When's a Good Time to Drink a Brunello? ALWAYS!

When's a good time to drink a Brunello? Always. But first you have to pick one — and that's where it gets interesting. Brunello di Montalcino is not a monolithic wine. It is an appellation with a centuries-long argument running through it: about what Sangiovese should taste like, how it should be made, where it should come from, and what it should say about the land it grew in. This week's four producers represent four completely distinct answers to that argument. Taken together, they make the case that the only wrong time to drink Brunello is never.

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TRADITION — Lisini Brunello di Montalcino Ugolaia 2017

Lisini's answer to the Brunello question is the oldest one in the room. The Lisini-Clementi family has owned land in Montalcino since the 16th century — the tower and loggia on the property date to the 1300s — and when the Brunello Consorzio was founded in 1967, Lisini was among its founding members. The late Elina Lisini served as its first and only female president in 1970. Today the estate is run by cousins Carlo, Lorenzo, and Ludovica across 150 hectares, with 20 dedicated to Sangiovese at 350 meters in Sant'Angelo in Colle. The southwest-facing position toward Maremma creates drier, more ventilated conditions than the more landlocked parts of Montalcino — fossil-laced sand, clay, and iron-rich soils define the site. Fermentations happen in cement while everything ages in large Slavonian oak. Winemaker Paolo Salvi trained under the late Giulio Gambelli, the original sangiovesista behind Biondi-Santi and Soldera. Ugolaia, the estate's single cru launched in 1990, produced only 8,000 bottles of the 2017 vintage. Jancis Robinson awarded 18 points out of 20, noting firm, super-refined tannins and a long, layered finish. Wine Advocate and Vinous each scored it 93 points, citing exceptional tannin management for a warm vintage.

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INNOVATION — Altesino Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Montosoli 2019

Altesino's answer is the one that changed the question for everyone else. In 1975, the estate became the first producer in Montalcino to bottle a single vineyard separately — the Montosoli cru — a move that introduced the concept of terroir-specific Brunello to an appellation that hadn't thought in those terms before. The firsts kept coming: French barriques in 1979, Brunello futures in 1985, the first Grappa di Brunello in 1977. Without Altesino, the modern vocabulary of Montalcino doesn't exist. Founded in 1970 by Giulio Consonno and acquired in 2002 by Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini, the estate operates out of the 15th-century Palazzo Altesi in the northeastern hills. Winemaker Paolo Caciorgna oversees Montosoli — 5 hectares at 350-400 meters on marly limestone and siliceous galestro, whose schist-heavy structure produces the vineyard's signature saline minerality and vertical aromatic drive. The 2019 earned 98 points from Wine Spectator and 5/5 stars from Decanter. In the glass: black cherry, raspberry, violet, licorice, black pepper on the nose; opulent palate with saline mineral tension and a long, warm finish.

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ELEVATION — Le Ragnaie Brunello di Montalcino Ragnaie VV 2019

Le Ragnaie's answer is the one nobody else can give. Riccardo and Jennifer Campinoti purchased the estate in 2000 and farm the highest-altitude vineyards in all of Montalcino — 530 to 600 meters above sea level — where harvest doesn't begin until the second half of October, weeks after the rest of the appellation is done. The estate is certified organic, ferments with native yeasts in concrete, macerates up to 90 days, ages 36 months in large Slavonian oak, and bottles unfiltered. The estate takes its name from ragna — Italian for spider's web — a nod to once contemporary, traditional bird-catcher's nets that stretched across these hillsides. The VV, Vecchie Vigne, draws exclusively from the oldest vines at that 600-meter peak. The elevation produces Brunello with an aromatic lift and cool-climate freshness that no lower-altitude site in Montalcino can replicate — wild cherry, dried florals, Mediterranean herb, a firm mineral spine, and a saline finish that lingers well past the glass.

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PERFECTION — Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 2019

Casanova di Neri's answer is the scoreboard. Giovanni Neri founded the estate in 1971 on a plot east of Montalcino that most buyers had passed over — the area was considered too cool for reliable ripening, how could one expect to make anything of stature from here?. He accepted lower yields in exchange for fruit quality, produced his first Brunello in 1978, and built the foundation his son Giacomo turned into one of the most decorated estates in Italian wine. The 2001 Tenuta Nuova was named Wine Spectator Wine of the Year. The portfolio has accumulated multiple 100-point scores from Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, and James Suckling across Tenuta Nuova and Cerretalto. The estate now spans 48 hectares across four distinct sites, with Tenuta Nuova drawing from galestro and alberese soils in the southern sector — first harvested in 1993. Fermentation takes place in open conical stainless steel vats without pumps in a gravity-fed underground cellar. The 2019 delivers cherry, plum, tar, and black pepper aromatics — fresh and structured on the palate, with tobacco accents and tannins that are firm but fully integrated.

And with 2021 pre-arrivals on the way next month, consider this your warm-up.