Brunello 2020 & Riserva 2019

If you remember the dry and hot summer of 2020 in Europe, you may be surprised by the quality of the Brunello di Montalcino from this very vintage, which was released in January. The wines are not jammy or overly alcoholic. Most show a very attractive freshness and brightness of fruit. This structure makes them extremely attractive to drink now, but also to age over the next 10 to 12 years - and in some cases even longer. An impressive freshness that some Brunello producers attribute to the night-time fluctuations during the short hot spell, when early morning temperatures were around 26 degrees Celsius.

Over the coming weeks and months, many 2020 Brunello wines and, of course, selected Riserve from the terrific 2019 vintage will find their way into our warehouse. As always, we have summarised some of the most important reviews below.

Monica Larner (Robert Parker's Wine Advocate)

"I couldn't be happier with the Brunello di Montalcino 2020. After tasting it, I had two main thoughts: 1. these are the wines I want to drink and 2. this is the vintage Montalcino needs. 2020 was a year when we were locked in our homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the winemakers, it was an opportunity to pause, reflect and spend more time among the vines. I have a feeling that this was much more important than anyone could have imagined.

Thanks to a combination of great heat and timely rain, the 2020 vintage has produced wines that can best be described as charming or fundamentally beautiful. This vintage does not have the concentration of 2019 or the focussed power of 2016, but the wines are silky, fresh, direct and fruit-driven. They offer a broad spectrum of sweet fruit flavours ranging from wild cherry and watermelon to blood orange. There are also beautiful floral nuances and elegant mineral notes, which come from my favourite soil in Tuscany, the Scottish Galestro clay, and shine with incomparable brilliance in 2020. Thanks to the polished tannins and appetising acidity, they are certainly more direct and accessible.

And why is this the vintage that Montalcino needs? I suspect that the cuts caused by the pandemic have stimulated the creativity of winegrowers and they have found unique solutions to deal with climate change. Riccardo Campinoti from Le Ragnaie, whose vineyards are located at the highest point of the appellation, believes that a new generation is ushering in a fundamental change in Montalcino. "Young people who savour well are making the difference," says Campinoti, "I have the feeling that Brunello has faded a little in some ways, but it is moving back in the right direction and in a new direction because it has become powerful and dynamic again." Wine Advocate

Antonio Galloni (Vinous.com)

"After more than two decades of stagnation in terms of production guidelines, Montalcino has recently announced a series of changes that will have a significant impact on the Rosso di Montalcino DOC and Brunello di Montalcino DOCG categories. The official five-star system for rating vintages has been completely revised. The icing on the cake is the creation of a new map published by the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino in collaboration with the Master of Wine Gabriele Gorelli. At the centre of all this is the release of the eagerly awaited Brunello 2020 and, of course, the Brunello Riserva 2019.

A lot will be said about the 2020s. Some will call them elegant. Most will say they are energetic. They are undoubtedly aromatic and fruit-driven. Between all these wines that sometimes beguile the senses and are best drunk in the near future, there is another level of undeniably elegant and harmonious wines that soothe the palate and the soul. These wines offer sweet, ripe tannins and cooling acidity with a core of balanced fruit. They are graceful yet complex and impressive.

How is that possible? Winegrowers were in lockdown due to the pandemic and often decided to take intensive care of their vineyards. Gigliola Giannetti from Le Potazzine said her vineyard was like her garden in 2020: perfectly tended. Andrea Cortonesi of Uccelliera and Voliero described a varietal approach that would not have been possible without the restrictions of the time. Iacopo Mori from Il Marroneto remembers: "No aeroplanes, no cars, no pollution, it was incredible."

The 2020 vintage was hot, but not nearly as dry as 2019 or 2021. In fact, over 600 millimetres of rain fell between October and December 2019, with a further 115 millimetres in January. This meant that the water reserves for the growing season were very high. The winter brought temperatures below freezing, which helped to reduce disease. Spring was relatively dry, with timely rains in April and May. Temperatures rose by the end of May, leading to a consistent and healthy flowering period, followed by a prolonged dry period into the summer. The accumulated water reserves ensured that the vines remained healthy during this period and formed a lush green canopy. Between July and August, Mother Nature turned up the heat, with average temperatures of around 38 °C, forcing the vines to interrupt their vegetation process. But things soon took a turn for the better. At the end of August, 40 millimetres of rain fell, which led to significantly cooler temperatures. In fact, producers in the south of the appellation experienced a cool and extended harvest period. Poggio di Sotto and Uccelliera reported that the harvest began at the end of September. The month leading up to harvest saw 30 days of significant daily temperature fluctuations, often allowing producers to wait to harvest until their vines had reached full phenolic ripeness.

Success therefore depended on the producers. Who was prepared to adjust yields so as not to overburden the vines? Who had the courage to let their fruit hang longer than usual to allow it to ripen? Who had the foresight to adjust maceration times to cope with the high proportion of skin and pulp? Who decided to declassify their Riserva juice to improve their Annata? The successful wines of the 2020 vintage are stunning. But you should still be selective.

The Riserva category is always quite difficult in Montalcino. As I regularly taste older vintages, I often find that the Riserva wines mature more gracefully than the pure Brunellos. Admittedly, this has a lot to do with the style of the wines and the vintages themselves. Traditional winemakers who take full advantage of the Riserva category and age their wines in barrel over a longer period of time are likely to produce a fantastic Riserva in a classic vintage. More advanced winemakers have begun bottling their Riserva at the same time as their Brunello and releasing the Riserva a year later, as required by the DOCG. In these cases, winemakers are offering consumers a wine made from exceptional fruit that has matured for a further year in the cellar. There is great value in this, but ultimately the Riserva category will always be about the vintage, the producer and the style.

And what does Rosso di Montalcino do? Over the past four years, I have spoken at great length about the importance of Rosso di Montalcino and its increasing quality. Winemakers across Montalcino have placed a new emphasis on producing wines with deep character, depth and structure that can age much longer than previously thought. Today, many single-vineyard Rosso wines and Rosso wines made from declassified Brunello juice are far exceeding expectations. In vintages like 2018, 2019 and 2021, the Rosso category reached new heights and even surpassed some Brunellos in a year like 2018. In many cases, prices have risen, but these new prices are very often justified. I would like to see the Consorzio consider a new classification of Rosso that would help consumers distinguish between a wine intended for early and light enjoyment and a wine intended to function as a "baby Brunello". Hopefully this will be possible in the future." Antonio Galloni (Vinous.com)

James Suckling

"After tasting almost 230 Brunellos from the 2020 vintage at our office in Tuscany with Editor-in-Chief Aldo Fiordelli, I can safely say that 2020 is an excellent vintage, albeit not at the same level of quality as 2015, 2016 or 2019. In fact, the 2019 Brunellos look even better than I remembered after tasting so many 2020s, and we look forward to evaluating the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Riservas in December. The three years mentioned were fantastic Brunello vintages with consistent quality for almost all producers in the region. What impressed me, however, was the freshness of the 2020 Brunellos, despite the hot growing season in which temperatures in August sometimes reached 40 degrees Celsius.

"The vines were never under stress in August, depending on the location," said Cecilia Leoneschi, winemaker at Castiglion del Bosco, adding that a few isolated rain showers at the end of August and beginning of September gave the vines relief and allowed them to continue their growth. In addition, the north-facing and higher vineyards were less affected by the heat and withstood the dry weather better. "We always have high acidity, even in hot years," said Pier Giuseppe D'Alessandro, Managing Director of Poggio Antico, probably the highest vineyard in Montalcino with vineyards at an average of 480 metres above sea level, adding: "Our location gives us wines that are characterised by their freshness."

Surprisingly, the alcohol content of most of the 2020 Brunellos we tasted was relatively low. Given the heat in July and August, I would have expected extremely ripe grapes and wines with an alcohol content of over 15 per cent, but most were around 14 per cent. This may be due to the fact that many producers are now harvesting earlier. "It all depends on when you harvest," says Lorenzo Sassetti from Sassetti Livio Pertimali and continues: "You can't generalise because it's everyone's personal decision, but I have the feeling that all producers are harvesting earlier."

All of this leads me to conclude that 2020 is indeed a vintage worth buying and savouring. It could even mark a turning point for the region, where hot and dry vintages can be effectively managed both in the vineyards and in the cellars of Montalcino to produce fresh, attractive wines. What's more, this vintage creates a sort of feel-good factor for us all post-pandemic. See for yourself when you open a bottle of Brunello 2020 next year. During our tasting, we also evaluated some Brunellos from the 2019 vintage and it became clear how fantastic this vintage is. Perhaps I underestimated the vintage a little, although two wines received 100 points. The 2019s have remarkable depth and intensity, with wonderfully polished yet intense tannins. If you don't have them yet, I definitely recommend buying them, even though the 2019 Riserva won't be on the market until January, but they should be spectacular." James Suckling

Jancis Robinson

"To summarise: The 2020 vintage of Brunello di Montalcino tends towards a lighter, fresher style, but surpasses the 2018 vintage, to which it is often compared, in terms of its greater complexity. Even though the 2020 vintage was less extreme than the 2023 and 2024 vintages, it was still the fifth warmest vintage since 1955.

A so-called restaurant vintage? In Italy, producers and the press have hailed the 2020 Brunello vintage as a restaurant vintage - a euphemism for wines that are ready to drink from the moment they are released. This is not a bad thing in itself, as the best wines often need at least half a decade in the bottle even after the extended legal ageing period of four years. And it's true: The elegance and freshness of the 2020s are generally already very beguiling today, and the wines can be enjoyed from their release in January 2025. And in all likelihood, the 2023 and especially the 2024 will continue this style, so the question now is whether the international market will embrace it. I think it should and it will.

While most of the 2020 Brunellos are charming and very drinkable, some winemakers have even produced wines that rival the 2019s and, in some cases, even the 2016s. These are the Brunellos to look out for. With a few exceptions, this was not the year to focus on single-vineyard wines (unless producers were willing to make a ruthless selection, which only those producers who can afford to sell their wares at well over €100 can do). So generic or classic Brunellos, or wines made from blends rather than single-vineyard Brunellos, are perhaps the best buys of this vintage." Jancis Robinson

Doctor Wine

"As for the vintages presented at the Brunello tasting, the 2020s performed beautifully, showing good balance among the best despite the heat and lack of summer rain; moreover, the harvest was well managed despite the rains at the beginning and end of September. A harmonious, ready-to-drink vintage with good ageing potential. The best wines are impressively complex." Doctor Wine

So, enough theory, now it's time to browse, discover and taste the first splendid examples of the new 2020 Brunello vintage (and Riserva 2019), with many more to follow in the coming weeks.

Salute! SUPERIORE.DE