2018 Brunello di Montalcino Ripe al Convento Riserva
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Tasting notes
A youthful ruby color, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Ripe Al Convento is generous on the nose with notes of baked red cherries, crushed roses, leather, and sweet cedar. Full-bodied and approachable, it opens on the palate with an elegantly rounded mouthfeel and sweet tannins, and it retains good freshness through the moderately long finish. It’s drinking beautifully now and will provide an open drink window over the next 8-10 years, although I like where this is for drinking over the near term.
Critic scores
Average Score
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
Grilled oak notes, tart and vivid raspberry and sour cherry fruits, almost Chianti style (a positive for me, in terms of its balance and unfussy approachability, not as full bodied as many vintages of this wine). Plenty of dried herbs, fennel, underbrush, cigar box, black tea, leather and grippy uplift on the close of play. Davide Bozzon winemaker, from vines at 450m altitidue owned by the Frescobaldi family, released six years after harvest.
The Frescobaldi 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Ripe al Convento di CastelGiocondo is more evolved with even more oak intensity next to the village bottling. This Riserva feels older than it really is, and this impression is underlined by the evident 15% alcohol content. The bouquet opens to dried rose, autumnal leaf and trail mix fruit or raisin. The tannins are chalky and grippy.
The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Ripe al Convento is coy in the glass, wafting up with a nuanced blend of dried flowers and scant cherry. It’s silky and enveloping on the palate, casting waves of ripe red and black fruits across a core of saline minerals. Brisk acidity adds freshness throughout. A caking of fine tannins saturates through the finish as the 2018 Riserva tapers off classically dry under an air of violet inner florals.
About the producer
The Frescobaldi family has a long history stretching back a thousand years – a noble family integral to Florence’s development. They have made wine since the 1300s and today own estates across Tuscany, including Tenuta Luce in Brunello di Montalcino.