2019 Caprili Brunello di Montalcino 750 ml

Caprili sits less than 200 yards from Soldera, the whispered-about Brunello icon that produces $600+ bottles, and is one of Brunello’s classic estates—founded in 1965, when it was split off from Pieve Santa Restituta. Despite this history and pedigree, it’s not a household name, and there’s a simple reason for that: Until 2010, it wasn’t living up to that pedigree.

But that was then, and today, Italian-wine insiders are singing a different tune. “I, for one, am very happy to see the potential of this property shining through,” said Antonio Galloni of Vinous.

Restaurants have caught on too: Today, Caprili is a darling of San Francisco fine-dining pillars like Acquerello, SPQR, and Spruce. Count Wine Access members as fans too—they lavished a 4.5-star rating on the 2015 version of this wine!  

Caprili’s Giacomo Bartolommei—the grandson of founder Alfo—began raising the profile of this estate in a major way when he took over in 2010. The boyish dynamo took the helm while still in his 20s, and only now is Caprili starting to attract the serious attention that’s merited when a legendary vineyard finally comes into the right hands.

Brunello expert Kerin O’Keefe has described Caprili’s bottlings as “round, ripe, and earthy” with “quintessential Sangiovese sensations,” and the 2019 is simply irresistible right now, so enticing and generous on the nose, presenting an alluring blend of ripe cherries, garden herbs, delicate flowers, musk, and preserved citrus peel. With zero hard edges on the palate, the wine displays gorgeous flavors of wild strawberries, tobacco, sage, and earthy minerals. Drink it now or cellar it—either way, you win handsomely.