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2017 Conti Costanti Brunello di Montalcino

WE 97

WA 93

VN 93

WS 92

JR 17+

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2017 Conti Costanti Brunello di Montalcino, 750ml

RATINGS

97Wine Enthusiast

Extremely elegant and focused...starting with a heady fragrance of ripe dark-skinned berries, violet, camphor, dark spice and whiffs of crushed herbs. On the linear, elegantly structured palate, tightly woven but extremely polished tannins accompany juicy Marasca cherry, blood orange, licorice and white pepper while fresh acidity keeps it balanced and fresh.

93The Wine Advocate

...nicely layered and concentrated, with an immediate delivery of black fruit, spice and potting soil...savory personality...the tannins are quite soft and velvety.

93Vinous / IWC

...alluring, spicy and dusty mix of cherry and raspberry preserves, crushed stone and dusty flowers is lifted by cedar shavings and dried citrus peels...fleshy yet delicate in feel, displaying pure ripe red berry fruit, nicely contrasted by salty mineral tones...tapers off long while leaving the mouth watering for more, as a gentle tug of tannin slowly fades under rosy inner florals.

92Wine Spectator

...vibrant style, this features strawberry, cherry, floral and mineral flavors, with hints of tobacco, iron and underbrush chiming in as this turns more compact on the finish. Has fine overall balance and length.

17+ Jancis Robinson

Lifted nose that is a little ethereal and hinting at concentrated cherry fruit. Super-elegant palate and yet lots of concentration and fine, long tannins. Poised.

PRODUCER

Conti Costanti

Conti Costanti is a historic, 30-acre estate in the eastern edge of Montalcino. The Costanti family has been in Montalcino since the 16th century, and they are part of the region’s aristocracy. Andrea Costanti, who now runs the estate, took the reins from his uncle, Count Emilio, in 1983. Count Emilio had made dramatic improvements to the estate and made Conti Costanti’s Brunellos some of the region’s best. The estate makes about 60,000 bottles a year. Gambero Rosso wrote in 2016 that the Brunellos produced by Andrea “are to all intents and purposes noble wines. Not only because of the Costanti family’s ancestors, but mainly due to the aristocratic expressive features evident for over 30 years in the Sangioveses nurtured by Andrea.” Vinous notes that “the property remains a reference point for Brunello.”

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.