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2016 Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino

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Latest Sale Price

August 3, 2025 - $46

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RATINGS

95The Wine Advocate

Red cherry fruit and fresh plum follow to earthy tones, leather and balsam herb.

94Wine Spectator

There is plenty of ripe black cherry, black currant and plum fruit buried within the muscular structure of this red. Balanced, vibrant and resonant, with a long earth- and mineral-tinged aftertaste.

94James Suckling

This is a full-bodied red that opens with dried cherries, mushrooms and violets. Licorice notes too. Firm tannins and a minerally, tarry finish.

93Vinous / IWC

The bouquet sets the stage with a mix of crushed black cherries, plums, incense and exotic brown spices. It’s silky, almost creamy in texture, finding balance through juicy acids, as purple-tinged red and black fruits flesh out, leaving tactile mineral tones under an inner air of lavender and violets. This maintains perfect poise in spite of a larger-scaled feel, tapering off to a coating of fine tannins with hints of black tea and dark chocolate.

91Wine Enthusiast

Forest-floor, blue-flower and French oak aromas form the nose. The polished palate offers tart sour cherry, French oak and star anise alongside taut, fine-grained tannins that leave a firm, rather drying finish.

16Jancis Robinson

A rich nose with plenty of depth and hints of fruit cake. Full, supple and generous fruit with bags of slightly rustic tannins.

REGION

Italy, Tuscany, Brunello di Montalcino

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.

VINTAGE

2016 Donatella Cinelli Colombini Brunello di Montalcino