Pick My Next Bottle – 2015 Brunello di Montalcino

The July installment of Pick My Next Bottle focuses on 2015 Brunello di Montalcino. As I mentioned in the first installment, the purpose of this series is to provide insight into specific wines or producers you may currently have in your cellar. The winning bottle will be opened this Friday and a Bottle Note will be published the following week.

The 2015 vintage for Brunello di Montalcino was highly acclaimed from the get go and followed on other recent stellar vintages such as 2010 and 2013. This is a vintage that delivers with excellent ripeness and admirable structure and the best wines should now be starting to drink well.

The Contenders

• 2015 Altesino Brunello di Montalcino – The Altesino 2015 Brunello di Montalcino shows beautiful depth and latitude, with broad fruit aromas of dark cherry and cassis that recall the warmth and golden sunlight of the vintage. The wine is deceivingly streamlined in terms of mouthfeel, but that slim and buttoned-down backbone supports a broad range of flavors and sensations, from lavender essence and camphor ash to moist soil and toasted spice. All of these elements are delivered with impressive harmony and unity, and I expect that this wine will continue on a slow, steady and satisfying aging trajectory over the next 10 years or more. Fruit is sourced from across 21 hectares of vines with tufaceous limestone soils and Alberese rock, which contributes to the freshness and balanced structure of the wine. The wine was bottled in June 2019 (with 150,000 bottles made), and this wine was released in January 2020.  95 points from The Wine Advocate.
• 2015 Argiano Brunello di Montalcino – This is a terrific wine and one of the new releases from Montalcino that I happily include on a short list of top recommendations. The Argiano 2015 Brunello di Montalcino shows a very lively bouquet that is already singing despite the young age of this new release. The wine opens to a dark ruby color with garnet highlights. The bouquet shows a large span of wild berry, earth, licorice spice and medicinal herb aromas. This vintage also reveals a pretty floral character with dried rose potpourri and lavender buds. However, the 2015 vintage is naturally expressive and exuberant, and that’s the main takeaway here. 95 points from The Wine Advocate.
• 2015 Lisini Brunello di Montalcino – The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino is dark and rich, showing ripe black cherries and plum, with layers of haunting florals, exotic brown spice and smoky mineral tones. On the palate, a wave of polished textures wash across the senses, ushering in juicy black cherry with sweet herbal and floral undertones, with zesty spices and vibrant acidity adding a refreshing quality. The finish is long and remarkably fresh, an example of how the warmth of Sant’Angelo in Colle can be tempered by a deft hand, as fine tannins come forward, balanced by mouthwatering acidity and punctuated by residual pure red berry fruit. It’s a wine that’s very easy to love, with near term appeal and potential for the cellar. 94 points from Vinous.

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Thanks for voting! I’d love to see a comment below on why you picked one bottle over another.

Also, let me know if you have any suggestions for the August Installment of Pick My Next Bottle.