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Canalicchio di Sopra 2016 Brunello di Montalcino

£54.00

In stock

SKU

ITTURCSBM16B-1

Buy 6 for £51.30 each and save 5%

We have been following Canalicchio di Sopra for a number of years, and we are delighted with the 2016. Not as opulent as the 2015, this year the wine is classically structured with beautiful tannin structure and acidity. The aromatics are all there but need some coaxing to reveal complex minerality, black fruits, forest scents and wood smoke. Always one of Montalcino's most elegant wines and the 2016 is no exception. Drink from 2023 onwards, but be prepared for longer.

"Lustrous mid ruby. Closed, with minerally hints. Fantastic focus, concentration and balance and totally poised. Very pure, with long tannins. Enormous concentration yet not heavy. Very young but already irresistible" Walter Speller, Jancisrobinson.com, 18 Pts

"The Canalicchio di Sopra 2016 Brunello di Montalcino shows balance and symmetry with that difficult twofold delivery of power and elegance. This terrific new release shows dark fruit and tart cherry, but then unwinds slowly to reveal light spice, toasted nut, blue flower and crushed limestone. The wine affords a genuine sense of place with roots in the northern half of the appellation where the light is whiter and the nights are cooler. That brilliant luminosity appears in the pure quality of fruit and the sharp focus of the mouthfeel, driven by balanced tannins and acidity. The sensation it gives is compact and long, without too much extra volume or padding. This wine is like a contoured, chiseled and carefully polished marble statue that you would see in a Renaissance church." Monica Larner, RobertParker.com, 95 Pts

The Wine Region

Tuscany

Tuscany is the region of Italy that most fine wine drinkers gravitate towards.

It occupies much of Central Italy with a Tyrrhenian coast to the west and the Apennines to the east, it has both Mediterranean and continental climates.

The story of Tuscany begins with its major black variety, Sangiovese, one of the most planted varieties in Italy, but here is its ancestral and spiritual home. Sangiovese makes up the majority of the blend of Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and various other DOC/Gs and 100% of Brunello & Rosso di Montalcino.

Chianti Classico is the region between Florence and Siena and has been systematically polluted with foreign varieties such as Cabernet, Syrah and, God forbid, Merlot.

Now, we are seeing a return to more traditional blends as producers are gradually moving away from the Super Tuscan movement of the 1980s & 1990s.

In Montalcino, where only Sangiovese is permitted, producers have also shunned the illicit use of foreign varieties and the wines have never been better because of it. Helped out by a good run of vintages, as well.

Elsewhere, there are still gems to be discovered. San Gimignano is home to the only major DOCG for white wines, yet its planting of its traditional variety, Vernaccia di San Gimignano are on the wane, but not at Castello di Montaùto who still champion this variety.

The Tuscan Coast is still the hotbed for innovation, unlike other bits of Tuscany it is the international varieties that thrive and make the best wines, with the occasional exception

The Sub-Region

Brunello di Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino vies with Barolo and Barbaresco as Italy’s greatest wine producing zone. Montalcino is a viticultural zone which surrounds the mediaeval hilltop town of Montalcino itself. There are a few styles of wine produced here, but it is for the Brunello that fine wine drinkers all over the world beat a path to. Rosso di Montalcino is its sibling which is also made from 100% Sangiovese (locally known as Brunello), but released a little earlier than the mandatory 5 years following harvest date for Brunello itself.