We love everything about Brunello di Montalcino except one thing—waiting to drink it when a tannic vintage will benefit from extended bottle aging. The 2017 vintage is softer than some other recent vintages, and it’s primed and ready to drink now and in the next 5 years. We’ve been on the lookout for 2017 Brunello for our less-than-patient Brunello lovers and those who love quality Brunello no matter what vintage it's born from.
We’ve found what we’ve been looking for in the 93-point 2017 Lazzeretti Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. Lazzeretti is the living image of high-quality Brunello. The family has produced wine in the region since the 1980s, but they didn’t begin bottling with their own grapes under their own label until 2001 when brother and sister Marco and Julia, the soul of the company, began to craft one of the world’s most sought after wines, Brunello di Montalcino.
Why is Brunello so desirable? Wine Spectator explains it best: "If you want to understand what great Italian wine is all about, buy a bottle of Brunello. No wine in Italy matches Tuscany's Brunello di Montalcino when it comes to class and age-ability."
Both WinesCritic.com and International Wine Report rated Lazzeretti’s 2017 Brunello with “notes of linden, hawthorn, jasmine, camphor, and rose petals” an enthusiast 93 points. Wine Enthusiast notes its “already approachable palate,” and James Suckling makes mention that it’s “chewy with lots of dried berry and wood.”
Over the past decade, more than any other Italian wine region, Montalcino has been experiencing ongoing top vintages that result in consecutive amazing wines, and this is one of our best-buys Brunello di Montalcino. We can picture a bottle of this Brunello as the perfect one to share with someone special at a quiet dinner at home in between holiday festivities, perhaps on a night, you cook up a good steak. Or its sleek, sexy label will catch everyone’s eye when you place it on the table of a favorite Italian BYO where you meet friends for dinner.
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