99 points / '#2 Top 100 Wines of Italy 2020,' James Suckling: "The complexity and beauty to this is really something with cherry, walnut, tobacco and cigar-box character. Sweet cherries. It’s full-bodied and deep with super intensity and power. Layered and beautiful. Really refined tannins. Some whole-berry fermentation gives this added character. Goes on for minutes. Try after 2025. (12/21/20)"
97 points/'Best in Show,' Decanter: "We were lucky enough to have a splendid entry from Brunello di Montalcino this year. Much effort went into finding a worthy candidate for our Best In Show collection, and here it is. Translucent black-red in colour, shading to a glowing garnet rim, with refined, artfully composed scents of subdued berry fruits, warm summer forest, dried mushrooms and soft suede. The wine is intense, deep, perfectly pitched in structural terms: a dignified, grave yet rewarding wine for a fine dinner. It is fully accessible now, yet the quality of its fruit and its balance suggest many years' ageing potential, too. (Nov 2021)"
95 points Eric Guido (Vinous): "The 2016 Castiglion del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino really stands out with its vivid display of crushed raspberries, lavender and clove. Further depths are found with each swirl, adding mentholated herbs and flowery undergrowth. It’s dense and dark-fruited, enveloping the palate with notes of black cherry, plum, exotic savory spice and minerals. This is soothing and pliant in spite of the 2016’s youthful state, balancing brisk acids and fine tannins to create a push and pull of structural tension. The symmetry here is spellbinding, and everything is in the right place for a long and fruitful evolution over the next ten to fifteen years. Tasted twice with consistent results. Drink: 2026-2036. (Nov 2020)"
94 points Monica Larner (Wine Advocate): "The Castiglion del Bosco 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a fruit-forward expression with soft cherry, blackberry, tilled earth and a touch of sweet spice. This wine is made in an especially accessible style that prizes ripe fruit and oak aging (in both barrique and botte). Fruit comes from a 52-hectare vineyard with galestro schist and clay. The tannins are more evident here compared to the 2015 vintage; however, this wine is almost ready to go with beef tagliata topped with porcini mushrooms. Drink: 2022-2038. (Nov 2020)"
94 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino from Castiglion del Bosco is a fine, fine example. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts and raised in French barriques, with twenty percent of the oak new each year and the remainder one and two wine casks. The 2016 Brunello comes in at fourteen percent octane in this vintage, and offers up a complex and quite refined bouquet of red and black cherries, plums, cigar wrapper, a touch of Tuscan herb tones, nutskin, gentle spices, a fine base of soil and a very well done framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and nicely transparent down to the soil, with a good core of fruit, tangy acids, ripe tannins and a long, complex and very nicely balanced finish. The wine is still youthful and has not yet quite absorbed its oak tannins on the backend (though there is plenty of stuffing to do so with a bit more bottle age), but all the pieces are on place for a long and rewarding life in bottle. 2030-2065+. (Jul/Aug 2021)"
94 points Wine Spectator: "A wild and unbridled version, as much about the woodsy pine, wild herb and iron flavors as the brooding black cherry and blueberry fruit. Long and resonant, with muscular tannins and lively acidity lending support. Best from 2025 through 2042. (7/31/21)"
94 points Wine & Spirits: "This wine offers ripe cherry and plum flavors infused with bright acidity and sculpted by firm, raspy tannins. Its scents of crushed violets and lavender are enticing, as are the notes of licorice and cherry pit that accent the bold fruit tones. There’s plenty of concentration and structure for the cellar, even as the wine’s freshness and verve offer immediate appeal. (Apr 2021)"
97 points/'Best in Show,' Decanter: "We were lucky enough to have a splendid entry from Brunello di Montalcino this year. Much effort went into finding a worthy candidate for our Best In Show collection, and here it is. Translucent black-red in colour, shading to a glowing garnet rim, with refined, artfully composed scents of subdued berry fruits, warm summer forest, dried mushrooms and soft suede. The wine is intense, deep, perfectly pitched in structural terms: a dignified, grave yet rewarding wine for a fine dinner. It is fully accessible now, yet the quality of its fruit and its balance suggest many years' ageing potential, too. (Nov 2021)"
95 points Eric Guido (Vinous): "The 2016 Castiglion del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino really stands out with its vivid display of crushed raspberries, lavender and clove. Further depths are found with each swirl, adding mentholated herbs and flowery undergrowth. It’s dense and dark-fruited, enveloping the palate with notes of black cherry, plum, exotic savory spice and minerals. This is soothing and pliant in spite of the 2016’s youthful state, balancing brisk acids and fine tannins to create a push and pull of structural tension. The symmetry here is spellbinding, and everything is in the right place for a long and fruitful evolution over the next ten to fifteen years. Tasted twice with consistent results. Drink: 2026-2036. (Nov 2020)"
94 points Monica Larner (Wine Advocate): "The Castiglion del Bosco 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a fruit-forward expression with soft cherry, blackberry, tilled earth and a touch of sweet spice. This wine is made in an especially accessible style that prizes ripe fruit and oak aging (in both barrique and botte). Fruit comes from a 52-hectare vineyard with galestro schist and clay. The tannins are more evident here compared to the 2015 vintage; however, this wine is almost ready to go with beef tagliata topped with porcini mushrooms. Drink: 2022-2038. (Nov 2020)"
94 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino from Castiglion del Bosco is a fine, fine example. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts and raised in French barriques, with twenty percent of the oak new each year and the remainder one and two wine casks. The 2016 Brunello comes in at fourteen percent octane in this vintage, and offers up a complex and quite refined bouquet of red and black cherries, plums, cigar wrapper, a touch of Tuscan herb tones, nutskin, gentle spices, a fine base of soil and a very well done framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is bright, full-bodied, focused and nicely transparent down to the soil, with a good core of fruit, tangy acids, ripe tannins and a long, complex and very nicely balanced finish. The wine is still youthful and has not yet quite absorbed its oak tannins on the backend (though there is plenty of stuffing to do so with a bit more bottle age), but all the pieces are on place for a long and rewarding life in bottle. 2030-2065+. (Jul/Aug 2021)"
94 points Wine Spectator: "A wild and unbridled version, as much about the woodsy pine, wild herb and iron flavors as the brooding black cherry and blueberry fruit. Long and resonant, with muscular tannins and lively acidity lending support. Best from 2025 through 2042. (7/31/21)"
94 points Wine & Spirits: "This wine offers ripe cherry and plum flavors infused with bright acidity and sculpted by firm, raspy tannins. Its scents of crushed violets and lavender are enticing, as are the notes of licorice and cherry pit that accent the bold fruit tones. There’s plenty of concentration and structure for the cellar, even as the wine’s freshness and verve offer immediate appeal. (Apr 2021)"
| Product SKU | 338013 |
| Producer | Castiglion del Bosco |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Tuscany |
| SubRegion | Brunello di Montalcino DOCG |
| Varietal | Sangiovese |
| Vintage | 2016 |
| Size | 750ml |
| Color | Red |
| ABV | 14.0% |
| Ships To |
