Le Chiuse Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Diecienni 2013
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
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Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2013 Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva Diecianni is a balance between power and elegance. Layered aromas of ripe red cherries, black raspberry, leather, and Mediterranean herbs are followed by a full-bodied though weightless red that is long on the palate, with more undulating perfume constantly evolving throughout. Its ripe tannins provide structure but are wonderfully managed. This is another stunning wine from Le Chiuse that flirts with perfection and is a benchmark wine from the Le Chiuse estate to drink over the next two decades.
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Wine Spectator
A complex, intense red hallmarked by expressive aromas and flavors of cherry, plum, mushroom, woodsy underbrush, mineral and wild herbs. Supple and firmly supported, turning more precise on the long, savory finish. Balanced, with time to give.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This beautiful wine is released 10 years after the harvest, as its name suggests. The Le Chiuse 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Diecianni (in numbered bottles) takes us back in time to a vintage that flaunts richness and texture. The wine is dark and velvety in appearance, and there is plenty of elegant tertiary definition to underline its age and ongoing evolution. Pressed blackberry and baked plum cede to leather, tarry spice and sweet tobacco. This is a generous, full-bodied wine. I tasted number 297 of 4,023 bottles made. Given the evolution, I suggest a slightly shorter drinking window.
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.