Mocali Brunello di Montalcino 2017
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Winemaker Notes
100% estate-owned Sangiovese Grosso grown in galestro soils at an altitude of 400 meters. Fermentation in stainless steel followed by aging in large Slavonian oak for one year. Transferred to large French oak casks for an additional two years before bottling.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A dense and layered red with lots of ripe fruit as well as wood and tile highlights. It’s full and chewy with intense tannins yet the texture feels velvety and dusty at the end. Drink after 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Mocali 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is a little harder to read compared to many of the wines in this report. It shows a savory quality with worn leather and cured meat that could well be a product of the very hot and dry growing season. The wine is lean on the palate, with more primary fruit flavors and fresh acidity to make for a neat and snappy close.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of ripe dark-skinned fruit, cedar and tilled soil lead the nose. The ripe, full-bodied palate offers blackberry jam, clove and ground pepper alongside firm tannins.
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Wine Spectator
A mix of plum, fruit cake, earth, leather and tobacco mark this savory, firmly-structured red, which tips toward the dense tannins in the end, yet remains focused and long. Best from 2024.
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The Mocali estate, acquired by the Ciacci family (distant relations to Ciacci Piccolomini) in the 1950s, is a setting of natural Tuscan beauty where vineyards and olive groves alternate with oak and pine forests. This harmony of man and nature comes through in the delicious, ripe and balanced wines produced here, available at prices that are incredibly low when compared to those of the more established producers of Montalcino. The wines are particularly approachable when young, well-structured with ample body and an elegant, minerally character distinct to this growing area. The Rosso "I Piaggioni" is one of the best values on the market - simply delicious Sangiovese at an excellent price. Situated to the southwest of Montalcino at an altitude of 300-350 meters above sea-level on the slopes facing Castiglione del Bosco, the Mocali estate is comprised of 32 hectares, 6 of which are specialized vineyards (5 Hectares of Sangiovese grosso), and 4 dedicated to olive groves. As over half of the estate is covered by a vegetation characteristic to the hill on which Montalcino stands, the vineyards and olive groves alternate with a landscape of woodland of ilex, oak and arbutus. The soil is rendered highly mineral; salt owing to the presence of marl and limestone. Not being overly large, the Mocali estate lies under family management with the consultation of an expert oenologist.
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.