Capanna Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2016
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Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby red, strong, lively. The bouquet is very intense and complex, fruity and spicy, with red fruit, jam and licorice shades; great prospects of future development. This wine has great structure in the acid-tannin components, well supported by the soft ones; extremely persistent.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has a gorgeous nose of orange zest, hazelnuts, cherry blossom, cherry stones, peaches, cedar and some spearmint. Firm, dense and structured, with a wealth of fruit and fragrance. Lengthy. Still tight and chewy. Best from 2025.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Capanna 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva reveals a medium-dark ruby color and shiny intensity. This Riserva is balanced and quite beautiful, showing that sharp clarity and freshness that only Sangiovese can deliver in cool and balanced vintages such as this. To the palate, the wine is rather restrained, showing a mid-weight approach and lots of crisp acidity on the close. This Riserva needs more time to open and a few more years of cellar aging. Fruit selection for this wine prioritizes the best clusters with smaller berries and looser bunches that are more resistant to damp and disease. The finished wine ages in large oak casks for four years. Production is 14,272 bottles.
Rating: 94(+) -
Decanter
Established by the Cencioni family in 1957, Capanna now boasts 20 hectares of southeast-facing vineyards in the area of Montosoli. Selected from the oldest vines, the Riserva is aged in 10- to 25-hectolitre Slavonian oak casks. It is immediately seductive in its aromas of dried leaves, wet forest and sandalwood - yet suggests that there is more to come. Lustrous cherry is studded with sage on the dense palate. This is generous but cinched in the right places, while substantial, chewy tannins are ultimately yielding. Will be better in a few years.
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The Capanna farm, owned by the Cencioni family since 1957, is located north of Montalcino in the area of Montosoli. The vineyards of Montosoli are considered some of the best crus of Brunello. Capanna is a micro-estate dedicated to farming and vinifying the classic Sangiovese Grosso grape variety in a modern style. Capanna sits above the slope on the north facing portion of the old volcano that is topped by the citadel of Montalcino. The north facing slope consists of complex volcanic soil and subsoil which provide less extreme heat and cooler soils that allow the grapes to slowly mature. The highly permeable volcanic soils yield juicier, thinner-skinned grapes. No chemical fertilizers or herbicides are used, and every effort is made to maintain natural biodiversity in the vineyard. Winemaking emphasizes seamless forward fruit, substantial depth of color, flavor, balance, and elegance. The winemaking at Capanna reinforces and elaborates the advantages of its vineyards to produce wines which are rich, complex, generous and smooth.
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.