Castello Romitorio Brunello Di Montalcino 2018
95+ pts Jeb Dunnuck:
Elegantly woven together, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino is herbaceous with compelling aromas of tarragon, red cherry preserve, medicinal herbs, saline, and dried rose petals. It displays graceful ease and arch through the palate, with its layers gently coaxing through a long finish. It is noted by red raspberry, sweet herbs, fresh orange, and softly textured stony earth, and it has refreshing acidity with a delicate throughline and ultra-fine tannins. This is an absolutely gorgeous and gracefully transparent expression to drink over the next 15-20 years.
94 pts Vinous:
Darkly alluring and dusty in style, the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino impresses with a blend of dried citrus peels, shavings of cedar, flowery undergrowth, black cherries and Tuscan dust. It’s soft-textured, buoyant even, with depths of velvety, textural red and blue fruits and sweet liquid inner violet tones that stain the palate. The 2018 finishes fresh and long with notions of wild blueberry and hints of balsamic spice, framed by a coating of fine tannin. Romitorio used all of their fruit that is usually reserved for the Riserva to bolster their Brunello in 2018. Production was also down by 15% due to a strict selection to eliminate moldy berries. That said, this is a total success for the vintage.
94 pts James Suckling:
I like the dried violet undertones to the red and blue fruit, along with some walnut husk and olive. There’s so much flavor here, packed into a compact core framed by silky, firm tannins. Dense and focused. Try after 2024.