Professional reviews
Robert Parker (94)
Showing a medium-lean consistency, the Biondi-Santi 2023 Rosso di Montalcino is fruity and bright, offering aromas of blue flower and wild rose. The palate is light and fresh, driven by delicate red fruit and a precise, transparent structure. The 2023 growing season was marked by climatic instability, including a severe frost on April 6 and intense mildew pressure caused by 32 rainy days over a 45-day stretch from May to June, when 235 millimeters of rain fell (nearly half the historic seasonal average compressed into one-third of the time). “It gave us little time to react,” says Biondi-Santi general manager Giampiero Bertolini, underscoring the importance of meticulous vineyard work and strict selection. From the historic estate credited with defining Brunello di Montalcino, this Rosso reflects the same disciplined approach, translated into beautiful primary intensity, as the estate has worked diligently to elevate this category. Made from a precise selection of grapes sourced across the estate’s vineyards, fermentation begins with a pied de cuve, and the wine is aged for 12 months in traditional Slavonian oak casks, drawing on the estate’s long-standing cellar practices and a carefully managed oak inventory. All said and done, 2023 is showing very promising results across the board.
James Suckling (94)
Restrained, with layered fruit, showing red currants and red cherries, licorice, potpourri and bergamot. Medium-bodied on the palate, it shines with tension, offering fresh acidity and firm, chalky tannins that are well extracted on the midpalate and polished in the finish.
Jancis Robinson (17)
Youthful ruby. Same signature spice and slumbering fruit as the 2022, but opens up faster on the nose. Real freshness with a subtle perfume of raspberries that builds up in the glass with aeration. Subtly perfumed and with fresh acidity and fine, grainy tannins. A little linear and sleek. Long and coolly perfumed.
Falstaff (94)
Intensely bright, brightening ruby. Clear and appealing nose of crisp sour cherries, hibiscus and watermelon. Very juicy on the palate, opens with lots of fine-meshed tannins, very great drinking flow.
