94/100 Wine Enthusiast

BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO DOCG RISERVA 1997

96/100 James Suckling, Wine Spectator

3 bicchieri rossi Vini d'Italia - Gambero Rosso