2019 Tenimenti Capanne Ricci Brunello di Montalcino 750 ml

The 2019 Brunello hype started before the first grapes were in. It hasn’t slowed down a bit. 

Many critics have given season “best-ever” marks, with Decanter rating it a perfect 5/5. When the wines were in barrel, one renowned winemaker told James Suckling, “2019 is a magical year for the wine and for the acidity in the wine. The Brunellos are vibrant.” He then invoked some of the region’s holiest vintages: “It is at the same level as 2016, 2015, 2010 and 2006.”

Since prices and demand were through the roof, we were glad we nailed down our allocation of the 2019 Tenimenti Capanne Ricci Brunello months BEFORE Wine Enthusiast published their 94-point score. 

After the incredible promise of 2016 in Tuscany, a vintage now considered a modern classic, buyers were waiting for the next big year for Brunello. It came in 2019. Like 2016, 2019 had a near-perfect mixture of temperatures and precipitation, with a September that couldn’t have gone better. It was as if the winemakers themselves were controlling the thermostat.

The Ricci property was made for weather like this. In this hot subzone, intensity and structure are table stakes. To take Sangiovese to the next level of sophistication, you need what brothers Ferruccio and Ida possess—that is, a few hectares at a cooler, higher elevation are refreshed by evening breezes off the Orcia River.

The clay-rich plots supercharge the wine’s power, while the crumbly galestro stones release minerals into the soil, nourishing the vines. Vinification is traditional, with the wine aged in large barrels made from Slovenian oak. The result is a Brunello that’s “correct” as the old-timers would say—and a bullseye for every red-wine lover.