
2018
Region
Italy › Toscana › Montalcino › Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Type
red · still
Grapes
Sangiovese
Alcohol
14%
Volume
750 mL
Sugar
0.6 g/L
Available at
Nuanced and patient. The bouquet opens on cherry confiture and dark chocolate liqueur candies with cherry filling, then deepens into chorizo, leather, underbrush, and red flowers - the kind of aromatic arc that rewards sitting with the glass rather than dissecting it. Super delicate on the palate, the tannin slightly dry, the structure and balance superb; acidity isn't high but the wine never reads heavy, and the finish runs long and warm, closing on milk chocolate, raspberry, and a flicker of peony. A charmer in the strongest sense - a wine that begs to be drunk in volume but rewards you for slowing down. Despite the intensity, it still floats - airy, pillowy, the kind of Brunello that quietly settles the argument about why this house sits where it does.
Bosco is one of Stella di Campalto's site-named Brunello cuvées from her Podere San Giuseppe estate in Castelnuovo dell'Abate, near the Abbey of Sant'Antimo. The blend draws from four south- and southwest-facing plots - Bosco, San Giuseppe, Ulivo and Curva - between 210 and 290 metres on a property with twelve distinct soil types. Fermentation is spontaneous in small wooden vats of 20 to 40 hectolitres with no pied de cuve, followed by around 34 months in 15-17 hectolitre casks and roughly 30 months in bottle. Farming has been organic since 1996 and biodynamic since 2002, with output across all Brunello bottlings only around 14,000 bottles.
This is pure bliss. Initially restrained, but after spending more than 40 minutes with a single glass, it opened up beautifully with a nuanced bouquet of cherry confiture, dark chocolate candies filled with liqueur and cherry, alongside notes of chorizo, leather, underbrush, and red flowers. Simply beautiful!
On the palate, it's both intense and delicate. The tannins are a bit dry, but the structure and balance are superb. The acidity isn't high, yet the wine doesn't lack freshness. The aftertaste is long, warm, delicate, and flavourful, with milk chocolate, raspberries, and a hint of peonies in the finish.
It's a charmer---a delicious wine you want to consume in big quantities, yet its character makes you appreciate it slowly, avoiding the rush. Despite its intensity, it still feels airy and pillowy.
Brunello di Montalcino Cielo
4.6