Val di Suga Vigna Spuntali Brunello di Montalcino 2018
-
Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
A youthful ruby red color, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Spuntali is a little shy at first before coaxing open to notes of mocha, Amarena cherries, licorice, and crushed roses. A great, elegant wine, it’s medium to full-bodied and fills the palate with wonderful ripe, pure fruit, plush tannins, and linear acidity, coaxing the wine forward without any austerity. It’s one of the more successful Riservas from the vintage and has a lot to offer over the next 20 years. I am thrilled with this tasting of Val di Suga as a whole and encourage our readers to check out the wines in the full range. Drink 2025-2045.
-
James Suckling
Tarry red fruit, orange peel, dry earth and hints of new leather and mussels. Juicy, medium-weighted on the palate with tight, creamy tannins and a long, savory finish. Drink now or hold.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Released one year after its peers, the Val di Suga 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Spuntali is unexpectedly intense in terms of its aromas with a bouquet that is immediately pronounced. There are aromas of dried cherry, pressed rose, spice and tobacco. The descriptors are classic for Brunello, although this vintage always appears more desiccated and even brittle to my palate. This wine ends with medicinal and menthol notes that underline basic tertiary notes or evolution.
-
Wine & Spirits
This Brunello’s flavors of red cherry and raspberry feel ripe and round, woven with notes of damp leaves and hints of basil and oregano. It has an earthy appeal that would match well with roasted maitake mushrooms.
Other Vintages
2016-
James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Spectator
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine &
Spirits -
James
Suckling -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
James
Suckling -
Wine &
Spirits -
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Enthusiast
-
Robert
Parker
-
James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Spectator
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.