2020 Brunello di Montalcino Fornace
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The 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino Fornace is a spectacular way to close out the wines of 2020 from Le Ragnaie. Aromatic of grenadine, sweet balsamic herbs, leather, and licorice candies, the palate really sets itself apart, with fine tannins, mouthwatering, salted, ripe orange citrus, iron-rich earth, and a clean, stony, driving finish. Persistent and long, it's going to need another couple of years in cellar. Drink 2027-2047. Le Ragnaie is perched at a high elevation just south of the hill of Montalcino. Led by the estate's owners, Riccardo and Jennifer Campinoti, this estate is producing some of the most compelling single-vineyard expressions of Brunello to date, with clarity, focus, and distinction between each of their crus. Elevage takes place in large Slavonian oak barrels. Additionally, for those looking to travel to the region, they have an agritourismo at the winery, which is a short drive from the town of Montalcino.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
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This wine usually shows a more relaxed character compared to the other bottles in this series of single-vineyard wines from Le Ragnaie. The 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Fornace draws its fruit from a vineyard located at 380 meters in elevation not too far from Mastrojanni. The site was once at the bottom of an ancient seabed, and there are round limestone rocks as a result. That theme of "roundness" is transferred to the palate, where the wine offers layers of plush and supple fruit. Like the others, it ages in large oak casks for 3.5 years and is bottled directly from the botte. Only 3,000 bottles were created. In a tasting of his cru wines, Riccardo Campinoti serves this wine last because it delivers a bigger sense of concentration and textural density (while remaining within the transparency of the house style).
Crushed ashen stones, grilled herbs, underbrush and hints of smoke define the 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Fornace. It's soft-textured and round, with more black fruits than red and a core of cool-toned acidity that maintains balance as blood orange and saline minerals saturate. The 2020 finishes with a minty freshness contrasting edgy tannins and a slight citrus tinge that adds lovely complexities.