2015 Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona Pianrosso Riserva Santa Catarina d' Oro Brunello di Montalcino Tuscany 750 ml

We can’t say it more simply than this: Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona’s 2015 Pianrosso Santa Caterina d'Oro Riserva is as good as Brunello gets. A gorgeous wine grown in one of the greatest Brunello vintages of all time, it earned a perfect 100-point score from James Suckling, who summed it up as “breathtaking.” 

The wine, a selection of the finest grapes from the Ciacci’s Pianrosso (“Red Field”) vineyard, is made only in outstanding vintages—and if any year qualified, it’s 2015. Suckling, who used to live in Tuscany, raved about the season: “The 2015 Brunello vintage is one for the record books, with the kind of structure, mouth-watering fruits and tannin characteristics that suggest these could be some of the most cellarable wines from Italy, or any region, for many years to come.” 

Ciacci’s “regular” Pianrosso Brunello is only made in excellent vintages. The Riserva is made barely half as often, and it receives an even more deluxe treatment, aging for a minimum of three full years in smaller oak vessels, followed by a full year in bottle (rather than the required six months). The result is a gorgeous, refined, ruby-hued wine. The aromas are dark and expansive, boasting notes of black cherry, black raspberry, smoked herbs, and cranberry, with a savory element that shows new conditioned leather, forest floor, and a touch of pine needle. It’s powerful yet sophisticated on the palate, and will reveal a multitude of complexities in the decades to come.

This masterpiece also nabbed the #6 spot on Suckling’s list of Italian Wines of the Year, and it belongs in the cellar of any serious collector of European red wines. Don’t miss it.