2015 Cantina di Montalcino Brunello di Montalcino 750 ml

Great Brunello from the now-legendary 2015 vintage in Tuscany rarely comes with this kind of price. Especially when the bottle has an impressive 95-point score from the Decanter World Wine Awards that called it "excellent," and a rave from James Suckling, who ended his review on an exclamatory, “What a wine from the only cooperative in Montalcino!”

Cantina di Montalcino has been Montalcino’s lone cooperative for over 40 years. It's set on the famed Tuscan “Grand Cru” hill of Montosoli among some of the area’s most celebrated estates, like Le Chiuse, Siro Pacenti, and Valdicava—Brunellos that all fetch three-digit prices. Meanwhile, the brilliant, young winemaking talents at the co-op have managed to keep costs down with the diversity of growers at their disposal.

What a wine this is: A gorgeous bouquet of candied cherry and crushed rose petals evokes the gifts of what Suckling called a “fairy-tale vintage” in Montalcino. Juicy cherry and cranberry lead the palate, picking up complexity along the way with notes of anise, new leather, and singed citrus rind. A light smokiness dovetails with hints of tobacco before developing flavors of nutmeg and cardamom spice toward the middle. Balanced and perfectly nuanced, this traditional Brunello shows excellent mineral drive and mouthwatering acidity on a finish that begs for a medium-rare bistecca alla Fiorentina.

We love co-op wines—whether they’re Brunello, Champagne, or Burgundy—because of the way they let super-talented small growers shine. There’s no prohibitive cost of entry: If a grape grower has no winery but has a gorgeous harvest, they can join forces with other growers, pooling their grapes and knowledge to create a beautiful bottle of wine. And since co-ops rarely spend on flashy promotions, that bottle often comes at a super-friendly price… if you can get your hands on it. 

That’s why we’re extra-vigilant in fantastic years like 2015 in Montalcino, when farmers picked at their leisure without fear of over-ripeness or desiccation. These conditions made the cooperative’s 100 small growers and 400 acres of vines a veritable goldmine of quality.

It was a year for small but healthy grapes, with thick skins and better acidity than is typical in warm summers, leading Vinous to characterize it as “easily one of the top eight or ten Brunello vintages of all time.” Traditional Brunello winemaking (including two years spent aging in Slavonian oak barrels) allowed the red fruit, mineral, and earth tones to shine through this 2015 Cantina di Montalcino with a vivid purity that’s become a hallmark of this vintage.

When they come from great growers and excellent vintages, co-op wines are the quintessential overachievers, and this one does them all proud. Don’t miss it.