Salicutti Brunello di Montalcino Piaggione 2019

98 points Wine Spectator: "Alluring and harmonious, this red features fresh, ripe cherry, strawberry, rose and mineral flavors allied to a beautifully integrated structure. Silky in texture and complex, this evolves to a long, intense aftertaste echoing the fruit and picking up savory notes of Mediterranean herbs. So delicious, you'll want to drink this now. Best from 2026 through 2045. (Mar 2024)"

97 points Monica Larner (Wine Advocate): "[$130 list] The Salicutti 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Piaggione shows macerated aromas of cherry skin with a punchy, almost carbonic-adjacent quality that gives vibrancy and energy to the bouquet. Fruit comes from a site with lots of rocks and rich limestone soils. The bouquet starts off with tart pomegranate or rainier cherry, delivered with pinpoint directness, and then opens to embrace softer tones of underbrush, toasted fennel seed and cumin. The oak is almost invisible, although you do feel the enriched texture and the wine's powdery tannins. The wine ends on a glossy note, but ultimately those tannins do stick around and you feel them for a long while. Drink: 2026-2045. (12/14/23)"

97 points Audrey Frick (JebDunnuck.com): "Also expressive, the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino Piaggione is ruby with a magenta tinge and offers notes of raspberry liqueur, violets, and polished wood spices. Refined with fine tannins and a very balanced texture, it’s velvety and has a long finish. Drink 2025-2045. (Feb 2024)"

96 points Kerin O'Keefe: "Camphor, dark culinary spice, fragrant purple flower and a whiff of forest floor greet the nose on the compelling 2019 Salicutti Piaggione. It’s full-bodied and loaded with finesse, delivering flavors of juicy Marasca cherry, licorice, almond liqueur and blood orange before an almost salty finish. Polished tannins keep it smooth. A fantastic wine. Drink 2029–2039. Abv: 14%. (Nov 2023)"

95+ points Ian D'Agata (Terroir Sense): "Good deep red-ruby. Slightly reticent but very deep aromas of red currant, black cherry, tobacco, licorice, graphite and Piaggione’s typical sweet spices are lifted by hints of iron and old leather. Taut and steely in the mouth with not much baby fat presently. Offers very good texture, closing long with substantial but nobly supple tannins and repeating sexy sweet spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, cloves) and mocha that are fairly typical of bottlings from this vineyard. I’d lay this down for a good five to six years to let its complex aroma and flavour profile develop fully. Salicutti’s historical and arguably best vineyard, Piaggione’s soil is a mix of rocks, shale and clay (but less shale than in the winery’s third vineyard called Teatro). Drinking window: 2032-2044. (Mar 2024)"

95 points Decanter: "The Piaggione vineyard is characteristic of southeast Montalcino. Rising steeply from 380 to 450 metres, it is bathed in the morning sun and caressed by winds from Monte Amiata. As it tends to give the estate’s most muscular wines, it was typically bottled as a Riserva before the estate changed hands. This 2019 is deceptively easygoing at first, with very lifted lavender and violet aromas that echo on the sweet-fruited palate. With time in the glass, however, its serious side is revealed as balsamic herbs and earthy undertones join the floral top notes. The palate tightens up as brisk acidity accentuates the dense, chewy tannins, and stony minerals build through the dark cherry core. Drinking window 2026-2038 (Nov 2023)"

94 points James Suckling: "Al-dente fruit comes through on the nose, with fresh cherries and flowers, following through to a medium body with firm, silky tannins. Tight and focused with spices, stones and berries at the end. A little reductive. Built for aging. From organically grown grapes. Needs three or four years to open and come around. Drink after 2027. (9/25/23)"

94 points Eric Guido (Vinous): "Peppery roses and lavender slowly give way to crushed wild berries and tangerine as the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Piaggione dazzles the senses. This is a model of purity, with racy acidity and cool-toned minerality setting the stage for its crisp red and blue fruits. A web of fine-grained tannins slowly saturates the palate. The 2019 finishes classically dry and firm while leaving tart raspberry and licorice to linger. There’s an exoticism to the 2019 Piaggione that I find wildly attractive. Drink: 2026-2036. (Dec 2023)"