If you remember the dry and scorching summer of 2020 in Europe, you might be surprised by the quality of the Brunello di Montalcino from that vintage, which will begin arriving on the market in January. The wines are not jammy or overly alcoholic, and most show a freshness and brightness of fruit, making them extremely attractive to drink now while also having enough structure to improve over the next 10 to 12 years – and beyond in some cases.
“The wines are a bit like 2015,” said Francesco Ripaccioli of Canalicchio di Sopra, a producer with pristine vineyards on the north side of the appellation, including part of the legendary Montosoli cru. “Brunellos are already open and give great pleasure, but the wines have structure, too.”
This is good news for those of us thinking back to the 2020 growing season, and the nightmare many of us endured in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. There’s something reassuring about tasting a high-quality bottle of 2020 Brunello – and other wines – that came from such a difficult period in our lives.
After tasting almost 230 Brunellos from the 2020 vintage in our office in Tuscany with Senior Editor Aldo Fiordelli, I can safely say that 2020 is an excellent year, though not at the same quality level as 2015, 2016 or 2019. In fact, the 2019 Brunellos even look better than I remembered after tasting so many 2020s, and we look forward to rating the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Riservas in December.
The three years I mentioned were fantastic vintages for Brunello, with across-the-board quality for nearly all producers in the region. The 2020 shares some of the ripe fruit character and early drinkability, but the 2020s don’t have the depth or structure of the other three years. The fact that I found no perfect wines in 2020 underscores this.
What impressed me, however, was the freshness of the 2020 Brunellos, despite the hot growing season, when some temperatures reaching about 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in August.
Some Brunello producers I spoke with late last month, when I invited more than 60 of them to our Tuscany office to taste samples, attributed this freshness to the diurnal shifts at night during that brief hot period, when temperatures dropped to about 26 Celsius in the early morning.
“The vines, depending on where you are, never went into stress in August,” said Cecilia Leoneschi, the winemaker at Castiglion del Bosco, adding that some isolated rainstorms at the end of August and early September gave the vines relief, allowing them to “start growing again.”
Additionally, north-facing vineyards and those at higher altitudes were less affected by the heat and more resilient to the dry weather. “We always have high acidity, even in hot years,” said Pier Giuseppe D’Alessandro, the general manager of Poggio Antico, which is arguably the highest-altitude winery in Montalcino, with vineyards at an average of 480 meters above sea level. He added that the pH levels in his 2020 reds were around 3.5 to 3.6, depending on the vineyard. “Our position gives us wines that are fresh.”
Surprisingly, the alcohol levels in most of the 2020 Brunellos we tasted were relatively low. Given the heat in July and August, I would have expected extremely ripe grapes and wines with alcohol levels pushing 15 percent, but most were around 14 percent. This may be because many producers are now harvesting earlier. “It all depends on when you harvest,” admitted Lorenzo Sassetti of Sassetti Livio Pertimali. “You can’t generalize because it’s everyone’s personal choice, but I think everyone is picking earlier.”
He added that some producers may be “picking a little too early now,” which can result in “slightly green tannins because the seeds are still green.”
I agree with this observation to some extent. The pleasant, crunchy fruit and citrusy character were sometimes hindered by slightly austere tannins. Wines with smoother, more polished tannins received the highest ratings in our report.
“I think how we make Brunello is different today than 10 or 20 years ago, and people drink them differently,” said Alessandro Brigidi, the winemaker for Casanuova delle Cerbaie. “Brunellos today are generally less heavy and more drinkable. They are less extracted.”
Before the tasting with the Brunello producers, I opened a few 2012 Brunellos at my house in Tuscany, thinking they might be similar in character to the 2020 Brunellos due to a comparable growing season. However, the handful of 2012 bottles I tasted were much more alcoholic than the 2020s, with dried fruit and fig characters, likely due to slightly overripe, shriveled grapes. Moreover, they had more wood and extraction. The same can be said when comparing 2020 Brunellos with those from 2017, an even hotter and more arid vintage.
We also rated a number of 2019 Brunellos during our tasting, and it highlighted just how fantastic the vintage is. I may have slightly underrated the year, although two wines received 100-point ratings. The 2019s have remarkable depth and intensity, with wonderfully polished yet intense tannins. If you haven’t already, I would definitely recommend buying some, although the 2019 Riservas won’t be released until January but should be spectacular. As I said, we will taste them in December.
In the end, all of this makes me think that 2020 is indeed a vintage worth considering for purchase and enjoyment. It may even mark a turning point for the region, where hot and dry vintages can be managed effectively in both Montalcino’s vineyards and cellars to produce fresh, attractive wines. Plus, there’s a “feel-good factor” for all of us post-Covid. You’ll see for yourself when you open a bottle of 2020 Brunello next year.
– James Suckling, Editor/Chairman
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