The 2015 Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino struts its Castelnuovo dell'Abate origins with pride, taking all of the best aspects of this sunny vintage and adding a savoriness that balances everything out so well. The bouquet is a stunning mix of savory cherry sauce, sage, seared meat, cinnamon, moist earth, and a hint of animal musk. On the palate, its textures are like the purest silk being slowly drawn across the senses in a seamless expression of dark red fruits, sweet spice and inner florals. Nothing is out of place here, showing incredible balance and poise, while remaining tightly wound up in it’s youthful state. The finish seems to go on and on, displaying pretty red fruits and floral tones over a core of salty minerals and rock-solid tannin. You could drink this now, but you’d be missing out, because beneath all of its suave character and textural richness, it is a beast of a wine just waiting to come out. EG

There’s a real Burgundian feel here to the sour cherries, five spice, citrus, nutmeg and fresh oregnano. The tannins have a beautiful, porcelain-like feel; the acidity cuts a wide and long shape. Delicate, floral and refined. All about grace and elegance. Drink from 2021.

Poggio di Sotto doesn't miss a beat with this very special release. This is a glorious expression of the vintage, and the wine has absorbed the golden sunlight of Tuscany, delivering beautifully ripe, round and subtle fruit layers. The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino shows concentration, but not too much, and richness, but not too much. You get the power and the opulence of the vintage presented with the elegance and grace that is the house style at this venerated estate. Poggio di Sotto is one of the benchmarks of Montalcino, and the winery team continues the tradition with this 22,000-bottle release. There's a lot of red fruit energy deep inside that should stir this wine on course as it ages over the next two decades. ML

A chameleon of a Brunello, whose range of red-fruit aromas and flavours are in perpetual motion in the glass. In a traditional style – the type you thought went out of fashion decades ago – whose underlying power reveals itself gradually. Organic. Drinking Window 2022 - 2035
Tasted by Monty Waldin (at Must-Know Brunello Estates tasting, 15 Dec 2020)
Part of Brunello di Montalcino: The 10 must-know estates

Tasted blind. Just mid ruby. Gorgeous, perfumed red-fruit nose with an elegant note of oatmeal. Bright, concentrated red fruit with plenty of acidity. Very elegant and understated, with fine sandy tannins. Long and complex finish. Drink 2020 – 2032
Walter Speller - Feb 2020