2004 Solaria-Cencioni 123 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva

Solaria-Cencioni in Montalcino was founded in 1989 when Patrizia Cencioni took over her father’s estate and began bottling wine under her name. Her grandfather, Giuseppe Cencioni, was one of the founders of the local winemakers consortium, but Patrizia updated the estate and modernized winemaking. With 22 acres planted mostly in the Brunello appellation, the estate produces some 30,000 bottles a year. Solaria-Cencioni makes Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino, and a Cabernet Sauvignon/Sangiovese blend. Gambero Rosso has often given the estate’s wines rating of two to three glasses, and has complimented Patrizia as “one of the few wine women who monitors every stage in the production process, from winter pruning to bottling. The results are very personal and possess that characteristic typical of great wines – they improve with aging.”

Brunello di Montalcino is regarded as one of Italy’s best appellations. Located in south central Tuscany below Chianti, the wines of Brunello di Montalcino DOCG are made of a Sangiovese clone called “brunello,” which means “little dark one,” a reference to the brown tones in the skin of the grape. Unlike some Tuscan appellations that allow other grapes to be blended with Sangiovese, Brunello di Montalcino is entirely Sangiovese. Montalcino itself is a picturesque, hill-top town not especially well known for wine production until the mid-19th century, when a local vineyard owner isolated the brunello clone and planted it. Other growers followed suit. Nevertheless it wasn’t until 1970s that wine enthusiasts started paying attention to Brunello di Montalcino, which by then was becoming an outstanding wine. Today there are 120 estates in the DOCG, up from about 25 estates in 1975. Brunellos in general are bigger, darker, more tannic and more powerful wines than Chiantis or most other Sangioveses. By law they must be aged for four years, and two of those years must be in wooden barrels.