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• Score: 93 Vintage 2020 Jeb Dunnuck Dark red/magenta-hued, the 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino is deep with aromas of kirsch, cedar, polished leather, and toasted sage. Full-bodied and approachable, it's warming with ripe, plush tannins and retains very good freshness that holds it together. It's a very successful vintage for this wine, which should drink well over the coming 10-12 years. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 92 Vintage 2020 James Suckling Candied-cherry and orange aromas with a hint of cedar follow through to a medium body with tight and lightly chewy tannins and a citrusy finish. Tight at the end. Needs to open and soften. Try after 2027. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 90 Vintage 2020 Vinous A cascade of violets and lavender give way to stone dust, crushed chalk and blackberries as the 2020 Brunello di Montalcino blossoms in the glass. Cool-toned, soft and plain, this displays sleek red and black fruits, guided by brisk acidity, yet I find myself craving more complexity. The 2020 finishes with medium length, leaving a framework of fine tannins and the resonance of sour cherry. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2019 Wine Advocate The well-made La Poderina 2019 Brunello di Montalcino offers a wide-reaching bouquet with a little bit of everything you might expect of this celebrated Sangiovese-based appellation. There are elements of ripe fruit, blackberry, potting soil, graham cracker and sweet spice. All these various pieces get wrapped up in a nicely intense bouquet. This wine offers solid texture over a medium to full-bodied mouthfeel. This is a 68,000-bottle production. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2019 James Suckling Magazine Black-cherry, sour-cherry and rose-stem aromas follow through to a medium body with firm tannins and a crisp finish. It’s transparent and clear with a real sense of its vineyards. Better after 2026, when the tannins and acid will have melted together. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 91 Vintage 2019 Vinous Media The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino wafts up with a dark blend of medicinal blackberries, cloves and violet candies. This is juicy in character, with a liquid floral sensation and spicy red berry fruits that slowly saturate. It finishes with medium length and gently tannic while leaving a bitter licorice tinge lingering. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 91 Vintage 2019 Vinous The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino wafts up with a dark blend of medicinal blackberries, cloves and violet candies. This is juicy in character, with a liquid floral sensation and spicy red berry fruits that slowly saturate. It finishes with medium length and gently tannic while leaving a bitter licorice tinge lingering. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2018 Wine Enthusiast The nose starts at a café, with espresso and a cherry vanilla scone, before heading outside to a field of wild herbs. On the elegant palate, enduring notes of mocha and cherry are balanced by a spiced, medicinal undertone. Flexible yet sturdy tannins and simmering acid undergird a velvety, contoured texture. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 92 Vintage 2018 Wine Advocate There is an earthy note here with iron ore and dusty root to start off the bouquet of the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino. That savory tone cedes to dark fruit, baked plum and a hint of roasted chestnut shell. This wine promotes a unique identity and a special aromatic profile in this vintage. Those earthy or metallic notes are also delivered to the palate, where the wine offers mid-weight density and dusty tannins. This is an ample production of 69,500 bottles. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 92 Vintage 2018 James Suckling This has aromas of cherry stones, bark, olives and dried mushrooms. Tar and bitter chocolate, too. Full-bodied with finely-knit, integrated tannins. Excellent density with bright acidity and an earthy, savory edge. Drink after 2023. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2017 James Suckling Plenty of dark cherries, cedar, sandalwood and licorice on the nose. Full-bodied with firm and polished tannins that nicely melt into the wine. Pure and beautiful fruit. Give this time to open. Better after 2023. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 92 Vintage 2017 Wine Advocate The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is characterized by some of those same earthy notes of crushed limestone and baked clay that we saw so clearly in the other two entry-level red wines released by this estate. Wild cherry and dried raspberry cede to oregano, basil or balsam herb. However, overall the fruit intensity is faded. The tannins are on the dry side, and perhaps the heat of the vintage reveals itself there with greater clarity. This wine is best served in the near term. Production is 66,000 bottles. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 88 Vintage 2017 Wine Enthusiast Coconut, espresso, and spice aromas shape the nose on this already mature red. The warm, nofrills palate offers raisin, licorice and roasted coffee bean alongside tightly wound, grainy tannins. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 87 Vintage 2017 Vinous Media A smoky mix of pine, chalk dust, crushed violets, lavender and dried strawberries lifts up from the 2017 Brunello di Montalcino. This is savory yet silky on the palate, with a drenching wave of red and black berries that leaves salty minerals and fine-grained tannins in its wake. It tapers off with hulking structure, echoing purple-tinged florals and hints of sweet spice through the finale. The 2017 will require cellaring to soften and resolve. That said, I don’t think it will enjoy a long life thereafter. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 95 Vintage 2016 James Suckling A lovely, polished young Brunello with black cherries and floral, orange-peel and some mineral notes. It’s full-bodied and very fine-tannined with a long, focused finish. Give it two or three years to open. Better after 2022. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2016 Wine Advocate La Poderina's 2016 Brunello di Montalcino shows a lot of charm and grace, with a bouquet that is defined not so much by the ripeness of its fruit but by the many nuances hidden directly under the surface. The fruit shows lifted red tones with cherry and dried raspberry, but it also offers very precise minerality with crushed limestone and chalk that adds points of dustiness or dryness to the bouquet (and ultimately subtracts from the density of the mouthfeel). These lithe background tones shape what is fundamentally a very elegant, streamlined and pretty Brunello. I am very happy to recommend this new release (with 65,000 bottles to hit the market in March 2021) from La Poderina. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 90 Vintage 2016 Vinous Media The 2016 La Poderina Brunello di Montalcino is unique yet also quite seductive. It wafts up from the glass with a bouquet that mixes crushed violets, graphite and white smoke with peppery herbs and currants. The textures here are velvety-smooth, creating an elegant expression but with a mix of salty minerals and round tannins which seem to coat the palate. Its fruits are more blue and purple than red, with a twang of exotic spices which resonates well into the structured finish. Frankly, I doubt I’d be able to call this Brunello in a blind tasting, yet it still has its qualities. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 88 Vintage 2016 Wine Enthusiast Aromas of mocha, cedar and baking spice form the nose. The dense palate offers baked plum, vanilla and clove alongside grainy tannins. Drink after 2024. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2015 Wine Advocate The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino by La Poderina does not disappoint. This is a nicely layered expression, with tart berry notes followed by toasted nut, garden soil and dusty mineral or limestone that add pretty contouring and framing to the dark fruit at the core. Those mineral notes recall chalkboard or pencil shaving, and that wide spectrum of aromatic layering also stacks up tall, with lifted and focused intensity. Tight and linear, this is a very elegant wine that shouldn't be too hard to find with some 70,000 bottles produced. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 94 Vintage 2015 James Suckling This has a lifted, toffee quality to it with hearty Christmas spices, spearmint tea, dried boysenberries and strawberry jam. The full-bodied palate has stocky, robust tannins that coat the mouth in layers of nearly overripe fruit and sweeping alcohol. But a dash of acidity on the finish reins in this powerful Brunello. Drink from 2023. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 92 Vintage 2015 Vinous Media Peppery overtones, cranberry and tart cherries define the bouquet of the 2015 Brunello di Montalcino from La Poderina, as notes of olive, leather, pine resin, cumin and crushed stone develop in the glass. On the palate, notes of herbal-tinged black cherry and crushed violets, along with cooling acids and minerals keep things lively. The finish is remarkably long, resonating on the same peppery top notes found on the bouquet, yet with the added kick of zesty spices, brisk acids, and a hint of youthful tannin that lingers on. This is a singular expression of Brunello, which is hard to place within the region or its terroir, but there’s an attractive quality to its unique profile that I enjoy quite a bit. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 88 Vintage 2015 Wine Spectator Plum, cherry and leafy underbrush aromas and flavors are joined by flashes of new oak in this red. The attractive flavors are compromised by a woody, dry feel to the tannins. Best from 2023 through 2035. 5,833 cases made, 1,550 cases imported. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 88 Vintage 2015 Wine Enthusiast Aromas of espresso, dark-skinned fruit and toasted oak slowly emerge from the glass. The solid, one-dimensional palate offers blackberry jam, licorice and roasted coffee bean alongside assertive tannins that leave rather astringent finish. Drink after 2022. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 91 Vintage 2014 Wine Advocate The 2014 Brunello di Montalcino is a wine that stays in its lane. It offers pretty intensity but it never goes overboard. In the mouth, it shows silky, long texture but it never feels overdone or too powerful. I could say the same thing of many Brunellos from this cool and rainy vintage that produced understated wines. Bold cherry and cassis segue to spice, leather and lightly toasted rosemary sprig. There are pretty floral notes on the close with rose and lavender bud. Some 65,000 bottles were produced. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 88 Vintage 2014 Wine Enthusiast This opens with subtle aromas of mocha, dark-skinned fruit and baking spice. The straightforward palate offers juicy cherry, licorice and a touch of tobacco alongside rounded tannins. KERIN O’KEEFE Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 88 Vintage 2014 Vinous Media Medium red. Raspberry, spices and violet on the nose, along with a strong woodsy element. Juicy red berry and licorice flavors are brightly energetic but an intrusive herbal edge picks up steam with aeration. Finishes with serious tannins and good length, but the green edge and a lightly bitter note contribute to compressing this Brunello’s fruit on the medium-long back end. Shelf Talker Full Page Review
• Score: 91 Vintage 2013 Wine and Spirits From an estate in Castelnuovo Abate, in Montalcino’s southern sector, this deeply colored cherry-flavored wine is loaded with tones of menthol and sage. It feels cool and lively, light enough to serve with poultry dishes. Shelf Talker Full Page Review