2018 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille
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Tasting notes
The 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino Sugarille is layered with aromas of black licorice, wild raspberry, smoky cedar, and sweet Mediterranean herbs. It is medium to full-bodied with gorgeous concentration and length in its fresh cherry fruit, salty earth, ripe and present tannins, iron-rich earth, and warming spice. As it opens, it reveals layers of leather, fresh pine, and orange peel, and it is exceptionally balanced between its elegance, weightless feel, and noble tension. It needs another couple of years in bottle before hitting its prime drinking 2025-2045.
Critic scores
Average Score
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Showing extra richness and textural weight, the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille is structured, rich and intense. This wine represents fruit from a single site that is characterized by schistous galestro soils. These conditions give Sugarille its heavier center of gravity and its distinguished power and heft. Dark fruit, balsam herb and pencil shavings shape a beautiful and precise bouquet. Give this wine more time to age.
The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille keeps me coming back to the glass again and again to take in its spicy yet also wonderfully lifted bouquet, as shavings of cedar and pine evolve to reveal mentholated herbs, flinty stone and dried black cherries. This is deeply textural, soothing with its combination of ripe red fruits and juicy acidity, as sweet spices and mint nuances resonate toward the close. The Sugarille doesn’t miss a beat, tapering off with impeccable balance and regal structure, while allowing remnants of ripe wild berries and plum to linger on and on. The Gaja family has really outdone themselves in this idiosyncratic vintage.
Deep ruby with orange tinges. Savoury and slightly reductive on the nose with pure cherry underneath. Pure and focused on the palate, if slow to unfurl, and with complex oak notes slowly revealing themselves. Right now, the powdery tannins take the lead on the finish, but this needs much more time. (WS)
About the producer
Gaja has been at the forefront of the Piedmont wine scene for many years and is Barbaresco’s most decorated producer. The winery has received a record number of Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri awards – the highest accolade from Italy’s leading wine publication.