Minimum aging requirements for Brunello di Montalcino are such that the 2013s were officially released for sale at the beginning of 2018. So, while the wines may technically be 6-ish years old, they’ve only been in commercial circulation for two—and they spent some of that time traveling on boats, in trucks, moving from cellar to cellar…what I’m getting at here is that we’re in a much better position to assess 2013 Brunello now than we were two years ago, when most critics rendered their judgments. As evidenced by today’s ’13 from the historic Tornesi estate, this already-acclaimed vintage is even better than advertised. It is truly excellent, in fact, with balanced, perfumed wines that are poised to go the distance.
We’ve spilled a good amount of ink on 2013s this year, that’s for sure: You can really smell and taste how the wines are knitting together, shedding some of their youthful edges, developing the kind of woodsy aromatics that make you feel like you’re in an oak grove somewhere in Tuscany. Tornesi, meanwhile, is a family winery with roots in Montalcino going back to 1865—long before Montalcino was Montalcino, so to speak. Not only can you enjoy this exquisitely perfumed, perfectly proportioned wine now (without feeling like you’re only scratching the surface of what it’s capable of), you can be sure it’s going to keep getting better over the next 10-15 years. Get in on the ground floor now, because a generous payoff awaits!
The Montalcino DOCG zone is like a big panettone, with its namesake village sitting like a cherry on top. Just outside Montalcino’s fortress-like walls, on steep slopes ranging from 400-500 meters’ elevation, is Tornesi. Located along the same road as the legendary Biondi-Santi estate, Tornesi was one of the foundational members of the Brunello di Montalcino consorzio (producers’ association) when the appellation was first created in 1967, although the family didn’t begin bottling wines under their own label until 1993, when Maurizio Tornesi took the reins from his father, Gino. They hand-farm a total of just five hectares of vineyards in four locations throughout Montalcino, including their original 1.2-hectare estate vineyard, “Benducce,” which sits at one of the highest elevations in the Montalcino DOCG.
The program is straightforward and resolutely traditional at Tornesi: They only grow Sangiovese grapes (and olives for oil) in the marl and sandstone soils typical of the zone, producing Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino, and an IGT-designated Sangiovese aged only in steel. Although not certified, their farming is largely organic: they use only natural fertilizers and eschew chemical pesticides, with all work in the vineyards done by hand. In the cellar, they fall into the “traditionalist” camp, fermenting the wines using ambient yeasts and aging them in Slavonian oak casks of various sizes (7-30 hectoliters). Their Brunello spends 30 months in barrel before bottling, then ages further in bottle before release, as required by law.
Right out of the gate, and especially after 30+ minutes in a decanter, today’s 2013 sings a siren song—it is so readily identifiable as first-class Brunello di Montalcino you can’t help scanning the internet for flights to Italy. In the glass, it shines a deep garnet red moving to pink and orange at the rim, bursting with scents of red and black cherry, currants, blackberry, plum, anise, rose petals, bay leaf, underbrush, aromatic herbs, and sandalwood spice. All carry over to the well-balanced, medium-plus-bodied palate, which shows lots of vibrancy and the fine-grained, relatively mild tannins that characterize the ’13 vintage. By Brunello di Montalcino standards, this is still a “young” wine, with a likely peak coming in 3-5 years, but as I stressed above, it is already very seductive and complete. You’re not missing a thing by pulling the cork on a bottle now: Enjoy it at 60-65 degrees in large Bordeaux stems with some black truffle pasta; a well-charred ribeye; leg of lamb; mushroom fricassee; really anything that captures the flavors of the forest in some way. I sometimes find myself comparing Brunellos to Bordeaux, and other times to Burgundy—this one splits it down the middle in a very appealing way. And, as the weather turns frightful, I can’t think of a better red to drink right now. Enjoy!
