Brunello di Montalcino: Sleek, Pure 2013s & Surprising 2012 Riservas

BY IAN D'AGATA | APRIL 3, 2018

Two thousand thirteen is an excellent vintage for Brunello di Montalcino. If it is not quite the epic vintage that it appeared to be from cask, it is undoubtedly one of the better years for Brunello in some time – along with 2010, 2001, 2006 and 2004 in that order.

A view from Francesco Illy's vineyard 

The Style of the 2013 Brunellos

The 2013 Brunellos are far better balanced than the overrated 2011s, and they are deeper and more penetrating than the 2012s. Clearly, the 2013 Brunellos will leave those weaned on big, rich, tannic, high-pH wines scratching their heads, but those who prefer their Sangiovese restrained and refined will be grinning from ear to ear. Moreover, 2013 stands out because outstanding Brunellos were made all over the denomination’s (much too) large area under vine. While it is customary to expect the southern reaches of the production zone to fare better in cooler years such as 2013 and 2008 and the northern reaches to spring ahead of the pack in warmer vintages like 2007 and 2009, the growing season of 2013 yielded outstanding Brunellos from all of Montalcino’s quadrants as climatic differences between them were minimal.

The best 2013 Brunellos are sleek, refined wines with high acidity, well-integrated tannins and a cool-climate character. As the majority of these wines clock in between 13% and 14% alcohol, very few of them are marred by cooked fruit character or obvious alcoholic warmth – in contrast to such recent vintages as 2012 and 2011, in which many wines reached 15%. Although the best 2013 Brunellos will undoubtedly age well, the majority of them offer surprising early appeal, owing to their balance, ripe fruit and aromatic expressiveness, so you will not necessarily have to defer gratification if you purchase these wines. In fact, thanks to their freshness and gracefulness, the 2013s will prove very successful as restaurant by-the-glass pours as well as versatile at the dinner table.

The other good news for wine lovers this year is just how good the 2012 Brunello Riservas are. In fact, off the top of my head I cannot remember when I so thoroughly enjoyed tasting one Brunello Riserva after another. As I wrote last year in my article on the 2012 Brunellos, this was a much better vintage than 2011 and many more producers set wine aside for making Riservas in 2012 than they did in 2011. For the most part, the 2012 Riservas are very good examples of everything Brunello Riservas should be but rarely are: deeper, bigger and more complex wines than the classico bottlings, with a mellow aspect given their extra time and oxygenation in mostly large used oak barrels. In other words, the ’12s are not the tired, overly tannic, fruit-challenged wines that are commonly passed off as riserva.