Marroneto, Brunello di Montalcino, Madonna Grazie 2015

The Il Marroneto 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie creeps up on you slowly. Give this wine ample time to open and put on weight and volume. Or better yet, just stick the bottle in your cellar for a few more years. Fruit comes from a 1.6-hectare parcel at 420 meters above sea level. This site, located just below the Madonna delle Grazie chapel, has sandy mineral-rich soils. This wine is very different from the Alessandro Mori's classic Brunello. Here, you get that beautiful purity in the bouquet, but you also get a different mouthfeel that is characterized by more structure and a firmer set of tannins. However, the overall integration is superior here considering that this wine is richer and has more material and overall density. Cherry, grenadine and cassis are followed by jasmine and even a touch of exotic fruit. As the wine opens, you catch a hint of mesquite or hickory smoke. Some 7,040 bottles were made. This wine was bottled in June 2019, and it hit the market in January 2020.

The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie opens with an intense array of dried black cherries and balsamic spice. It sweeps across the palate with a silky wave of ripe red fruits under an air of cedar, all carried by vibrant acidity, as rosy inner florals cascade throughout. It finishes grippy and long, yet still remarkably fresh, with edgy tannins that pinch at the cheeks with licorice traces. The 2015 is still an infant yet positioned for great things. Patience is required.

The warm, highly-rated 2015 vintage has produced an intense, structured and vibrant Madonna delle Grazie, with an elevated, balsamic nose, juicy acidity and youthful fruits. Chestnut, tobacco and floral overtones emerge on the long finish. Served from double-magnum.