Conti Costanti Brunello di Montalcino Riserva (1.5 Liter Magnum) 2010
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Decant at least an hour beforehand and pair with rich, structured dishes, red meat, game, seasoned cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of ripe black-skinned fruit, new leather, menthol and a whisper of blue flower unfold on this stunning, elegantly structured wine. The vibrant palate doles out ripe black cherry, cinnamon and star anise framed in firm, fine-grained tannins. Hold for even more complexity. Absolutely superb. Drink 2022–2035. Cellar Selection.
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Decanter
Costanti’s 2010 truly lives up to the hype of this highly touted vintage. Warm but not extreme, it was defined by cool nights that preserved succulent acidity and decisive aromas. Here, the expressive nose shows crushed earth, sweet herbs and a tangle of dark berries. Yet the palate is still exceptionally youthful and dense with imposing, tightly wound tannin that will unfold slowly. It will glide gracefully to the denomination's 75th anniversary.
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Wine & Spirits
Andrea Costanti selected his best barrels of Brunello to craft a 2010 Riserva that’s exciting in its nervy intensity. Scents of lavender and violet lead into flavors of black cherry, plum and sweet spice that wash across the palate in waves, energized by brisk acidity. The flavors feel seamless, woven together by cool tannins, polished by 18 months in tonneaux and an equal amount of time in large Slavonian botti. Elegant and complex now, it has the freshness and structure to improve for many years to come.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is a spectacular effort. The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva shows deep, inner intensity and lovely aromatic characteristics that are very true to the mighty Sangiovese grape. You can't go wrong with a wine like this, especially if you are seeking the true flavors of Montalcino. The aromas are presented in neat and tidy fashion with wild berry, blue flower, spice and herb that converge to create a united front. In the mouth, the wine delivers ample power and momentum with dark flavors and firm structure. The wine need another few years of bottle aging to flesh out further.
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Wine Spectator
his is tightly wound and powerful, featuring strawberry, cherry, hibiscus tea, earth and tobacco flavors. Racy and firm, this finishes with freshness and excellent length. Best from 2019 through 2034.
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The small town of Montalcino, huddled around its fortressed castle on the Tuscan hillside, is miniature perfection. Montalcino residents are a tightly knit community, with a strong sense of identity and deep love for their territory. Within this community, Andrea Costanti is a well known and highly liked figure. The Costanti family has been part of Montalcino history since 1555, yet Andrea is anything but 'old hat': young, brilliant and amiable, he very much moves with the times. You will find him perfectly at ease in Tuscany as in New York, in Paris or in Tokyo. In 1983, Andrea (at the time, fresh out of Siena University's geology department) took over from his uncle, Count Emilio – the man who first put Costanti on the wine map. A difficult task: yet this inexperienced youth not only coped with his huge new responsibilities, but actually upgraded and enhanced the family's reputation for making great Brunello. He achieved this by relying on his own fine instinct for wine and in-depth knowledge of the terrain's geological components. In time, these natural skills were perfected, so that he eventually styled the range together with Vittorio Fiore. Roughly 25 acres are under vine and vine age ranges from 6 to 25 years old. Soil type is classic Tuscan "galestro" (shale marls from the Cretaceous Era, formed by a mixture of sand and calcareous rock with very little clay).
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
Famous for its bold, layered and long-lived red, Brunello di Montalcino, the town of Montalcino is about 70 miles south of Florence, and has a warmer and drier climate than that of its neighbor, Chianti. The Sangiovese grape is king here, as it is in Chianti, but Montalcino has its own clone called Brunello.
The Brunello vineyards of Montalcino blanket the rolling hills surrounding the village and fan out at various elevations, creating the potential for Brunello wines expressing different styles. From the valleys, where deeper deposits of clay are found, come wines typically bolder, more concentrated and rich in opulent black fruit. The hillside vineyards produce wines more concentrated in red fruits and floral aromas; these sites reach up to over 1,600 feet and have shallow soils of rocks and shale.
Brunello di Montalcino by law must be aged a minimum of four years, including two years in barrel before realease and once released, typically needs more time in bottle for its drinking potential to be fully reached. The good news is that Montalcino makes a “baby brother” version. The wines called Rosso di Montalcino are often made from younger vines, aged for about a year before release, offer extraordinary values and are ready to drink young.