2016 Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Rosso di Montalcino DOC, Tuscany, Italy.
The Donatella Cinelli Colombini estate Casato Prime Donne is a Montalcino winery that is entirely run by women and the wines show their strength and passion in every bottle, these are beautiful wines and while of their top Brunello is their signature wine, I was incredibly impressed by their baby Brunello, the 2016 Donatella Cinelli Colombini Rosso di Montalcino. The wine estate dates back to earth part of the twentieth century, but really the re-birth and modern label began recently and quite quickly it made a splash with a great string of Bunellos that are getting and better with each vintage as they complete their re-planting and fine tune their style. The wines here at Donatella Cinelli Colombini are clean, authentic and lush with a deep garnet hue in the glass, these are polished and finessed examples of the region, and this one expresses it all in grand style. This is a winery to follow and while modern in focus Donatella Cinelli Colombini, run by Donatella and her daughter Violante Gardini, makes wines that are true to their terroir.
Made from 100% Sngiovese Grosso (Brunello Clone) the Rosso di Montalcino by Donatella Cinelli Colombini was aged a year in oak barrel allowing for the wine shine through with purity of the fruit and giving a gorgeous picture of the warm vintage in the bottle. The 2016 Rosso is full bodied and luxurious in texture with the grapes natural acidity and tannins playing a subtle role keeping things vivid and fresh, lifting the dark and rich flavors up and provides a solid base structure in this Tuscan classic. It is opulently layered in the mouth with black cherry, strawberry, plum and mulberry fruits along with grilled fennel, sandalwood, dried lavender, cigar wrapper, delicate mineral tones and cedary wood. There is a lot to love here and it is a really good value for what you get, in fact this Rosso really compares well with many higher end true Brunello(s), it stands out and delivers a very worthy performance and goes great with tuscan cuisine as well as simple and rustic dishes, drink over the next 3 to 5 years.
($34 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive