Old-Fashioned Charm: Newest Brunellos Recall the Classics

It’s been a while since I drank bottles of young Brunello di Montalcino straight after a tasting and enjoyed them with dinner. But that’s exactly what I did last month after tasting nearly 300 samples of Brunello 2021 in our office in Tuscany. I still smile thinking about it.

There is something unmistakably classical about Brunello di Montalcino 2021. The wines have an almost old-fashioned charm, with fresh, graceful aromatics that recall balanced vintages of the past such as 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2004. This “al dente” character best defines the new Brunellos now arriving on the market. I recommend buying this vintage. I prefer it to more recent ones, including 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Aldo Fiordelli, Zekun Shuai, Jacobo García Andrade and I not only tasted the 2021s, but also met with around 40 producers to discuss the nuances of the vintage. We tasted a few 2020 Riservas as well, though most were not significantly better than the original 2020 bottlings released last year.

Let’s begin with yields, which played an important role in shaping the character of the wines. The 2021 harvest was broadly average, as a spring frost reduced production, much as it did in 2001 and, to a similar extent, in the legendary 1997 vintage. This naturally helped concentration and balance.

Overall, the growing season was remarkably even, without extreme heat spikes, excessive rainfall or severe drought. Producers were largely free to choose when to harvest, which may explain the wide stylistic range we encountered, from light and silky wines to more powerful, blocky examples. We consistently favored the more structured and harmonious Brunello 2021s, which received the highest scores.

Two wines stood clearly at the top of the tasting, both earning 100 points: the San Filippo Brunello di Montalcino Le Lucere 2021 and Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie 2021. Both are highly perfumed and complex, with archetypal sangiovese character – cherries, blood orange and flowers – combined with deep fruit, a linear backbone and finely tuned tannins. They are among the finest Brunellos I have rated in the past decade.

Close behind were several outstanding 99-point wines: the Eredi Fuligni Brunello di Montalcino, Giodo Brunello di Montalcino 2021, Tenuta Luce Brunello di Montalcino, Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino and Valdicava Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Montosoli.

“This is one of the greatest Brunellos I have made in my career,” said Roberto Guerrini of Eredi Fuligni, who has been producing Brunello since the 1980s. “The harmony and balance of the 2021 is exceptional.”

The 2021 growing season began with a rainy spring that built healthy water reserves. Frosts on April 7 and 8, and again on April 15, reduced yields in some vineyards by as much as one third. A warm and dry May helped the flowering process, while summer was marked by a long drought, with the last significant rains falling before June and then again before August. Compared with 2020, 2021 was warmer, but crucially there was no rain in September.

These favorable conditions gave producers unusual freedom in choosing their harvest window, one of the defining features of the vintage and a key reason for the stylistic diversity among the wines.

In vintages such as 2017, 2018, 2019 and even 2020, weather patterns effectively dictated harvest timing. In 2021, that pressure was absent. The ability to pick at will highlighted differences among producers and across Montalcino’s slopes, with northern and northeastern areas seemingly advantaged by cooler air currents and wider diurnal temperature swings. We tended to prefer wines from these zones.

Many of the best wines came from grapes harvested shortly after the beginning of September, while riper, bolder styles were often picked as much as a month later. One producer from the southeastern zone told us that when his neighbor began harvesting, he was already racking wine off its barrel fermentation.

“Harvest timing was perhaps even more crucial than usual this year,” said Carlo Ferrini, the owner of Giodo and one of Italy’s most respected consulting enologists, who also made the pure and precise Giodo Brunello di Montalcino Prètto 2021. “The weather allowed everyone to decide when the moment was right. But there wasn’t much reason to wait: by early September the grapes were ready to make fresh wines, and delaying only increased the risk of having to correct later.”

Renzo Cotarella, the general manager of Marchesi Antinori, agreed, noting that the spring frost delayed part of the flowering and helped create this open harvest window. “We had cool nights and warm days at the end of the growing season,” he said. “It made fresh wines in the end.”

As a result, the 2021 harvest began almost two weeks earlier than the early-October timing once considered ideal for sangiovese, and still common as recently as 2019. Many wines reflect this shift. They are not overly structured, favoring balance over sheer power – hardly a drawback for contemporary Brunello.

The 2021s are elegant, with finer tannins than 2018 and 2020, yet less austere than 2019, a vintage that may ultimately prove superior for long-term aging. I find many 2019s monolithic in character, with high alcohol, heavy fruit and limited differentiation. By contrast, the 2021s show freshness, lightness and transparency, making them highly appealing today while still offering aging potential.

Approachable Riservas

By comparison, it is harder to get excited about the 2020 Riservas. That said, additional aging and selection have given some wines better definition and structure, adding tension to what were already fruity and approachable wines. A few examples stand out.

At Il Marroneto, on the northern slope of Montalcino, 2020 marks only the second Riserva ever produced, after 2013, excluding those made in the 1980s. Owner and winemaker Iacopo Mori explained that strong water reserves, extended flowering of 15 to 20 days, less summer heat and sufficient rain before harvest made the wine possible.

Caparzo and Altesino also produced Riservas in 2020, though in a departure from their usual style. “We typically make Riserva in powerful vintages, for wines meant for long aging and often austere on release,” said Alessandra Angelini, the co-owner of both estates. “The 2020, instead, is surprisingly approachable and elegant, while still retaining the hallmarks of a great Riserva.”

Other producers chose not to bottle a 2020 Riserva. “We preferred to focus on our Le Lucere selection rather than make a Riserva in 2020,” said Roberto Giannelli of San Filippo. “Perhaps that was a mistake. We will produce Riserva again in 2021 and a small amount in 2022. Still, it’s a category that is flattening out and not being valued as it should be.”

The Riserva category has long faced criticism – often justified – for extended aging requirements and excessive oak use, which can weigh down the wines. In many cases, the regular Brunello bottlings are more expressive. In any case, this year I am buying Brunello 2021 – and very little else from Montalcino. It's exceptional.

– James Suckling, with Senior Editor Aldo Fiordelli

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