Val di Suga Vigna Spuntali, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Italy 2013
From the southwestern slope, Vigna Spuntali is a complex and mouthfilling Brunello, but soft and sapid at the same time. With lively notes of Mediterranean scrub, broom, candied citrus fruit, spices, tobacco, chocolate and an intense iodine character from the sea. Vigna Spuntali benefits from the influence of the sea and a dry, sunny and well-ventilated Mediterranean climate.
The surrounding nature features olive trees and the typical Mediterranean scrub, with myrtle, helichrysum and rosemary. The soils consist of sand from degraded Pietraforte stone. Ageing takes place in a dedicated cellar, 6 months in French oak barriques and 24 in 25-hl Austrian wood oval barrels, followed by about 3 months in concrete and 12 to 15 months of bottle maturation.
"The 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Spuntali captivates with its dark florals and earthy bouquet. Here I'm finding freshly tilled soil and sous-bois giving way to musky black cherry and Indian spices. It's a wine of power and elegance, casting velvety textures across the palate along with mineral-and-citrus-tinged red and black fruits. There's a lot of pleasure to be found here already, even as this tapers off lightly structured and with a buzz of residual tension. Another two to three years should put the 2013 Vigna Spuntali in a very special" Vinous 94
"Made with easy-ripening fruit from the sunny southwest quadrant of the appellation, the 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Spuntali is a charming and fruit-forward expression. This wine is softer and more accessible than the other two single-vineyard expressions I tasted from Val di Suga. The fruit is dark and saturated with summer cherry, plum, spice and tobacco. This wine ages in new French barrique for 24 months." Wine Advocate 93
