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• Score: 93 Vintage 2017 Wine Advocate The Fossacolle 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is a solid and silky wine that manages and captures the heat and concentration of the vintage. The wine opens to some ripeness, with hints of dark cherry and baked strawberry, but these results are not heavy or overdone. Those dark fruit tones segue to spice, rum cake, wild rose and potting soil. The transitions between these various sensations are smooth, and the palate offers good structure with little astringency. The team at Fossacolle did a good job with this wine. 16,000 bottles were produced.Stefano Bambagioni and the folks at Fossacolle decided not to make Rosso di Montalcino in 2017 because yields had been greatly reduced by the hail and heat stress of the vintage. This allowed for greater control and fruit selection when making the 2017 Brunello di Montalcino reviewed here. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 90 Vintage 2017 James Suckling Ripe berries and cherries and lots of sweetness. Dried flowers, too. Full-bodied and chewy with intense tannins and lots of fruit. It’s a big Brunello that needs time to soften. Drink in 2023. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 86 Vintage 2017 Vinous Media The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is dark and dusty, but also quite understated, hints of balsam herbs, brown spice and plums forming its bouquet. It’s soft and juicy in feel, but a bit one-dimensional, with tart berries and mineral tones giving way to grippy tannins toward the close. This leaves the palate aching under its youthful structure, along with the slightest tinge of heat that gives me pause. It appears that the 2017 from Fossacolle is a victim of the warm and dry conditions of the vintage. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2016 Wine Advocate The Fossacolle 2016 Brunello di Montalcino opens to a charming level of intensity and purity. This wine really jumped out at me thanks to the chiseled and sharp quality of fruit and the lingering acidity and power one receives on the finish. It undergoes both its primary and secondary fermentation in cement and is racked into French and Slavonian oak (of various sizes) for two years. Everything just works here, and the wine delivers great harmony between its fruit, spice, acidity and structure. Production is 17,000 bottles. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2016 James Suckling A full-bodied, firmly structured red with dried cranberries, dried earth, leather and smoke on the nose. Fresh and sour cherries on the palate, alongside firm, chewy and tobacco-like tannins. Better after 2024. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 88 Vintage 2016 Vinous Media The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino gains freshness in the glass, yet it has a rusticity to it that won’t please all palates. Overripe strawberry and plum gives way to moist soil and animal musk. It’s silky in feel, mixing citrus-tinged tart berries and salty minerals with brisk acids. Grippy tannins settle in and hold firm, as dried red fruits and notes of tobacco linger. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 97 Vintage 2015 James Suckling Excellent ripeness of fruit here with glazed strawberries, blood oranges, red licorice and dried spices. Superb density and focus to the centre palate, which is layered, ornate, plush but balanced. The finish goes on and on with nutmeg, tar and saffron. Wonderful length and intensity. Drink from 2024. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 93 Vintage 2015 Wine Advocate The Fossacolle 2015 Brunello di Montalcino shows a prominent mineral note of crushed stone and talc powder. It becomes a fitting segue to more typical aromas of wild berry fruit and balsam herbs. There is some firmness or tannic bite on the close that suggests extra cellar aging is required. Even just a few years should be enough to shave it off. This wine is tightly coiled and inward-looking at this early stage in the game. The finish is structured and angular, but it just needs to open. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 92 Vintage 2015 Vinous Media Good full red. Inviting aromas of ripe plum, red cherry nectar, leather and underbrush. Plump but graceful, with flavors of red fruit, leather and potpourri that are supported by polished tannins tapering nicely on the long, saline finish. In keeping with the warm year, this showy wine is round and creamy but slightly less well delineated than some past vintages of Fossacolle. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 91 Vintage 2014 Wine Advocate This wine magically shows more warmth and sunshine than this difficult vintage gave in reality. The 2014 Brunello di Montalcino delivers extra density and a richly fibrous texture. It exceeds expectations for this difficult vintage that was plagued by rain and humidity, resulting in much weaker wines across the board. You do taste some of that leanness, but this wine performs very nicely despite the challenges. Some 12,500 bottles were made. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 86 Vintage 2014 Wine Enthusiast Initially shy, the nose eventually reveals aromas evoking wild berry, leather and whiffs of French oak. The aromas carry over to the light-bodied, rather lean palate along with unripe cherry, espresso, a hint of sage and bright acidity. Dusty, fleeting tannins leave a drying, rather raspy close. KERIN O’KEEFE Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2013 Wine and Spirits Sergio Marchetti and his family became owners of this small estate near Tavernelle, southwest of Montalcino, when the former owner gifted the land to him. Marchetti continues to manage the ten vineyard acres while his son-in-law, Adriano Bambagioni, makes the wines. The estate’s 2013 Brunello is immensely appealing, plush with soft cherry fruit and tarragon notes wrapped in fine, firm tannins. The wine takes on notes of damp earth and subtle spices as it sits in the glass, feeling cool and balanced. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 92 Vintage 2004 James Suckling Complex aromas of plums, fresh leather and flowers follow through to a medium to full body, firm and chewy tannins and a juicy finish. Solid still. Drink or hold. Shelf Talker Full Page Review