2015 Brunello di Montalcino Vallocchio
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Vallocchio shows depth and a more sophisticated approach with ample textural richness and more evident spice and smoke from its oak aging. However, the style fundamentally embraces the same lithe and lifted elegance that we saw in Fanti's classic Brunello. The color saturation of the Vallocchio is a degree or two darker, and the bouquet reveals dark cherry, tilled earth, cola and smoked cedar wood. Give the wine a few more years in your cellar to flesh out.
Critic scores
Average Score
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
James Suckling
More reviews and scores
The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Vallocchio is dark and floral, leading off with exotic spices and white smoke, then giving way to crushed black cherry, hints of violet, crushed stone, and sweet balsamic notes. On the palate, I find velvety textures, complemented by ripe black cherry and sweet spice, as zesty acids pinch at the senses and red inner florals resonate throughout. The finish is long and youthfully angular, while fine-grained tannins saturate under a mix of tart red berry fruit and lingering acids.
Tasted blind. Deep ruby with bright orange tinges. A little singed on the nose with hints of gingerbread. Rather ripe palate with fruit-cake notes. Intense, rich and concentrated fruit with firm tannins. A little rustic. (WS)
What a nose of dried meat, tar, tobacco, dried boysenberries, red licorice and baking spices. Hearty tannins surround the full-bodied palate from every side, wringing bursting acidity from a full-throttle core of ripe, chewy fruit. The power and intensity are undeniable, but as you seep in the rich dried spices and died meat on the finish, you catch a glimpse of crystalline acidity through the looking glass. Drink from 2025.