rated outstanding by Vinous (above, for instance, the $90 Visconti) – it was in fact their least expensive outstanding rated Rosso:
Crushed raspberries mix with peppery herbs, tobacco, and hints of warm leather as the 2020 Rosso di Montalcino comes to life in the glass. It’s soft, with a salty flourish that gives way to ripe strawberry and cherry fruits. Energy remains high through the saline-tinged finale, as a hint of sour citrus tugs at the cheeks. The 2020 is a pleasure to taste, impressing with its vibrancy and purity of fruit.
Canadian wine writer Michael Godello also ranked this at the top of the huge number of 2020 Rossos he tasted, saying:
Extremely youthful, full deep fruit and whilst the carbonic feeling persists you can’t help but intuit a depth in this Rosso. Mix in an early high tonality and expectation then dictates this will offer up the fullest of mouthfeel. Charged and rich, a luxe Rosso with chalky underlay, a fine rage of acidity and a wine very much working in progress. Drink 2022-2025.
This is the wine that really shows Cencioni’s commitment. It’s entirely from prime Brunello vineyards. And though it’s from their “young vines,” they are still over 20 years old. That is, older than most vineyards producing Brunello now.
Unusually serious and high-quality “Baby Brunello” even at the $20 it sells for elsewhere.
