2017 Capanna Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Tuscany 750 ml

Nearly a decade ago, we attended a giant tasting of Brunello: fully 50 different wines from the 2011 vintage. 

The standout was Capanna, and we’ve offered their bottles to glowing member reviews ever since.

Now, we finally have the chance to present their 2017 Riserva—a triumphant bottle from a warm, full-throttle vintage that reminds us so much of the ‘11 that originally captured our attention. Both vintages featured plenty of heat throughout the summer and into fall, pushing ripeness and softening tannins to produce bottles—like this one—that can drink beautifully now but will age.

Owned by the Cencioni family since 1957, Capanna was one of the first estates to usher in Brunello’s modern era—and this isn’t an exaggeration, since patriarch Giuseppe Cencioni was one of 25 founders of the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino. The estate sits on the hill of Montosoli, perhaps the most famed terroir in all of the Brunello zone, where the vines enjoy Tuscany’s prized galestro soil and a southeasterly exposure ideal for soaking up the bright sun.

Still a family-run affair after more than six decades, Capanna avails itself of the services of consulting oenologist Paolo Vagaggini, who has not only been recruited to guide the Sangiovese program at the University of Bordeaux but counts Fuligni and the iconic Biondi-Santi among his Brunello clients.

Vagaggini has Capanna on an impressive track. He fermented this wine on the skins for nearly a month, before giving it 40 months in Slavonian oak casks that range from 1,000 to 3,200 liters, then 15+ months in bottle. What emerged is the kind of beguiling Brunello Riserva that rewards DECADES in the cellar.