2019 Cantina di Montalcino Brunello di Montalcino Tuscany 750 ml

The Cantina di Montalcino is the Brunello to Rule Them All.

Every vintage, this wine flies out of the warehouse into our members’ cellars. It’s a perennial paragon of excellence and value—and the 2019, from “the vintage we’ve all been waiting for,” in the words of Vinous, is one of the best of the decade.

Cantina di Montalcino sits on the famed Tuscan hill of Montosoli, among celebrated estates like Le Chiuse and Valdicava, whose Brunellos fetch three-digit prices. The co-op’s brilliant winemaking talents have kept costs down through the diversity of growers at their disposal—without sacrificing a sliver of quality. 

The Cantina’s members hail from across the Brunello growing zone, each tending vineyards that have their own distinct microclimates. That meant the winemaking team had a broad collection of raw materials to work with. Rather than hoping for luck—like most small growers working a single plot do—they were able to blend the best material from across the region into their Brunello and declassify the rest, giving them a wine that stands far above the field.

The 2019 vintage is already being hailed as a modern classic in Brunello: It produced wines with beautiful concentration and intensity and an aristocratic sense of poise. Kerin O’Keefe, who wrote THE book on Brunello, said “I’ve never tasted so many drop-dead-gorgeous young Brunellos from a single vintage.”

Vinified traditionally, with 30 months of aging in large oak casks to soften the tannins before bottling, this is a calling card for a producer that’s been singled out as one of “the best Italian co-ops” by Decanter. It’s also a rare Brunello value—so stock up, and drink up!