2013 Altesino Brunello di Montalcino 750 ml

Wine Advocate: “This Is My Kind of Brunello”

Upper-echelon Brunello di Montalcino is one of the things we get most excited about here at Wine Access. The boldness, vibrancy, and purity offered by the top bottlings make for ethereal wines that hit the sweet spot between pleasure, charisma, and elegance. High up on our list of all the Brunellos we tasted at this year’s Consorzio Del Vino Brunello di Montalcino was the 2013 Altesino. Wine Spectator honored it with a 95-point rave, while Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate called the 94+point stunner from  “absolutely unique” and “stitched finely together like lace,” urging its readers on in that unmistakable call to arms: “Bottoms up!” Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones eager to snap up allocations. 360 bottles is all there is to go around and they won’t last long.

On a cold morning this past January, energized by some of New York’s finest espresso and fired up by yet another groundbreaking vintage from Tuscany, we paced outside the stately, pillared entrance of Midtown Manhattan’s Gotham Hall, barely able to contain our excitement. When the doors opened, we burst into the Consorzio Del Vino Brunello di Montalcino 2013 vintage trade tasting like kids into a candy store.

2013 was a cooler vintage, in which Sangiovese prospered from a long and slow growing season, and it produced classic, finessed Brunellos, wines that have become all too rare as temperatures rise in the region. As Wine Enthusiast wrote, “If you want to experience the energy, elegance and ageworthy structure that first drew wine lovers and collectors to Brunello di Montalcino decades ago, then 2013 is your vintage.”

At Gotham Hall, we elbowed our way past suited somms and importers to visit our favorite producers: Poggio Antico, Talenti, Costanti, and Altesino. Forty-eight years since its founding, Altesino stood shoulder-to-shoulder with these prestigious Montalcino neighbors.

Though located in a 14th century palazzo, Altesino is a young winegrowing estate by Tuscan standards. Still, Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini’s centerpiece winery, which she acquired in 2002, maintains a deserved place in the upper echelon of Montalcino’s finest producers of Sangiovese grosso. Her winemaking team of Simone Giunti and Alessandro Ciacci are internationally respected for their modern and innovative take on one of Italy’s most beloved denominazione.

As we found out that day in New York City, in 2013 Giunti and Alessandro harnessed the gift of an incredible vintage from Mother Nature to make one of the estate’s finest Brunellos. In its 95-point review, Wine Spectator wrote of the 2013, “The structure is there, yet superb balance and refined tannins help this retain elegance through the long finish. Almost ethereal in its presence.” This is classic, ageworthy Brunello, more than deserving of a place in every collector’s cellar.

Jonathan Cristaldi
Editor-in-Chief, Wine Access