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2019 La Serena Brunello di Montalcino

Removed from a subterranean wine cellar

Ends Sunday, 7pm Pacific

RATINGS

97James Suckling

Aromas of bark, dark cherries and flowers, too. It’s medium- to full-bodied with purity of fruit that runs the length of the wine. It goes on for minutes. Very fine tannins.

95Wine Spectator

...fruity...spicy...cherry, strawberry and black pepper flavors throughout. Floral, iron and underbrush accents add depth, yet it's the beam of pure cherry that prevails. Shows prodigious length on the finish.

93Vinous / IWC

...darkly alluring, with an earthy blend of crushed rocks and flowery underbrush, giving way to steeped plums and violet florals...sweeps across the palate with juicy textures as exotic spices and crisp red fruits slowly saturate...finishes long and staining, with crunchy tannins that frame the experience well without slowly its momentum as an air of lavender fades over a staining of black licorice.

93Decanter Magazine (points)

...wafts with fragrant balsam wood, pressed rose and allspice. Fully packed and energetic, the palate shows impressive purity of spicy dark cherry with pleasantly puckering acidity. Chalky textured tannins are on the right side of extraction, building in power as they coat the mouth.

91CellarTracker

PRODUCER

La Serena

La Serena was founded in 1933 as a farm producing olive oil and other agricultural products. In 1988 Andrea Mantengoli and his brother, then in charge of the family estate, starting producing wine for commercial release. From 2,700 bottles of Brunello di Montalcino in 1988, production is now about 30,000 bottles annually. The 22 vineyard acres are farmed organically. La Serena makes Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino. Wine Advocate has rated La Serena’s Brunellos in the mid-90s and written this about the estate: “Andrea Mantengoli is a producer whose star is clearly on the rise. These new releases from Mantengoli are all standouts.”

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

2019 La Serena Brunello di Montalcino