95 points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, March 2023
The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino does a great job of capturing the essence and the spirit of Sangiovese, a grape that delivers infinitely nuanced and complex results when in the right hands. This wine reveals wild cherry, blue violet, blood orange, rusty nail and sweet earth. There is a hint of scorched earth or baked clay that underlines the warmest months in this growing cycle. The results are balanced and fresh. I've mentioned alcohol content throughout this report, and although the 14% registered here is still quite high, is it below the average for its peers. This is a job very well done. Some 15,700 bottles, 200 magnums and 30 three-liter bottles were released.
Maria Laura Vacca Brunelli and her team have focused on vineyard renewal this past year. She farms in two sites: Podernovone (with four vineyard plots, Olmo, Oliva, Quercia and Gelso) enjoys breezy conditions and high elevations as much as 500 meters above sea level. Le Chiuse di Sotto has fresh soils at 280 meters in elevation with vines planted by Gianni Brunelli's father Dino in 1947; this is where re-planting efforts are concentrated, safeguarding all old vines whenever possible.
- Monica Larner
