Vigna La Casaccia, dall’omonimo vigneto nel Cru Canalicchio, rappresenta il nostro desiderio di valorizzare l’unicità di un vigneto capace di mantenere la sua forte identità e riconoscibilità anche in annate diverse. È il vigneto che ci ha dimostrato negli anni come opulenza e freschezza possono convivere nella stessa bottiglia.
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
100% Sangiovese
Da 315 a 297 mt slm
1990
Terreno tendenzialmente argilloso con una buona dotazione di elementi minerali fra cui spicca il calcio, intervallato da elementi scheletrici. La caratteristiche del terreno plasmano vini dotati di grande struttura, colori brillanti, profondità ed una grande eleganza che regalano ogni anno tannini suadenti ed setosi. L’esposizione ottimale garantisce alla pianta un’insolazione costante dall’alba al tramonto.
Cordone speronato
N/S
3,00 metri x1,00 metro
In vasche d’acciaio con controllo della temperatura di fermentazione, rimontaggi soffici giornalieri. Macerazione sulle bucce per 25 giorni.
36 mesi in botti di Rovere di Slavonia da 25 hl
2015
15 %
3879 Bottiglie da 750 ml
127 Bottiglie da 1500 ml
Dal punto di vista climatico la 2020 è sicuramente annoverata fra le annate calde con un periodo siccitoso dal 17 giugno al 2 di agosto, ma vederla solamente come un’annata calda sarebbe fuorviante per il risultato che poi si ritrova in bottiglia. Analizzando nel dettaglio l’annata climatica nel suo insieme e prendendo in esame anche l’autunno del 2019, momento fondamentale per l’immagazzinamento delle riserve idriche possiamo evidenziare i seguenti aspetti:
• Dal 1° ottobre 2019 al 31 dicembre 2019 si sono registrati 600 mm di pioggia (che si sono uniti ai 115 mm caduti dal 01 gennaio 2020 al 31 marzo 2020) che hanno creato un serbatoio idrico affinché la pianta potesse tranquillamente resistere alle condizioni di siccità che sono registrate nel periodo centrale dell’estate (metà giugno/luglio).
• L’inverno è stato caratterizzato da temperature moderatamente rigide ma comunque con almeno il 35% dei giorni nel periodo dal 01 gennaio al 31 marzo con temperature sotto lo zero, condizione ottimale per una pulizia delle piante da patogeni e per una corretta ripresa vegetativa della pianta, che è stata regolare e non anticipata.
• Nel mese di aprile e maggio le piogge sono state concentrate in solamente 5 giorni di aprile e 6 giorni di maggio apportando in totale ulteriori 100 mm di pioggia come riserva; questa situazione è stata ottimale per il controllo delle malattie fitosanitarie permettendoci di ridurre al minimo il numero dei trattamenti con rame e zolfo.
• Negli ultimi 10 giorni di maggio fino all’inizio di giugno l’assenza di pioggia e le ridotte bagnature fogliari hanno favorito una fioritura regolare ed omogenea.
• Da metà giugno fino alla fine di luglio c’è stato un periodo con assenza di piogge dove le temperature massime si sono mantenute fra i 28 ed i 31 gradi circa favorendo grazie alle ottime riserve idriche uno sviluppo della pianta regolare e continuo.
• Solamente nei giorni fra la fine di luglio ed inizio di agosto c’è stata un’ondata di caldo più intensa dove le temperature hanno superato i 35 gradi con punte massime di 39 gradi in 7 giorni, e dove abbiamo protetto le nostre piante con l’uso di schermanti naturali per evitare bruciature.
• Le piogge di inizio agosto hanno interrotto il periodo di caldo intenso portando refrigerio e un abbassamento delle temperature che sono tornate quelle proprie delle medie stagionali.
• Il caldo fra la fine di luglio e l’inizio di agosto ha rallentato l’evoluzione dell’invaiatura, condizione che si è poi rivelata fondamentale per proteggere i frutti da eventuali scottature.
• I 40 mm di pioggia caduti il 30 ed il 31 di agosto hanno definitivamente ri-equilibrato la pianta dandogli quella spinta necessaria per una corretta maturazione fenolica e attivando la fotosintesi delle foglie.
• Le grandi escursioni termiche di cui si riporta sotto un dettaglio che si sono presentate nei 30 giorni prima della vendemmia hanno favorito il mantenimento di buone acidità favorendo un’ottima maturazione fenolica dei grappoli. Il calcolo dell’indice qualitativo di Fregoni per i vini a lungo invecchiamento mostra un valore in linea con le grandi annate attestandosi sulla soglia di 430.
2020: LA PIACEVOLEZZA
Nell’ esercizio stilistico che ogni anno cerchiamo di fare per racchiudere l’essenza dell’annata in una parola, crediamo che la parola “Piacevolezza” sia la più appropriata, quella che meglio descrive le caratteristiche di una grande annata che si mostra in una chiave più immediata e pronta, generosa, vibrante, senza tralasciare quegli aspetti di freschezza e verticalità che caratterizzano i vini della parte Nord di Montalcino, l’unica parte dove Canalicchio di Sopra ha cercato negli anni di costruire una precisa e univoca identità stilistica.
L’anno del Covid, del mondo che si chiude e delle permanenze forzate, pur nelle mille difficoltà del momento non ha influito sulla peculiare attenzione che cerchiamo di mettere ogni anno nella gestione dei nostri vigneti, il tempo che gli dedichiamo è ogni anno nettamente superiore a qualsiasi altra attività aziendale, e ci sembra giusto così: tutto parte dalla vigna, dalla capacità di interpretare ogni singola annata, fuggendo da schemi e protocolli per adeguarci in continuazione alle situazioni diverse. Nostro nonno e nostro babbo ci hanno insegnato prima di tutto il rispetto della terra, a non snaturare cercando di non standardizzare quelli che sono i frutti dell’annata e seguendo questo prezioso insegnamento abbiamo interpretato questa annata seguendo la sua identità, valorizzando quindi l’aspetto di piacevolezza, maggiore grassezza, rotondità più pronunciate, finezza tannica, il tutto inserito in un quadro di mineralità e freschezza: un mix perfetto per una grande bevibilità e godibilità più immediata, ma anche per un’ottima longevità. I vini della 2020 si presentano rotondi, con grande speziature, valorizzano la florealità e la balsamicità tipiche della nostra sottozona, mostrano dei muscoli eleganti e non volgari, creano grande avvolgenza in bocca e sorprendente profondità, persistenza e verticalità.
La vendemmia 2020 è iniziata leggermente in anticipo rispetto alla vendemmia 2019; le prima uve sono state raccolte il 18 settembre dai vigneti più giovani destinate alla produzione del Rosso di Montalcino, per poi proseguire con i vigneti destinati alla produzione del Brunello di Montalcino, raccolto in un periodo molto breve dal 20 al 30 settembre. Il Vigna La Casaccia è stato raccolto il 24 settembre, mentre le uve destinate al Vigna Montosoli sono state raccolte il 22 settembre. Le uve sono state raccolte in un periodo caratterizzato da forti escursioni termiche molto accentuate negli ultimi 5 giorni di settembre con minime anche al di sotto dei 10 gradi centigradi che hanno favorito lo sviluppo di profumi floreali eleganti e persistenti e hanno sicuramente caratterizzato l’annata dal punto di vista olfattivo. Una forte pioggia di circa 70 mm caduta il 25 settembre non ha influito sulla raccolta ed è stata accolta come una benedizione ri-equilibrando in alcuni vigneti dove la raccolta è ripresa il 27 settembre il rapporto buccia-liquido, risultato poi essenziale per garantire ai vini maggiore eleganza e bevibilità. Il lavoro in cantina durante le fasi di vinificazione è stato improntato sulla delicatezza, con estrazioni più controllate e meno incisive, cercando di preservare la fragranza e la persistenza, limitando la permanenza sulle bucce a 25 giorni. Il periodo di affinamento che ne è seguito ha mostrato la capacità dell’annata di mantenere naturalmente un ottimo quadro antiossidante, preservare la freschezza e una grande capacità di evolvere nella direzione di una piacevole rotondità, mostrando tannini fini ed eleganti, generosi e setosi.
Alla grandezza dell’annata si è aggiunta la consapevolezza di esser riusciti ad adattarci alle necessità dell’annata stessa proseguendo nella strada che Canalicchio di Sopra ha avviato da anni: mettere sempre al centro il territorio e l’annata sfuggendo dall’omologazione di cantina per rendere le diversità un valore aggiunto e non un limite. Il valore aggiunto di questa annata sta anche nella capacità di aver fatto delle scelte coraggiose: nel 2020 abbiamo deciso di non produrre la nostra Riserva, una scelta difficile fatta in un’annata importante ed ottima come la 2020 dettata dalla volontà di valorizzare ancora di più il nostro Brunello Annata, il nostro Brunello di assemblaggio che ha potuto beneficiare delle uve provenienti dalla Vigna Vecchia Mercatale che nelle grandi annate vengono riservate alla Riserva.
Il Brunello di Montalcino Docg 2020 Vigna La Casaccia “Canalicchio di Sopra”, dall’omonimo vigneto nel Cru Canalicchio, rappresenta il vino che racconta le caratteristiche di questo vigneto piantato nel 1990. La Vigna Casaccia, grazie ai suoli calcareo argillosi esalta la dolcezza del tannino, la sua setosità e la sua progressiva distensione che nell’annata 2020 vengono accentuati da un contrasto minerale e fresco.
The intensity of fruit is staggering here, as this stacks up dried peaches, dried strawberries, red licorice, red-plum compote and glazed red cherries, in rapid succession. There’s a breadth of flavor to the palate that will take your breath away; muscular tannins draw in deeply set cherries, melding it together in a glistening coating of acidity, which only helps to carry it longer still. The finish is nearly endless. A stunning new single vineyard from Canalicchio di Sopra. Drink from 2026.
Lifting up with gorgeous floral perfumes and hints of white smoke, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia from Canalicchio di Sopra keeps you at the edge of your glass. It opens up with a dark and dramatic display of balsamic-tinged black cherry, sage and Indian spice, contrasted by savory notes of tobacco, rich earth tones and flowery undergrowth. There’s an amazing density of fruit here, offset by salty minerals, zesty acids and a hint of sour citrus. The textures are velvety-smooth, yet the expression remains feminine and lifted. In fact, you can hardly notice its underlying tannic heft until it’s too late, as the 2016 La Casaccia seems to youthfully fold in on itself, halting the expression but promising over a decade of further development.
- Eric Guido
The Vigna Casaccia 2018 opens with aromas of underbrush, leather, dark spice and whiffs of violet. More closed than the Brunello Annata, it’s also more structured, showing ripe dark-skinned berry, licorice, tobacco and balsamic notes recalling eucalyptus. Tight, fine-grained tannins provide support while great acidity keeps it fresh and balanced. Drink 2026–2040.
- Kerin O'Keefe
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia reveals medium-dark fruit and an open-knit approach with broad brushstrokes of black cherry, baked plum and spice. The alcohol content is too high at 15%, and that added power takes away from the finer nuances of the fruit. It ages in Slavonian oak for 36 months; however, the freshness is good in this wine. This is a limited release of 3,733 bottles and 200 magnums.
-Monica Larner
A delicate, graceful style, offering cherry, fruitcake, sage, eucalyptus, iron and leather flavors. Firm and nicely balanced, with a long, expanding aftertaste. Best from 2025 through 2042.
- Bruce Sanderson -
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia is impossible to ignore; it is earthy and mineral, almost smoky and animal in nature. Ashes stones, violets and balsam herbs complicate depths of dried black cherries, sage and clove. This is deeply textural and seductive, balancing ripe red and black fruits with sweet spice and minty herbal tones that create a kaleidoscope of sensation on the palate. A salty flourish shines through the finale, along with a crunchy tinge of blackberry seeds to contrast, as fine-grained tannins wrap the sense with youthful poise and a bitter twang resonates. The 2019 may be immortal. La Casaccia is a showstopper. Drinking window 2026-2040.
- Eric Guido -
Dark and brooding, the 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia slowly blossoms in the glass with a dramatic mix of steeped plums, cinnamon sticks, grilled herbs and sweet lavender. This is a model of purity, lifted and refined with soft textures and cool-toned acidity lending freshness as ripe red and hints of blue fruit settle upon the senses. The 2020 firms up through the finish, taking on a pleasantly bitter tinge that puckers the cheeks as grippy tannins and crunchy mineral tones frame the experience without getting in the way of its energetic persona. Drinking window 2027 – 2038.
- Reviewed by Eric Guido -
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2015 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia represents a new chapter in this estate's long history. This is a single-vineyard expression from the Canalicchio area, one of the most interesting subzones on the northeast side of Montalcino. Giving identity to individual parcels gives an estate like this huge potential for further expression and experimentation. The site is a little over two hectares, and it has dense, mineral-rich clay soils that add more power and a heavier center of gravity. The vines were planted in 1990. I notice slightly firmer tannin here, with a very distinct level of acidity purity. You also get lasting berry fruit favors with blueberry and dried raspberry followed by spice, licorice and lavender buds from the south of France and the rim of the Mediterranean. The wine is distinguished by endnotes of balsam or medicinal herb that grow in strength with time. It offers plenty of volume and weight. Not counting the various large format bottles made, only 3,610 750-milliliter bottles were produced. They were filled in May 2019, and the wine hit the market in January 2020.
- Monica Larner
The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia opens with an intense mix of zesty red fruits, spice and alluring sweet florals, backed by dark earth, crushed stone, hints of licorice, and a twang of savory herbs. On the palate, silky textures are contrasted by saline-minerals and brisk acids, as red berry fruits flood the senses along with savory herbs and spices, leaving a coating of fine-grained tannin. The finish is long, displaying lingering spiced red berries enlivened by resonating acids, saline-mineral tones and a hint of fine tannin. Talk about a great way to release a new single-vineyard bottling, The 2015 is classic to the core.
- Eric Guido
This is a newish single-vineyard wine (it's the second vintage) created by Francesco Ripaccioli and the team at Canalicchio di Sopra at the conclusion of an ambitious estate-wide mapping project. The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia draws its fruit from a two-hectare site planted in 1990 with clay soils and rich in mineral components. A precious 4,133 bottles were made. What I like most is the tightness of the fruit, which you chip away at slowly as the wine softens and yields in the glass. Each layer brings you forest fruit, sour cherry, almond, lilac and candied orange peel. On a second swirl, you might get black olive, bay leaf and scorched earth. There are subtle mineral notes, but what La Casaccia ultimately offers is that uniquely compact and extremely polished quality of fruit.
-Monica Larner
The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia is aromatically stunning, blasting up mineral in style, with a dark floral and balsam lift, giving way to licorice, black cherry and hints of camphor. It gains further depth and volume the longer it sits in the glass. The textures are silken, fleshy and pliant at first, as contrasting tart red fruits and minty herbal tones come through, saturating the palate with primary concentration. This is even savory at times and displays smoother contours than past vintages, yet it’s supremely balanced and pure. Repeating minerality comes through in spades and this turns youthfully dry and perfumed, yet still juicy and classic in feel. La Casaccia is a huge success for the vintage.
- Eric Guido
This is a relatively new addition to the Canalicchio di Sopra portfolio, and even its modern graphic label design represents a break from the rest of the line, which has more nostalgic labels that feature Montalcino's medieval main square. The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia takes a little longer to open, but it ultimately reveals the elegance and energy that comes with the house style. Wild cherry, ash and balsam herb drive a long, very polished finish. The La Casaccia site is distinguished by mineral-rich clay soils, which give this wine its power and density. Production is limited to 4,133 bottles in this vintage
- Monica Larner
A dark mix of crushed rocks and flowery underbrush is lifted by nuances of dried strawberry and worn leather as the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia smolders up from the glass. It’s silky in feel, communicating a wonderful elegance, with ripe red and hints of blue fruits accentuated by inner violet tones. This is potent and long through the finale, with sneaky tannins, staining the palate with liquid florals, as a hint of citrus-tinged black currant slowly fades. The 2018 is a beautifully balanced Brunello of this vintage.
- Eric Guido
Francesco Ripaccioli explains that La Casaccia’s clay soils absorbed the rains of September, initially diluting the grapes. He credits the subsequent dry northern winds with concentrating the berries as the estate waited until 28 September to pick. The resulting wine is certainly one of the vintage’s more solidly structured Brunello and also displays the darkest fruit of the estate’s trio of bottlings. Cherry and even blackcurrant are met with sage, rosemary and wet soil. The firmly built palate of dense fruit is framed by clingy tannins, while underlying juiciness keeps it bright and buoyant.
- Michaela Morris
Whereas Montosoli is more mineral-driven and finely stitched together, this wine is broad, big and driven by balsamic tones, vapor rub and dried rosemary.
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia, however, is more explosive with spice, toasted coffee, black licorice, cherry cola and rich cherry. The tannins feel chalky, although they are fine-grained, but they play a bigger role against the concentrated fruit. Only 7,200 bottles and larger formats were made. Drink Date 2025 - 2042.
- Monica Larner -
Rich and velvety, with cherry, raspberry, eucalyptus and juniper aromas and flavors, this is backed by a dense, steely structure, whose tannins leave a strong grip on the finish. Balanced, complex and long, with a saline, mineral impression persisting on the aftertaste. Best from 2027 through 2043, 147 cases imported.
- Bruce Sanderson -
Very intense and deep wine. The nose is savory, with earthy strawberries, cinnamon, sweet violets and even yellow stone-fruit. Full-bodied, graceful palate with velvety tannins, refreshing acidity and a polished finish. Long aftertaste. Grace and power go hand in hand here. Drinkable now, but best after 2025.
- James Suckling -
Bright medium red. Very pretty violet and red cherry aromas and flavours with hints of spicy cinnamon and nutmeg. Fleshy but precise, this finishes long clean and mineral. Owner Francesco Ripaccioli has arguably made the best pair of Brunellos of any estate from the 2018 vintage. Drinking window: 2027-2038.
- Ian D'Agata -
- Riccardo Viscardi -
Casaccia is a single vineyard in the Canalicchio area northeast of Montalcino. Here the cooler, windy mesoclimate and clay soils typically produce plump fruit, but with tannins of great finesse. This single cru bottling fulfils a long-term goal of owner Francesco Ripaccioli to capture the uniqueness of its various Sangiovese sites. The nose is initially earthy and dark with roasted chestnut, cigar and polished leather over amarena cherry. In keeping with the cooler 2018 vintage, a refreshing hit of acidity, menthol and eucalyptus strike the front palate just a beat before the fruit catches up. The tannins are like a finely woven wool suit that's cut close to the figure, but without being tight; the fruit returns on the finish, surprisingly fresher than before.
- Sarah Heller MW -
A single vineyard of great thickness and inimitable balance, nose with notes of cranberry, then touches of eucalyptus and gardenia, with hints of juniper. Brackish palate, thick, with a return of cranberry and spicy notes.
- Luca Gardini -
Very dark ruby with bricky rim. Spicy, minerally notes over generous cherry fruit. Lots of supple cherry fruit with a dose of well-judged tannins that cling to the fruit on the finish. A little riper and fuller than Montosoli, but has the bones to age gracefully. Drink 2026 – 2038.
- Walter Speller -
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2019 Vigna La Casaccia is fantastic. Generous and powerfully built, it also has a weightless grace, featuring aromas of black-skinned fruit, iris and camphor while the enveloping palate delivers ripe plum, mature black-skinned berry, licorice and cake spice. Velvety, enveloping tannins give it a smooth texture while fresh acidity keeps it balanced.
- Kerin O’Keefe -
La Casaccia is a brown clay with a prominence of calcium carbonate that gives this single vineyard sangiovese its colour. A place of high (8.2-8.3) pH characterized by the clay. "For me it's sleekness," tells Francesco Ripaccioli, "not opulence and less heaviness than from (a vineyard) of dense clay." La Casaccia from that calcareous clay is no simple Rosso or classic Brunello for that matter and it is immediately apparent that concentration and depth of all parts manage the wine's breadth at levels those drink earlier propositions do not. Similar grip to Riserva but not the same power although without tasting Riserva at the same time it would be hard to imagine how this could be improved or extrapolated upon. Simple but crazy complex and a most evocative elucidation to see this Brunello wooing with as much substance and intensity as it does - but these are the 2019s. A matter of deliberately annotating sangiovese and Casaccia through this interaction with a Brunello that enhances a taster's understanding, recall and reaction to the vintage. Drink 2027-2038.
- Michael Godel -
Medium-deep. Vibrant aromas of strawberry, peppery herbs and truffle. Then smooth and sultry, with multilayered flavours of red cherry, preserved plum, star anise, cinnamon and oaky spices. Long, balanced and suave on the rising finish. This will be a knockout in due course. Drinking window: 2030-2044.
- Ian D'Agata -
Bright ruby red in colour. Aromatics of blue florals, dried herbs and mellow spice. Small dark fruits abound, liquorice, blonde tobacco and distant cinnamon. Close knit fine tannins. Not an easy wine to fully appreciate at first, it has tremendous resonance, great structural integrity and soft textural curves. This wine is unique in as much it plays “hide and seek” with its interviewer. Personally I know it’s a stunning wine that needs time to relax and show all its fine character.
- Tony Wood -
Produced since the 2015 vintage, Vigna Casaccia is fashioned from 30-year-old vines of the BBS11 clone. Reaching 315 metres, the plot is characterised by a high percentage of brown, magnesium-rich clay. Surely the most impressive release yet, the 2019 exhibits the cru’s intrinsic sumptuous character and girth, along with telltale resinous herb nuances of rosemary, thyme and eucalyptus. yet this year, there is an extra spark. Through that expansiveness, an underlying firmness keeps this from overflowing its limits. Plump fruit marked with a mineral lick and terracotta earthiness is all wrapped up in smooth, velvety tannins, and it carries its 15% alcohol with ease and grace. Drinking Window: 2026 - 2041
- Michaela Morris -
The Vigna wines at Canalicchio are part of a long-standing project by Francesco Ripaccioli to isolate single plots within the estate. La Casaccia is in the Canalicchio cru, the more calcareous, clay-rich area surrounding the winery, and was planted in 1990. The nose starts savoury, with cheese rind and fresh mushroom opening up to reveal pretty notes of honeysuckle over blood orange and dried amarena cherry, reflecting the gentle warmth of the vintage. It gradually becomes sweeter and more strawberry-toned as the reduction from 36 months in large botti blows off. Mouthwatering acidity ushers in a palate lively with much brighter, redder cherry fruit than the nose, even shading into cranberry, with a pretty assortment of verbena and grassy herbs. There is an unexpected lightness and elegance to the mid-palate, graciously draped in slippery glycerol. The tannins are also quite luxuriant and baroque, forming folds of nappa leather on the back. Drink 2026 – 2045.
- Sarah Heller MW -
The 2016 Casaccia is really opening up now, charting a glorious middle course between the 2017 and the 2018, with more of the delicate balsamic tones of 2018 (dried rosemary, thyme and tobacco leaf) but with some of the sweeter amaro tones of the ’17 (sarsaparilla, bitter orange and liquorice root), with, as usual, subtle wafts of crisp crimson fruit. The sense of openness continues on the palate, which is filled in and rich in its marasca cherry fruit with beautiful acidity. Tannins are seamlessly woven into the fabric of the mid-palate, giving it the tactility of fine-spun virgin wool. On the back, the fruit washes away to reveal savoury nuances of tobacco and rust, tapering beautifully to a close. Drink 2025 – 2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Tasted immediately after the 2016, 2015 reveals its slightly warmer, more potent personality, with darker balsamic and sweet amaro tones of liquorice, bitter orange and cocoa. The palate is dark but with a potent sense of fruit just beneath, its black cherry refined by sharpening tones of bergamot and blood-orange citrus. Tannins remain enormous and bristling, though they have gained some tenderness with time. The acidity illuminates, giving both brightness and forward propulsion. Lovely iodine salinity on the finish. Drink 2025 – 2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Standing in stark contrast to the 2018, the 2017 is benefiting from both its riper conditions and another year of maturation in bottle. The nose is a luscious black cherry and strawberry amalgam that feels quite potent for Canalicchio, never a very effusive cru, with layers of Darjeeling tea, liquorice candy and carob. The richness of the brown spice tones (not coming from oak, which is untoasted and large) is much more marked than in 2018, and the tannins are likewise much more gravelly and chewy, typical of this calcareous clay-rich site. The mid-palate swells with oud, styrax and tea leaves – smoky, sensuous and exotic – kept in check by fresh acidity. Rust tones come through on the finish, accompanied by refined notes of polished leather. Drink 2025-2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Forest floor, violet and pipe tobacco mingle with leather and baked plum on the impressive 2020 Vigna La Casaccia. Polished and enveloping, the full-bodied palate features succulent black cherry, crushed raspberry, licorice and spiced orange peel set against compact, close-grained tannins. Fresh acidity keeps it balanced. Drink 2029–2034.
- Kerin O’Keefe -
Starting with this vintage, the Canalicchio di Sopra 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia carries a "Vigna" designation. La Casaccia is a two-hectare parcel with clay soils rich in minerals that was planted in 1990. Francesco Ripaccioli embarked on an estate-wide mapping project about 10 years ago to determine which parcels would be worthy of single-vineyard distinction. This wine always has an elegant brightness about it with aromas of iris root, blood orange and tart forest berry. This vintage delivers moderately more heft and intensity to the bouquet, although it remains understated in terms of palate. Give it more time to flesh out. Only 4,133 bottles were made. Drink Date 2026 – 2042.
- Monica Larner -
From the vineyard of the same name in cru Canalicchio, aged for 36 months in oak from Slavonia, olfactory attack on notes of cranberry jam, ginger, then touches of wild mint and gardenia, with hints of juniper. The palate is salty, dense, with minty memories and small fruits.
- Luca Gardini -
Mid ruby. Notes of dark earth and spice and, with aeration, focused fruit. But still not entirely open. Pure cherry fruit supported by grainy tannins. Firm structure and lots of lively sour-cherry fruit on the finish. Great balance, while the tannins need time to settle. Drink 2025 – 2034
- Walter Speller -
The 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia pours a rich and youthful red/ruby color and is from the unique clay-based soils just outside the winery. This wine takes things up another notch, with notes of raspberry liqueur, licorice, toasted sage, and lavender perfume. Full-bodied, it has a lot to offer, with ripe tannins, balanced, even acidity, dark mineral accents, and pure lasting concentration of fruit all the way through a mouthwatering finish. A remarkable wine, I highly recommend seeking out it for your cellar and aging. Drink 2027-2050.
- Audrey Frick -
Good full red. Inviting, rather cool, nuanced aromas of red berries, potpourri, violet, leather, smoke and minerals. Silky, delicately fleshy and suave, with a smooth, round texture and a seamless quality to its delicate spicy and fruity flavours nicely framed by fine-grained tannins and lingering notes of tobacco and camphor. A Brunello that conveys a classic nobility and that strikes me as being remarkably less chunky and thick than is usual for this bottling. Drinking window: 2030-2040.
- Ian D’Agata -
There is always something shared in common between the two single vineyards that is mitigated by the vintage from year to year – but Montosoli and Casaccia are very different wines. Here for the estate located block the extraction was lower, as was the maceration, to avoid any bitters or green possibilities. “Something was not perfectly mature” figures Francesco Ripaccioli. All that said there is more opulence, concentration and seduction from Casaccia but it plays a bit hard to get and to figure out. Take the time and stay with this Vigna because you need to be sure what kind of wine you are dealing with. A long relationship is necessary and time will tell what will be. Drink 2027-2036.
- Michael Godel -
From more clay-based soils, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna Casaccia pours a bit deeper ruby color and is riper and broader in its feel, with deeper notes of fresh black cherries, mocha, and pressed flowers. Medium to full-bodied, it offers more richness on the palate, with ripe tannins and good concentration for this challenging, cooler vintage. Long on the palate, with a great finish, it’s a very successful and more age-worthy wine for this vintage. Drink 2026-2046.
- Audrey Frick -
The bright red/ruby-hued 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino La Casaccia is fresh and offers a deeper though equally pure aromatic profile, with notes of darker cherries, candied flowers, sweet sage, and mossy earth. Medium-bodied, it's richer on the palate as well, with ripe tannins and more depth, but it's long and inviting, with a hearty feel in its hints of leather and porcini mushroom on the finish. Drink over the coming two decades. Maturity 2025 – 2045.
- Audrey Frick -
Helles Rubinrot mit violetten Reflexen. In der Nase nach gezuckerten Walderdbeeren, Hagebuttentee, Amarenakirsche und Minze, dahinter etwas Lavendel, etwas brandig. Am Gaumen viel reife Frucht, druckvoll, reife Gerbstoffe, gut eingebundene Säure, schöne Saftigkeit und Salzigkeit, elegantes Finale.
- Othmar Kiem and Simon Staffler -
A significant new release for Canalicchio di Sopra, La Casaccia is a single vineyard close to the winery in the district of Canalicchio, north of the town of Montalcino. Comparing it to his plots in Montosoli, owner Francesco Ripaccioli describes the soil here as a heavier brown clay with lots of magnesium giving more generous growth. It produces a relatively weighty, substantial wine with firm, sturdy tannins and balancing acidity. Notes of sage, tobacco, liquorice root and heather weave through the plush dark currant fruit. Both this and the classic Brunello are equally accomplished, however I suspect La Casaccia may have longer ageing capacity.
- Michaela Morris
A spectacular wine in every sense: a firm, deep, minerally fruit nose, a composed but full palate with finely chiselled tannins and perfectly integrated juicy acidity. Long and layered and impossible to resist but deserves more bottle age.
- Walter Speller
A red with cherry, walnut, bark and hints of dried flowers. It’s full-bodied with firm, chewy tannins and a tight finish. Really reserved now. Needs three or four years to open. Best after 2024.
- James Suckling
English:
Sparkling, dark ruby with a shimmering garnet edge. Compact, somewhat closed nose with notes of dark blackberries and cherries, a fine nougat note in the background. Blooms great on the palate, tightly meshed, substantial tannin, embedded in fine fruit melt, salty and juicy, is still very young, but has a long life ahead of it.
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
Deutsche:
Funkelndes, dunkles Rubin mit schillerndem Granatrand. Kompakte, etwas verschlossene Nase mit Noten nach dunklen Brombeeren und Kirschen, im Hintergrund feiner Nougatton. Blüht am Gaumen toll auf, dichtmaschiges, stoffiges Tannin, eingebettet in feinen Fruchtschmelz, salzig und saftig, zeigt sich noch sehr jung, hat aber ein langes Leben vor sich.
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
This ripe red is bursting with plum, cherry, floral and mineral aromas and flavors. Succulent and balanced, with savory, sanguine and earthy accents, rolling on through the long, herb-tinged aftertaste. Best from 2024 through 2045.
- Bruce Sanderson
Lustrous mid ruby. Leafy cherry hints but otherwise quite closed on the nose, yet with a clear sense of purity. Dense, yet elegant and with tangy acidity shooting through the mouth-filling fruit. Firm noble tannins add depth and contour. Real cru pedigree.
- Walter Speller
The second release of this single vineyard, La Casaccia was planted in 1990. At an average altitude of 300 metres, it sits on predominantly clay soils and is bathed in sun from morning until evening. This doesn’t have quite the plushness or gregarious personality of the 2015 but takes on the 2016 vintage’s more vertical path, opening slowly. Aromas are evocative of pine, cedar and sage. Full but not weighty, the palate brings in earthy nuances with wild berries.
Acidity is cleansing, and silky tannins build up to a powerful finish.
Drinking Window 2024 - 2040
- Michaela Morris
Brunello di Montalcino LA CASACCIA 2016 obtained the CORONA, the highest recognition assigned by GUIDA VINI BUONI D'ITALIA
This shows the ripeness of the vintage, with ripe-berry, cherry and floral
aromas and flavors. Some cedar, too. It’s full and flavorful, with lots of chewy
yet polished and focused tannins. A little dusty in texture. Drinkable now,
but better in 2023.
- James Suckling
Nobile ed elegantissimo mostra note miste floreali e fruttate che ricordano i gerani, l’ibisco, le prugne rosse, la buccia di arancia arsa, la china e la terra bagnata. Corpo pieno, tannini perfettamente maturi ed integrati nella matrice ed un finale iconico punto di riferimento per la denominazione nel difficile millesimo. Meglio dal 2023.
- Raffaele Vecchione
This is where all the recent hard work put by Francesco Ripaccioli and team really comes to light and fruition. La Casaccia is northerly-ish but certainly not Montosoli and yet the aromatic profile of this Vigna-designate Brunello is laced with cool nuance and found to be full of fine finesse. As per the Canalicchio di Sopra idiom there is plenty of wood casking through the bones of the wine and yet one can feel the highest quality of those large vessels gifting a select strength leading to the chic style, surely to be followed by one and the half decades of aging. All what needs, what is and must be for La Casaccia. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021.
- Michael Godel
Da uve brunello, matura in botti da 30 hl per almeno 24 mesi. Classico rubino. Olfatto nitido e intenso su ciliegie nere mature e more. Una leggera affumicatura che introduce erbe officinali che danno freschezza. Trama e progressione fitte, nervose con tannino giovanile ma perfettamente integrato. Ottimo il finale per lunghezza e sobrietà. La zona nordica esprime le sue caratteristiche anche in annate torride ma qui c’e il trucco: piovve a metà settembre.
- Riccardo Viscardi
A great release of Brunello from the northeast slope of the denomination. Nose of freshness and finesse, notes of raspberry, touches of fresh marjoram and undergrowth. The mouthfeel is juicy-savoury, dense, with a nice spicy finish and persistence.
- Luca Gardini
Within the Canalicchio area, the Casaccia vineyard boasts a high clay content, which helped curb water stress in 2017. As with all Canalicchio di Sopra’s wines, the grapes were double-sorted to remove any green or sun-dried berries. Pristine in aromas and flavours, this offers clove, cardamom, mint and sweet dark earth on a backdrop of black cherries. The ample, mouth-filling palate is hemmed in by compact, sandy tannins. Underlying succulence makes this quite moreish. Drinking Window 2024 - 2032
- Michaela Morris
Inviting aromas of baked plum, violet, baking spice and sun-warmed hay come to the forefront along with a whiff of leather. The enveloping palate is delicious, delivering ripe Marasca cherry, raspberry compote, licorice and nutmeg framed in tightly woven, polished tannins that lend finesse and a smooth texture. Drink 2024–2029.
-Kerin O’Keefe
Black cherry and blackberry flavors hold court in this dense, yet vibrant red, which is defined by brisk acidity. Stays beautifully integrated, harmonious and long, while earth and savory herb accents add depth. This should really sing in about 2-3 years. Best from 2024 through 2040.
- Bruce Sanderson
Just mid ruby with orange tinges. A subdued nose with malt-bread notes. Needs to take a very deep breath, while revealing oak hints. The palate displays fragrant marasca-cherry fruit balanced by supple acidity. Very long, concentrated and with beautiful, coating tannins.
- Walter Speller
Profondo, un po' tabacco, catrame e un po' nocciola, aroma di bacche nere e rosse mature con sfumature floreali secche che ricordano i petali di rosa e un po' di note eteree. Crostata, matura, frutta piuttosto scura, aromi di noce e legno leggermente speziato di cacao, note pepate e di ginepro, mineralità salata, con tutta la sua potenza anche note rinfrescanti, buona profondità, struttura ferma, abbastanza complesso, ma trasparente e lucido, ancora giovane, molto buono, fermo, crostata e finale speziato.
Reviewed by Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
Brunello di Montalcino LA CASACCIA 2017 obtained the CORONA, the highest recognition assigned by GUIDA VINI BUONI D'ITALIA
Einladende Noten von Waldbeeren und Sandelholz; der Ansatz geschliffen, besitzt präzise Säure und engmaschiges Tannin, intensiv-würziges Fruchtfinale. Muss sich noch etwas abrunden.
- Christian Eder
Absorbing display of black cherry, blackberries, violet florals and menthol. Quickly followed by fresh juicy textured nuances of red berries and balsamic notes, leave you almost gasping for breath. Sweet notes then savoury ones bombard the senses on this hedonistic experience. Phenomenal length and balance.
- Tony Wood
From the highly vocated vineyard of the same name, a beautiful version of Brunello, typical of the north-eastern area of the denomination. Freshness to the nose, notes of black raspberry, touches of eucalyptus and undergrowth. The palate is juicy-sapid, dense, with return of fruit and undergrowth.
- Luca Gardini
A tiny bit more developed (than the classic 2018 Brunello) lustrous ruby with orange, bricky narrow rim. There is a sense of richness combined with mineral intensity on the nose. Pure cherry and raspberry with a hint of orange and cinnamon bark. Juicy, minerally and savoury on the palate and with finely chiselled tannins. 15% but very elegant and poised.
-Walter Speller
Cedro peel, lavender, sour cherries, redcurrants and hints of lemongrass on the nose. Full-bodied, silky and perfumed, with a fine tannin backbone and a weightlessness to it. Swathes of creamy ripe fruit. Drink after 2023.
- James Suckling
Boom! Vigna la Casaccia nel millesimo 2018 è denso e compatto nel calice senza perdere in leggiadria e complessità sensoriale. Si alternano lentamente note di prugne nere, more, cannella in polvere, incenso, mirto selvatico, cumino e pepe nero. L’arancia sanguinella descrive il profilo secondario che si anima con buoni muscoli. Corpo pieno, tannini perfettamente morbidi di grana finissima ed un finale di lodevole bellezza. Meglio dal 2025.
- Raffaele Vecchione
Great anticipation to taste La Casaccia and Montosoli side by each from a vintage carrying no option but to act out the passion play through the glaring clarity of a sense of place. There are facts involved and there is no hiding the truth formed by these plots of sangiovese in this vintage. By now it is understood how 2018 exists on its own accord at one with nature though Francesco Ripaccioli will tell you there are similarities with 2013, if only because that vintage was greatly ignored and is drinking well at this time. La Casaccia in the località of Canalicchio is the wildcard of Montalcino and tasting several wines from the frazione reveals a collective affinity supplied by the year’s gifts. Nothing was portioned or taken away from the ’18 Annata and yet this Vigna sings with even more range and depth than that wine. The acids are simply out of this proverbial world, the linear aspects drawn with precise architectural or even, in Old English speak, a Cutter’s line. Remarkable reserve in concentration and forward slicing finesse. Forever long. Forever young. Drink 2025-2038.
- Michael Godel
Ruby red in colour. Wild meadow florals and violet awaken the senses. Wild black berries, boysenberry, dark plum and blackberry assisted by refreshing acidity and rounded tannins lift the palate to experience the layered intensity and textural resonance. The sheer appeal of this wine is mind blowing. Balance and energy are a given…
- Tony Wood -
Funkelndes Rubingranat mit aufhellendem Rand. Intensive und viel schichtige Nase mit feinen Noten nach Waldhimbeere, Schwarzkirsche und Rosen, im Hintergrund etwas Rauch. Kompakt in Ansatz und Verlauf, zeigt schöne reife Frucht, griffiges, dichtmaschiges Tannin, baut sich in vielen Schichten auf.
Brunello di Montalcino Trophy 2023
- Wolfgang M. Rosam, Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler -
Ebenso sehr komplexes und dichtes, nobles Bouquet mit à point reifen, überwiegend dunkelroten Beeren, dunklen Kirschen, Veilchen, Pfeffer und wieder erdigkräutrigen Noten. Sehr klar umrissenes Duftbild, das sich am dichten und druckvollen Gaumen fortsetzt. Das feinsandige Tanninkleid umhüllt gekonnt und nobel die konzentrierte Frucht und die würzig-mineralischen Noten, spannt sich ganz weit und ist ewig lang. Schöne Liaison aus Kraft und Eleganz mit der typischen Sangiovese-Frucht und Würze mit herrlichen ätherischen Noten im persistenten, mineralisch geprägten Finale. Einer der besten der Verkostung. Top 3. Bravo!
Guida 2024 - sezione "Vini da vitigni autoctoni"
Ausladendes Bouquet mit einer schönen Liaison aus reifer Frucht und floralwürzigen Noten. Hier treffen die saftigen Pflaumen auf getrocknete Veilchen und Zedernwürze. So geht es auch am saftigen Gaumen: wunderschöne SangioveseFrucht (dunkle Kirsche, Zwetschge) umrahmt von floralwürzigen und zart ledrigen Noten. 2025 – 2036
- Giuseppe Lauria -
Coinvolgente e di notevole spessore enologico mostra complessità nella stratificazione di prugne rosse, fragoline di bosco, buccia di lime, glicine, timo selvatico, bosso e verbena. In sottofondo nuance nobili di carattere verde ricordano le foglie di tè verde e la menta piperita. Corpo medio, tannini morbidi di grana fine ed un finale equilibrato e piacevolissimo che fa della delicata potenza la sua arma migliore. Meglio dal 2025.
- Raffaele Vecchione -
Sweet sour cherries with rose stems and hints of green leaves on the nose. Medium body with firm, chewy tannins with some juicy fruit. Fresh and vivid. Better after two or three years.
- James Suckling -
Vitae, La Guida Vini 2024 - X edizione
Tra i 5 migliori Brunello di Montalcino 2018 Selezione
Bright medium red with garnet highlights. Aromas and flavours of ripe red cherry, plum, and orange peel are complemented by strong notes of tobacco and earth. Perfumed and luscious on entry, then somewhat broad and diffuse in the middle, with ripe red cherry, plum nectar and redcurrant jelly flavours complicated by a dusting of wild herbs. Very fine tannins leave a suave mouthfeel behind on the long, savoury finish that features repeating strong nuances of sweet pipe tobacco. Drinking window: 2023-2033.
- Ian D’Agata -
Ungemein komplexes und tiefgestaffeltes, ätherisch-kräutriges Bouquet mit à point reifen, überwiegend dunklen Beeren, Tabak und wieder erdig-kräutrigen Noten. Sehr klar umrissene Struktur am Gaumen, messerscharf konturiert, ungemein druckvoll, gekonnt umhüllt vom feinen, eleganten Tanninkleid, nobel mit konzentrierter Frucht und würzig-mineralischen Noten, spannt sich ganz weit mit wunderbarer Fruchtsüße und Frische. Schöne Liaison aus Kraft und Eleganz, sehr persistent und lang im Finale mit der typischen Sangiovese Würze und ätherischen Noten. Einer der besten der Verkostung. [2026 – 2042]
- Giuseppe Lauria -
Leuchtendes Rubinrot. In der Nase auf erdigen Tönen, satter Kirschfrucht, etwas Blutorange, nicht ganz präzise, wenngleich in sich stimmig. Am Gaumen geschliffen, elegant, mit engmaschigem, packendem Tannin, kompakt, sehr saftig, toller Stil, druckvoll, mit anhaltendem Abgang.
Brunello di Montalcino Trophy 2024
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler -
5 Grappoli
- Guida Bibenda 2025 -
Tasted alongside the 2020 annata and Montosoli bottlings from this estate, it seems clear that La Casaccia (and probably its fellow Canalicchio cru vineyards, where soils are clay-rich and calcareous and exposures sunbathed) lies towards the darker end of the fruit spectrum for the vintage. The same black-cherry lusciousness found on the annata is there, with edifying notes of wild strawberry, cedar sprig and blood orange. The northern Montalcino balsamic qualities come through on the palate, while the black cherry is gone, replaced by a fragrant blend of blood orange, gunpowder tea, palo santo and dried peppermint, lending a cooling effect. Tannins are pebbly and fine. Acidity is not especially elevated, but the herbal tones, translucency, fluid texture and linearity make its mildness less noticeable. There are lovely ferrous tones with whispers of black cherry to finish, giving a satisfying sense of symmetry. Drink 2027 – 2044.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Solare al naso, ricorda di succo di arance, zest di limone, chicchi di melagrana e fragoline di bosco. Nel profilo secondario, cedro in pezzi e ginger. Al palato, corpo pieno, tannini vividi ed un finale succoso. Meglio dal 2026.
- Raffaele Vecchione -
A red ruby color, the 2016 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia is layered and draws you in with aromas of leather, black cherries, and wild herbs. Medium to full-bodied, with a weightless feel, the tannins are more plush and ripe, and it has a supple texture as well as a long, elegant finish. Drink 2024-2044.
- Audrey Frick -
Vigna La Casaccia, dall’omonimo vigneto nel Cru Canalicchio, rappresenta il nostro desiderio di valorizzare l’unicità di un vigneto capace di mantenere la sua forte identità e riconoscibilità anche in annate diverse. È il vigneto che ci ha dimostrato negli anni come opulenza e freschezza possono convivere nella stessa bottiglia.
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
100% Sangiovese
Da 315 a 297 mt slm
1990
Terreno tendenzialmente argilloso con una buona dotazione di elementi minerali fra cui spicca il calcio, intervallato da elementi scheletrici. La caratteristiche del terreno plasmano vini dotati di grande struttura, colori brillanti, profondità ed una grande eleganza che regalano ogni anno tannini suadenti ed setosi. L’esposizione ottimale garantisce alla pianta un’insolazione costante dall’alba al tramonto.
Cordone speronato
N/S
3,00 metri x1,00 metro
In vasche d’acciaio con controllo della temperatura di fermentazione, rimontaggi soffici giornalieri. Macerazione sulle bucce per 25 giorni.
36 mesi in botti di Rovere di Slavonia da 25 hl
2015
15 %
6444 Bottiglie da 750 ml
318 Bottiglie da 1500 ml
30 Bottiglie da 3000 ml
Dal punto di vista climatico la 2019 può essere definita un’annata moderatamente calda ma mai torrida, senza eccessivi e prolungati picchi di calore, che ha beneficiato per tutta la stagione di forti escursioni termiche che hanno agevolato un’importante attività fotosintetica della pianta a favore di una perfetta maturazione.
L’inverno è stato caratterizzato da temperature molto basse, con un mese di gennaio in cui le minime sono scese costantemente sotto lo zero termico, favorendo un raffreddamento dei suoli che è stato fondamentale per una ripresa vegetativa regolare e non anticipata. Le precipitazioni cumulate nei mesi di gennaio, febbraio e marzo sono state di 100 mm, non altissime ma comunque più che sufficienti a garantire un’ottima riserva idrica per la partenza del nuovo ciclo vegetativo, già sufficientemente garantita dall’autunno piovoso. Aprile e maggio sono stati due mesi piovosi (rispettivamente con 88mm e 148 mm di pioggia), caratterizzati da temperature in linea con le medie stagionali e da fenomeni mai violenti che hanno permesso una gestione ottimale dei vigneti garantendo un’ottima riserva per l’estate. Il 29 maggio ha visto la fine delle piogge e l’inizio di un periodo con assenza di fenomeni piovosi che è perdurato fino al 26 di luglio, salvo piccolissime precipitazioni. È stato questo, a nostro avviso, uno dei periodi chiave dell’annata: una fioritura regolare, senza piogge, con temperature miti e mai eccessive che si sono poi protratte fino a fine giugno e che hanno garantito uno sviluppo costante e rispettoso delle fasi fenologiche della vite, equilibrato ed uniforme, e garantito l’assenza di malattie fungine. Dal 25 giugno al 9 luglio abbiamo registrato il momento più caldo della stagione con temperature massime intorno ai 35 gradi ma anche minime costantemente intorno ai 15-17 gradi: in queste condizioni, anche con temperature più calde, la pianta ha avuto giornalmente la possibilità di “respirare” grazie alle notti fresche e questo ha garantito un corretto e regolare andamento. Il 27 luglio, provvidenziale, è arrivata una pioggia che ha allontanato le piante dal rischio di stress idrico: i 60 mm caduti il 27/28 luglio uniti ai 30 mm del 22-24 agosto ed ai 12mm del 01 settembre hanno fatto sì che la pianta avesse sempre a disposizione quella quantità di acqua, né poca né troppa, necessaria a continuare un ciclo vegetativo regolare. In questo ultimo periodo si sono registrate inoltre temperature molto regolari, senza ondate di calore che potessero compromettere la qualità degli acini in invaiatura e successivamente in maturazione, con temperature massime sui 30-32 C° sempre compensate da escursioni termiche di 15-20 C° per giorno che hanno completamente evitato bruciature. Prima dell’inizio della vendemmia abbiamo avuto un’ultima pioggia di circa 90 mm, il 22 di settembre, che non ha minimamente intaccato la qualità delle uve e ha anzi aiutato a riequilibrare e lavare le uve prima dell’entrata in cantina.
L’analisi di tutti gli indici climatici conferma e giustifica l’eccezionalità della vendemmia 2019: con un indice di Fregoni di circa 400, un indice di Huglin di 2500 e un cumulato di piogge di 520 mm.
2019: RAFFINATA POTENZA
Parlare della 2019 come di una delle annate più belle degli ultimi decenni, annoverare questa annata fra le grandi annate del territorio montalcinese, crediamo che non sia una forzatura, tantomeno un errore.
La 2019, a nostro avviso, rispetta quei canoni di “Raffinata Potenza” che solo annate di grande bilanciamento riescono a dare, spostando in alto l’asticella dell’equilibrio e portando con sé tanto di tutto: dalla perfetta maturazione fenolica, che ne esalta la “Potenza”, alla straordinaria maturazione tecnologica, che grazie al mantenimento di un ottimo quadro acido ne sottolinea la “Raffinatezza”. Sempre in bilico fra mostrare i muscoli e la grazia, sensazioni così diverse ma anche magicamente complementari in un grande vino da lungo affinamento: la 2019 sorprende per l’armonia e l’equilibrio che solo le grandi annate sanno raggiungere.
Come ogni annata, il risultato è il frutto di un percorso agronomico che nel 2019 è stato regolare dal punto di vista di apporto idrico, tendenzialmente caldo ma mai torrido e con grandi escursioni termiche che ne hanno favorito la maturazione e la concentrazione, salvaguardando la freschezza e la fragranza. Questo andamento ha favorito una grande espressività olfattiva dove la purezza del frutto viene esaltata dalle classiche note balsamiche della zona nord di Montalcino, senza mai sopraffare l’elegante florealità che rimane un tratto distintivo dei vini “Canalicchio di Sopra”. L’ottimo andamento climatico ha definito una vendemmia a due dimensioni riuscendo a coniugare l’opulenza con la verticalità dei vini, la setosità con la mineralità, la dolcezza con la sapidità.
Segno distintivo di questa annata è la capacità di raccontare il territorio, le sfumature dei singoli vigneti e delle sottozone dove coltiviamo il nostro Sangiovese in maniera marcata e profonda, tanto da esaltarne le differenze e le peculiarità.
La vendemmia è iniziata il 26 settembre dai vigneti più giovani destinati alla produzione di Rosso di Montalcino Doc per poi proseguire ininterrottamente fino al 6 di ottobre, in giornate soleggiate e con grandi escursioni termiche che ci hanno consentito di portare in cantina uve fresche e fragranti, facilitando fermentazioni regolari e con lunghe estrazioni. La qualità delle bucce, perfettamente mature e ricche in polifenoli, ci ha consentito vinificazioni che sono iniziate con le consuete e delicate operazioni meccaniche di rimontaggio e délestage, seguite da un lungo periodo di macerazione sulle bucce che in molti casi ha raggiunto i 35 giorni.
Il Brunello di Montalcino Docg 2019 Vigna La Casaccia “Canalicchio di Sopra”, dall’omonimo vigneto nel Cru Canalicchio, rappresenta il vino che racconta le caratteristiche di questo vigneto piantato nel 1990 attraverso un’annata che ne ha esaltato opulenza e balsamicità. La Vigna Casaccia, grazie ai suoli calcareo argillosi esalta la dolcezza del tannino, la sua setosità e la sua progressiva distensione.
The intensity of fruit is staggering here, as this stacks up dried peaches, dried strawberries, red licorice, red-plum compote and glazed red cherries, in rapid succession. There’s a breadth of flavor to the palate that will take your breath away; muscular tannins draw in deeply set cherries, melding it together in a glistening coating of acidity, which only helps to carry it longer still. The finish is nearly endless. A stunning new single vineyard from Canalicchio di Sopra. Drink from 2026.
Lifting up with gorgeous floral perfumes and hints of white smoke, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia from Canalicchio di Sopra keeps you at the edge of your glass. It opens up with a dark and dramatic display of balsamic-tinged black cherry, sage and Indian spice, contrasted by savory notes of tobacco, rich earth tones and flowery undergrowth. There’s an amazing density of fruit here, offset by salty minerals, zesty acids and a hint of sour citrus. The textures are velvety-smooth, yet the expression remains feminine and lifted. In fact, you can hardly notice its underlying tannic heft until it’s too late, as the 2016 La Casaccia seems to youthfully fold in on itself, halting the expression but promising over a decade of further development.
- Eric Guido
The Vigna Casaccia 2018 opens with aromas of underbrush, leather, dark spice and whiffs of violet. More closed than the Brunello Annata, it’s also more structured, showing ripe dark-skinned berry, licorice, tobacco and balsamic notes recalling eucalyptus. Tight, fine-grained tannins provide support while great acidity keeps it fresh and balanced. Drink 2026–2040.
- Kerin O'Keefe
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia reveals medium-dark fruit and an open-knit approach with broad brushstrokes of black cherry, baked plum and spice. The alcohol content is too high at 15%, and that added power takes away from the finer nuances of the fruit. It ages in Slavonian oak for 36 months; however, the freshness is good in this wine. This is a limited release of 3,733 bottles and 200 magnums.
-Monica Larner
A delicate, graceful style, offering cherry, fruitcake, sage, eucalyptus, iron and leather flavors. Firm and nicely balanced, with a long, expanding aftertaste. Best from 2025 through 2042.
- Bruce Sanderson -
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia is impossible to ignore; it is earthy and mineral, almost smoky and animal in nature. Ashes stones, violets and balsam herbs complicate depths of dried black cherries, sage and clove. This is deeply textural and seductive, balancing ripe red and black fruits with sweet spice and minty herbal tones that create a kaleidoscope of sensation on the palate. A salty flourish shines through the finale, along with a crunchy tinge of blackberry seeds to contrast, as fine-grained tannins wrap the sense with youthful poise and a bitter twang resonates. The 2019 may be immortal. La Casaccia is a showstopper. Drinking window 2026-2040.
- Eric Guido -
Dark and brooding, the 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia slowly blossoms in the glass with a dramatic mix of steeped plums, cinnamon sticks, grilled herbs and sweet lavender. This is a model of purity, lifted and refined with soft textures and cool-toned acidity lending freshness as ripe red and hints of blue fruit settle upon the senses. The 2020 firms up through the finish, taking on a pleasantly bitter tinge that puckers the cheeks as grippy tannins and crunchy mineral tones frame the experience without getting in the way of its energetic persona. Drinking window 2027 – 2038.
- Reviewed by Eric Guido -
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2015 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia represents a new chapter in this estate's long history. This is a single-vineyard expression from the Canalicchio area, one of the most interesting subzones on the northeast side of Montalcino. Giving identity to individual parcels gives an estate like this huge potential for further expression and experimentation. The site is a little over two hectares, and it has dense, mineral-rich clay soils that add more power and a heavier center of gravity. The vines were planted in 1990. I notice slightly firmer tannin here, with a very distinct level of acidity purity. You also get lasting berry fruit favors with blueberry and dried raspberry followed by spice, licorice and lavender buds from the south of France and the rim of the Mediterranean. The wine is distinguished by endnotes of balsam or medicinal herb that grow in strength with time. It offers plenty of volume and weight. Not counting the various large format bottles made, only 3,610 750-milliliter bottles were produced. They were filled in May 2019, and the wine hit the market in January 2020.
- Monica Larner
The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia opens with an intense mix of zesty red fruits, spice and alluring sweet florals, backed by dark earth, crushed stone, hints of licorice, and a twang of savory herbs. On the palate, silky textures are contrasted by saline-minerals and brisk acids, as red berry fruits flood the senses along with savory herbs and spices, leaving a coating of fine-grained tannin. The finish is long, displaying lingering spiced red berries enlivened by resonating acids, saline-mineral tones and a hint of fine tannin. Talk about a great way to release a new single-vineyard bottling, The 2015 is classic to the core.
- Eric Guido
This is a newish single-vineyard wine (it's the second vintage) created by Francesco Ripaccioli and the team at Canalicchio di Sopra at the conclusion of an ambitious estate-wide mapping project. The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia draws its fruit from a two-hectare site planted in 1990 with clay soils and rich in mineral components. A precious 4,133 bottles were made. What I like most is the tightness of the fruit, which you chip away at slowly as the wine softens and yields in the glass. Each layer brings you forest fruit, sour cherry, almond, lilac and candied orange peel. On a second swirl, you might get black olive, bay leaf and scorched earth. There are subtle mineral notes, but what La Casaccia ultimately offers is that uniquely compact and extremely polished quality of fruit.
-Monica Larner
The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia is aromatically stunning, blasting up mineral in style, with a dark floral and balsam lift, giving way to licorice, black cherry and hints of camphor. It gains further depth and volume the longer it sits in the glass. The textures are silken, fleshy and pliant at first, as contrasting tart red fruits and minty herbal tones come through, saturating the palate with primary concentration. This is even savory at times and displays smoother contours than past vintages, yet it’s supremely balanced and pure. Repeating minerality comes through in spades and this turns youthfully dry and perfumed, yet still juicy and classic in feel. La Casaccia is a huge success for the vintage.
- Eric Guido
This is a relatively new addition to the Canalicchio di Sopra portfolio, and even its modern graphic label design represents a break from the rest of the line, which has more nostalgic labels that feature Montalcino's medieval main square. The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia takes a little longer to open, but it ultimately reveals the elegance and energy that comes with the house style. Wild cherry, ash and balsam herb drive a long, very polished finish. The La Casaccia site is distinguished by mineral-rich clay soils, which give this wine its power and density. Production is limited to 4,133 bottles in this vintage
- Monica Larner
A dark mix of crushed rocks and flowery underbrush is lifted by nuances of dried strawberry and worn leather as the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia smolders up from the glass. It’s silky in feel, communicating a wonderful elegance, with ripe red and hints of blue fruits accentuated by inner violet tones. This is potent and long through the finale, with sneaky tannins, staining the palate with liquid florals, as a hint of citrus-tinged black currant slowly fades. The 2018 is a beautifully balanced Brunello of this vintage.
- Eric Guido
Francesco Ripaccioli explains that La Casaccia’s clay soils absorbed the rains of September, initially diluting the grapes. He credits the subsequent dry northern winds with concentrating the berries as the estate waited until 28 September to pick. The resulting wine is certainly one of the vintage’s more solidly structured Brunello and also displays the darkest fruit of the estate’s trio of bottlings. Cherry and even blackcurrant are met with sage, rosemary and wet soil. The firmly built palate of dense fruit is framed by clingy tannins, while underlying juiciness keeps it bright and buoyant.
- Michaela Morris
Whereas Montosoli is more mineral-driven and finely stitched together, this wine is broad, big and driven by balsamic tones, vapor rub and dried rosemary.
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia, however, is more explosive with spice, toasted coffee, black licorice, cherry cola and rich cherry. The tannins feel chalky, although they are fine-grained, but they play a bigger role against the concentrated fruit. Only 7,200 bottles and larger formats were made. Drink Date 2025 - 2042.
- Monica Larner -
Rich and velvety, with cherry, raspberry, eucalyptus and juniper aromas and flavors, this is backed by a dense, steely structure, whose tannins leave a strong grip on the finish. Balanced, complex and long, with a saline, mineral impression persisting on the aftertaste. Best from 2027 through 2043, 147 cases imported.
- Bruce Sanderson -
Very intense and deep wine. The nose is savory, with earthy strawberries, cinnamon, sweet violets and even yellow stone-fruit. Full-bodied, graceful palate with velvety tannins, refreshing acidity and a polished finish. Long aftertaste. Grace and power go hand in hand here. Drinkable now, but best after 2025.
- James Suckling -
Bright medium red. Very pretty violet and red cherry aromas and flavours with hints of spicy cinnamon and nutmeg. Fleshy but precise, this finishes long clean and mineral. Owner Francesco Ripaccioli has arguably made the best pair of Brunellos of any estate from the 2018 vintage. Drinking window: 2027-2038.
- Ian D'Agata -
- Riccardo Viscardi -
Casaccia is a single vineyard in the Canalicchio area northeast of Montalcino. Here the cooler, windy mesoclimate and clay soils typically produce plump fruit, but with tannins of great finesse. This single cru bottling fulfils a long-term goal of owner Francesco Ripaccioli to capture the uniqueness of its various Sangiovese sites. The nose is initially earthy and dark with roasted chestnut, cigar and polished leather over amarena cherry. In keeping with the cooler 2018 vintage, a refreshing hit of acidity, menthol and eucalyptus strike the front palate just a beat before the fruit catches up. The tannins are like a finely woven wool suit that's cut close to the figure, but without being tight; the fruit returns on the finish, surprisingly fresher than before.
- Sarah Heller MW -
A single vineyard of great thickness and inimitable balance, nose with notes of cranberry, then touches of eucalyptus and gardenia, with hints of juniper. Brackish palate, thick, with a return of cranberry and spicy notes.
- Luca Gardini -
Very dark ruby with bricky rim. Spicy, minerally notes over generous cherry fruit. Lots of supple cherry fruit with a dose of well-judged tannins that cling to the fruit on the finish. A little riper and fuller than Montosoli, but has the bones to age gracefully. Drink 2026 – 2038.
- Walter Speller -
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2019 Vigna La Casaccia is fantastic. Generous and powerfully built, it also has a weightless grace, featuring aromas of black-skinned fruit, iris and camphor while the enveloping palate delivers ripe plum, mature black-skinned berry, licorice and cake spice. Velvety, enveloping tannins give it a smooth texture while fresh acidity keeps it balanced.
- Kerin O’Keefe -
La Casaccia is a brown clay with a prominence of calcium carbonate that gives this single vineyard sangiovese its colour. A place of high (8.2-8.3) pH characterized by the clay. "For me it's sleekness," tells Francesco Ripaccioli, "not opulence and less heaviness than from (a vineyard) of dense clay." La Casaccia from that calcareous clay is no simple Rosso or classic Brunello for that matter and it is immediately apparent that concentration and depth of all parts manage the wine's breadth at levels those drink earlier propositions do not. Similar grip to Riserva but not the same power although without tasting Riserva at the same time it would be hard to imagine how this could be improved or extrapolated upon. Simple but crazy complex and a most evocative elucidation to see this Brunello wooing with as much substance and intensity as it does - but these are the 2019s. A matter of deliberately annotating sangiovese and Casaccia through this interaction with a Brunello that enhances a taster's understanding, recall and reaction to the vintage. Drink 2027-2038.
- Michael Godel -
Medium-deep. Vibrant aromas of strawberry, peppery herbs and truffle. Then smooth and sultry, with multilayered flavours of red cherry, preserved plum, star anise, cinnamon and oaky spices. Long, balanced and suave on the rising finish. This will be a knockout in due course. Drinking window: 2030-2044.
- Ian D'Agata -
Bright ruby red in colour. Aromatics of blue florals, dried herbs and mellow spice. Small dark fruits abound, liquorice, blonde tobacco and distant cinnamon. Close knit fine tannins. Not an easy wine to fully appreciate at first, it has tremendous resonance, great structural integrity and soft textural curves. This wine is unique in as much it plays “hide and seek” with its interviewer. Personally I know it’s a stunning wine that needs time to relax and show all its fine character.
- Tony Wood -
Produced since the 2015 vintage, Vigna Casaccia is fashioned from 30-year-old vines of the BBS11 clone. Reaching 315 metres, the plot is characterised by a high percentage of brown, magnesium-rich clay. Surely the most impressive release yet, the 2019 exhibits the cru’s intrinsic sumptuous character and girth, along with telltale resinous herb nuances of rosemary, thyme and eucalyptus. yet this year, there is an extra spark. Through that expansiveness, an underlying firmness keeps this from overflowing its limits. Plump fruit marked with a mineral lick and terracotta earthiness is all wrapped up in smooth, velvety tannins, and it carries its 15% alcohol with ease and grace. Drinking Window: 2026 - 2041
- Michaela Morris -
The Vigna wines at Canalicchio are part of a long-standing project by Francesco Ripaccioli to isolate single plots within the estate. La Casaccia is in the Canalicchio cru, the more calcareous, clay-rich area surrounding the winery, and was planted in 1990. The nose starts savoury, with cheese rind and fresh mushroom opening up to reveal pretty notes of honeysuckle over blood orange and dried amarena cherry, reflecting the gentle warmth of the vintage. It gradually becomes sweeter and more strawberry-toned as the reduction from 36 months in large botti blows off. Mouthwatering acidity ushers in a palate lively with much brighter, redder cherry fruit than the nose, even shading into cranberry, with a pretty assortment of verbena and grassy herbs. There is an unexpected lightness and elegance to the mid-palate, graciously draped in slippery glycerol. The tannins are also quite luxuriant and baroque, forming folds of nappa leather on the back. Drink 2026 – 2045.
- Sarah Heller MW -
The 2016 Casaccia is really opening up now, charting a glorious middle course between the 2017 and the 2018, with more of the delicate balsamic tones of 2018 (dried rosemary, thyme and tobacco leaf) but with some of the sweeter amaro tones of the ’17 (sarsaparilla, bitter orange and liquorice root), with, as usual, subtle wafts of crisp crimson fruit. The sense of openness continues on the palate, which is filled in and rich in its marasca cherry fruit with beautiful acidity. Tannins are seamlessly woven into the fabric of the mid-palate, giving it the tactility of fine-spun virgin wool. On the back, the fruit washes away to reveal savoury nuances of tobacco and rust, tapering beautifully to a close. Drink 2025 – 2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Tasted immediately after the 2016, 2015 reveals its slightly warmer, more potent personality, with darker balsamic and sweet amaro tones of liquorice, bitter orange and cocoa. The palate is dark but with a potent sense of fruit just beneath, its black cherry refined by sharpening tones of bergamot and blood-orange citrus. Tannins remain enormous and bristling, though they have gained some tenderness with time. The acidity illuminates, giving both brightness and forward propulsion. Lovely iodine salinity on the finish. Drink 2025 – 2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Standing in stark contrast to the 2018, the 2017 is benefiting from both its riper conditions and another year of maturation in bottle. The nose is a luscious black cherry and strawberry amalgam that feels quite potent for Canalicchio, never a very effusive cru, with layers of Darjeeling tea, liquorice candy and carob. The richness of the brown spice tones (not coming from oak, which is untoasted and large) is much more marked than in 2018, and the tannins are likewise much more gravelly and chewy, typical of this calcareous clay-rich site. The mid-palate swells with oud, styrax and tea leaves – smoky, sensuous and exotic – kept in check by fresh acidity. Rust tones come through on the finish, accompanied by refined notes of polished leather. Drink 2025-2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Forest floor, violet and pipe tobacco mingle with leather and baked plum on the impressive 2020 Vigna La Casaccia. Polished and enveloping, the full-bodied palate features succulent black cherry, crushed raspberry, licorice and spiced orange peel set against compact, close-grained tannins. Fresh acidity keeps it balanced. Drink 2029–2034.
- Kerin O’Keefe -
Starting with this vintage, the Canalicchio di Sopra 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia carries a "Vigna" designation. La Casaccia is a two-hectare parcel with clay soils rich in minerals that was planted in 1990. Francesco Ripaccioli embarked on an estate-wide mapping project about 10 years ago to determine which parcels would be worthy of single-vineyard distinction. This wine always has an elegant brightness about it with aromas of iris root, blood orange and tart forest berry. This vintage delivers moderately more heft and intensity to the bouquet, although it remains understated in terms of palate. Give it more time to flesh out. Only 4,133 bottles were made. Drink Date 2026 – 2042.
- Monica Larner -
From the vineyard of the same name in cru Canalicchio, aged for 36 months in oak from Slavonia, olfactory attack on notes of cranberry jam, ginger, then touches of wild mint and gardenia, with hints of juniper. The palate is salty, dense, with minty memories and small fruits.
- Luca Gardini -
Mid ruby. Notes of dark earth and spice and, with aeration, focused fruit. But still not entirely open. Pure cherry fruit supported by grainy tannins. Firm structure and lots of lively sour-cherry fruit on the finish. Great balance, while the tannins need time to settle. Drink 2025 – 2034
- Walter Speller -
The 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia pours a rich and youthful red/ruby color and is from the unique clay-based soils just outside the winery. This wine takes things up another notch, with notes of raspberry liqueur, licorice, toasted sage, and lavender perfume. Full-bodied, it has a lot to offer, with ripe tannins, balanced, even acidity, dark mineral accents, and pure lasting concentration of fruit all the way through a mouthwatering finish. A remarkable wine, I highly recommend seeking out it for your cellar and aging. Drink 2027-2050.
- Audrey Frick -
Good full red. Inviting, rather cool, nuanced aromas of red berries, potpourri, violet, leather, smoke and minerals. Silky, delicately fleshy and suave, with a smooth, round texture and a seamless quality to its delicate spicy and fruity flavours nicely framed by fine-grained tannins and lingering notes of tobacco and camphor. A Brunello that conveys a classic nobility and that strikes me as being remarkably less chunky and thick than is usual for this bottling. Drinking window: 2030-2040.
- Ian D’Agata -
There is always something shared in common between the two single vineyards that is mitigated by the vintage from year to year – but Montosoli and Casaccia are very different wines. Here for the estate located block the extraction was lower, as was the maceration, to avoid any bitters or green possibilities. “Something was not perfectly mature” figures Francesco Ripaccioli. All that said there is more opulence, concentration and seduction from Casaccia but it plays a bit hard to get and to figure out. Take the time and stay with this Vigna because you need to be sure what kind of wine you are dealing with. A long relationship is necessary and time will tell what will be. Drink 2027-2036.
- Michael Godel -
From more clay-based soils, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna Casaccia pours a bit deeper ruby color and is riper and broader in its feel, with deeper notes of fresh black cherries, mocha, and pressed flowers. Medium to full-bodied, it offers more richness on the palate, with ripe tannins and good concentration for this challenging, cooler vintage. Long on the palate, with a great finish, it’s a very successful and more age-worthy wine for this vintage. Drink 2026-2046.
- Audrey Frick -
The bright red/ruby-hued 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino La Casaccia is fresh and offers a deeper though equally pure aromatic profile, with notes of darker cherries, candied flowers, sweet sage, and mossy earth. Medium-bodied, it's richer on the palate as well, with ripe tannins and more depth, but it's long and inviting, with a hearty feel in its hints of leather and porcini mushroom on the finish. Drink over the coming two decades. Maturity 2025 – 2045.
- Audrey Frick -
Helles Rubinrot mit violetten Reflexen. In der Nase nach gezuckerten Walderdbeeren, Hagebuttentee, Amarenakirsche und Minze, dahinter etwas Lavendel, etwas brandig. Am Gaumen viel reife Frucht, druckvoll, reife Gerbstoffe, gut eingebundene Säure, schöne Saftigkeit und Salzigkeit, elegantes Finale.
- Othmar Kiem and Simon Staffler -
A significant new release for Canalicchio di Sopra, La Casaccia is a single vineyard close to the winery in the district of Canalicchio, north of the town of Montalcino. Comparing it to his plots in Montosoli, owner Francesco Ripaccioli describes the soil here as a heavier brown clay with lots of magnesium giving more generous growth. It produces a relatively weighty, substantial wine with firm, sturdy tannins and balancing acidity. Notes of sage, tobacco, liquorice root and heather weave through the plush dark currant fruit. Both this and the classic Brunello are equally accomplished, however I suspect La Casaccia may have longer ageing capacity.
- Michaela Morris
A spectacular wine in every sense: a firm, deep, minerally fruit nose, a composed but full palate with finely chiselled tannins and perfectly integrated juicy acidity. Long and layered and impossible to resist but deserves more bottle age.
- Walter Speller
A red with cherry, walnut, bark and hints of dried flowers. It’s full-bodied with firm, chewy tannins and a tight finish. Really reserved now. Needs three or four years to open. Best after 2024.
- James Suckling
English:
Sparkling, dark ruby with a shimmering garnet edge. Compact, somewhat closed nose with notes of dark blackberries and cherries, a fine nougat note in the background. Blooms great on the palate, tightly meshed, substantial tannin, embedded in fine fruit melt, salty and juicy, is still very young, but has a long life ahead of it.
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
Deutsche:
Funkelndes, dunkles Rubin mit schillerndem Granatrand. Kompakte, etwas verschlossene Nase mit Noten nach dunklen Brombeeren und Kirschen, im Hintergrund feiner Nougatton. Blüht am Gaumen toll auf, dichtmaschiges, stoffiges Tannin, eingebettet in feinen Fruchtschmelz, salzig und saftig, zeigt sich noch sehr jung, hat aber ein langes Leben vor sich.
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
This ripe red is bursting with plum, cherry, floral and mineral aromas and flavors. Succulent and balanced, with savory, sanguine and earthy accents, rolling on through the long, herb-tinged aftertaste. Best from 2024 through 2045.
- Bruce Sanderson
Lustrous mid ruby. Leafy cherry hints but otherwise quite closed on the nose, yet with a clear sense of purity. Dense, yet elegant and with tangy acidity shooting through the mouth-filling fruit. Firm noble tannins add depth and contour. Real cru pedigree.
- Walter Speller
The second release of this single vineyard, La Casaccia was planted in 1990. At an average altitude of 300 metres, it sits on predominantly clay soils and is bathed in sun from morning until evening. This doesn’t have quite the plushness or gregarious personality of the 2015 but takes on the 2016 vintage’s more vertical path, opening slowly. Aromas are evocative of pine, cedar and sage. Full but not weighty, the palate brings in earthy nuances with wild berries.
Acidity is cleansing, and silky tannins build up to a powerful finish.
Drinking Window 2024 - 2040
- Michaela Morris
Brunello di Montalcino LA CASACCIA 2016 obtained the CORONA, the highest recognition assigned by GUIDA VINI BUONI D'ITALIA
This shows the ripeness of the vintage, with ripe-berry, cherry and floral
aromas and flavors. Some cedar, too. It’s full and flavorful, with lots of chewy
yet polished and focused tannins. A little dusty in texture. Drinkable now,
but better in 2023.
- James Suckling
Nobile ed elegantissimo mostra note miste floreali e fruttate che ricordano i gerani, l’ibisco, le prugne rosse, la buccia di arancia arsa, la china e la terra bagnata. Corpo pieno, tannini perfettamente maturi ed integrati nella matrice ed un finale iconico punto di riferimento per la denominazione nel difficile millesimo. Meglio dal 2023.
- Raffaele Vecchione
This is where all the recent hard work put by Francesco Ripaccioli and team really comes to light and fruition. La Casaccia is northerly-ish but certainly not Montosoli and yet the aromatic profile of this Vigna-designate Brunello is laced with cool nuance and found to be full of fine finesse. As per the Canalicchio di Sopra idiom there is plenty of wood casking through the bones of the wine and yet one can feel the highest quality of those large vessels gifting a select strength leading to the chic style, surely to be followed by one and the half decades of aging. All what needs, what is and must be for La Casaccia. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021.
- Michael Godel
Da uve brunello, matura in botti da 30 hl per almeno 24 mesi. Classico rubino. Olfatto nitido e intenso su ciliegie nere mature e more. Una leggera affumicatura che introduce erbe officinali che danno freschezza. Trama e progressione fitte, nervose con tannino giovanile ma perfettamente integrato. Ottimo il finale per lunghezza e sobrietà. La zona nordica esprime le sue caratteristiche anche in annate torride ma qui c’e il trucco: piovve a metà settembre.
- Riccardo Viscardi
A great release of Brunello from the northeast slope of the denomination. Nose of freshness and finesse, notes of raspberry, touches of fresh marjoram and undergrowth. The mouthfeel is juicy-savoury, dense, with a nice spicy finish and persistence.
- Luca Gardini
Within the Canalicchio area, the Casaccia vineyard boasts a high clay content, which helped curb water stress in 2017. As with all Canalicchio di Sopra’s wines, the grapes were double-sorted to remove any green or sun-dried berries. Pristine in aromas and flavours, this offers clove, cardamom, mint and sweet dark earth on a backdrop of black cherries. The ample, mouth-filling palate is hemmed in by compact, sandy tannins. Underlying succulence makes this quite moreish. Drinking Window 2024 - 2032
- Michaela Morris
Inviting aromas of baked plum, violet, baking spice and sun-warmed hay come to the forefront along with a whiff of leather. The enveloping palate is delicious, delivering ripe Marasca cherry, raspberry compote, licorice and nutmeg framed in tightly woven, polished tannins that lend finesse and a smooth texture. Drink 2024–2029.
-Kerin O’Keefe
Black cherry and blackberry flavors hold court in this dense, yet vibrant red, which is defined by brisk acidity. Stays beautifully integrated, harmonious and long, while earth and savory herb accents add depth. This should really sing in about 2-3 years. Best from 2024 through 2040.
- Bruce Sanderson
Just mid ruby with orange tinges. A subdued nose with malt-bread notes. Needs to take a very deep breath, while revealing oak hints. The palate displays fragrant marasca-cherry fruit balanced by supple acidity. Very long, concentrated and with beautiful, coating tannins.
- Walter Speller
Profondo, un po' tabacco, catrame e un po' nocciola, aroma di bacche nere e rosse mature con sfumature floreali secche che ricordano i petali di rosa e un po' di note eteree. Crostata, matura, frutta piuttosto scura, aromi di noce e legno leggermente speziato di cacao, note pepate e di ginepro, mineralità salata, con tutta la sua potenza anche note rinfrescanti, buona profondità, struttura ferma, abbastanza complesso, ma trasparente e lucido, ancora giovane, molto buono, fermo, crostata e finale speziato.
Reviewed by Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
Brunello di Montalcino LA CASACCIA 2017 obtained the CORONA, the highest recognition assigned by GUIDA VINI BUONI D'ITALIA
Einladende Noten von Waldbeeren und Sandelholz; der Ansatz geschliffen, besitzt präzise Säure und engmaschiges Tannin, intensiv-würziges Fruchtfinale. Muss sich noch etwas abrunden.
- Christian Eder
Absorbing display of black cherry, blackberries, violet florals and menthol. Quickly followed by fresh juicy textured nuances of red berries and balsamic notes, leave you almost gasping for breath. Sweet notes then savoury ones bombard the senses on this hedonistic experience. Phenomenal length and balance.
- Tony Wood
From the highly vocated vineyard of the same name, a beautiful version of Brunello, typical of the north-eastern area of the denomination. Freshness to the nose, notes of black raspberry, touches of eucalyptus and undergrowth. The palate is juicy-sapid, dense, with return of fruit and undergrowth.
- Luca Gardini
A tiny bit more developed (than the classic 2018 Brunello) lustrous ruby with orange, bricky narrow rim. There is a sense of richness combined with mineral intensity on the nose. Pure cherry and raspberry with a hint of orange and cinnamon bark. Juicy, minerally and savoury on the palate and with finely chiselled tannins. 15% but very elegant and poised.
-Walter Speller
Cedro peel, lavender, sour cherries, redcurrants and hints of lemongrass on the nose. Full-bodied, silky and perfumed, with a fine tannin backbone and a weightlessness to it. Swathes of creamy ripe fruit. Drink after 2023.
- James Suckling
Boom! Vigna la Casaccia nel millesimo 2018 è denso e compatto nel calice senza perdere in leggiadria e complessità sensoriale. Si alternano lentamente note di prugne nere, more, cannella in polvere, incenso, mirto selvatico, cumino e pepe nero. L’arancia sanguinella descrive il profilo secondario che si anima con buoni muscoli. Corpo pieno, tannini perfettamente morbidi di grana finissima ed un finale di lodevole bellezza. Meglio dal 2025.
- Raffaele Vecchione
Great anticipation to taste La Casaccia and Montosoli side by each from a vintage carrying no option but to act out the passion play through the glaring clarity of a sense of place. There are facts involved and there is no hiding the truth formed by these plots of sangiovese in this vintage. By now it is understood how 2018 exists on its own accord at one with nature though Francesco Ripaccioli will tell you there are similarities with 2013, if only because that vintage was greatly ignored and is drinking well at this time. La Casaccia in the località of Canalicchio is the wildcard of Montalcino and tasting several wines from the frazione reveals a collective affinity supplied by the year’s gifts. Nothing was portioned or taken away from the ’18 Annata and yet this Vigna sings with even more range and depth than that wine. The acids are simply out of this proverbial world, the linear aspects drawn with precise architectural or even, in Old English speak, a Cutter’s line. Remarkable reserve in concentration and forward slicing finesse. Forever long. Forever young. Drink 2025-2038.
- Michael Godel
Ruby red in colour. Wild meadow florals and violet awaken the senses. Wild black berries, boysenberry, dark plum and blackberry assisted by refreshing acidity and rounded tannins lift the palate to experience the layered intensity and textural resonance. The sheer appeal of this wine is mind blowing. Balance and energy are a given…
- Tony Wood -
Funkelndes Rubingranat mit aufhellendem Rand. Intensive und viel schichtige Nase mit feinen Noten nach Waldhimbeere, Schwarzkirsche und Rosen, im Hintergrund etwas Rauch. Kompakt in Ansatz und Verlauf, zeigt schöne reife Frucht, griffiges, dichtmaschiges Tannin, baut sich in vielen Schichten auf.
Brunello di Montalcino Trophy 2023
- Wolfgang M. Rosam, Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler -
Ebenso sehr komplexes und dichtes, nobles Bouquet mit à point reifen, überwiegend dunkelroten Beeren, dunklen Kirschen, Veilchen, Pfeffer und wieder erdigkräutrigen Noten. Sehr klar umrissenes Duftbild, das sich am dichten und druckvollen Gaumen fortsetzt. Das feinsandige Tanninkleid umhüllt gekonnt und nobel die konzentrierte Frucht und die würzig-mineralischen Noten, spannt sich ganz weit und ist ewig lang. Schöne Liaison aus Kraft und Eleganz mit der typischen Sangiovese-Frucht und Würze mit herrlichen ätherischen Noten im persistenten, mineralisch geprägten Finale. Einer der besten der Verkostung. Top 3. Bravo!
Guida 2024 - sezione "Vini da vitigni autoctoni"
Ausladendes Bouquet mit einer schönen Liaison aus reifer Frucht und floralwürzigen Noten. Hier treffen die saftigen Pflaumen auf getrocknete Veilchen und Zedernwürze. So geht es auch am saftigen Gaumen: wunderschöne SangioveseFrucht (dunkle Kirsche, Zwetschge) umrahmt von floralwürzigen und zart ledrigen Noten. 2025 – 2036
- Giuseppe Lauria -
Coinvolgente e di notevole spessore enologico mostra complessità nella stratificazione di prugne rosse, fragoline di bosco, buccia di lime, glicine, timo selvatico, bosso e verbena. In sottofondo nuance nobili di carattere verde ricordano le foglie di tè verde e la menta piperita. Corpo medio, tannini morbidi di grana fine ed un finale equilibrato e piacevolissimo che fa della delicata potenza la sua arma migliore. Meglio dal 2025.
- Raffaele Vecchione -
Sweet sour cherries with rose stems and hints of green leaves on the nose. Medium body with firm, chewy tannins with some juicy fruit. Fresh and vivid. Better after two or three years.
- James Suckling -
Vitae, La Guida Vini 2024 - X edizione
Tra i 5 migliori Brunello di Montalcino 2018 Selezione
Bright medium red with garnet highlights. Aromas and flavours of ripe red cherry, plum, and orange peel are complemented by strong notes of tobacco and earth. Perfumed and luscious on entry, then somewhat broad and diffuse in the middle, with ripe red cherry, plum nectar and redcurrant jelly flavours complicated by a dusting of wild herbs. Very fine tannins leave a suave mouthfeel behind on the long, savoury finish that features repeating strong nuances of sweet pipe tobacco. Drinking window: 2023-2033.
- Ian D’Agata -
Ungemein komplexes und tiefgestaffeltes, ätherisch-kräutriges Bouquet mit à point reifen, überwiegend dunklen Beeren, Tabak und wieder erdig-kräutrigen Noten. Sehr klar umrissene Struktur am Gaumen, messerscharf konturiert, ungemein druckvoll, gekonnt umhüllt vom feinen, eleganten Tanninkleid, nobel mit konzentrierter Frucht und würzig-mineralischen Noten, spannt sich ganz weit mit wunderbarer Fruchtsüße und Frische. Schöne Liaison aus Kraft und Eleganz, sehr persistent und lang im Finale mit der typischen Sangiovese Würze und ätherischen Noten. Einer der besten der Verkostung. [2026 – 2042]
- Giuseppe Lauria -
Leuchtendes Rubinrot. In der Nase auf erdigen Tönen, satter Kirschfrucht, etwas Blutorange, nicht ganz präzise, wenngleich in sich stimmig. Am Gaumen geschliffen, elegant, mit engmaschigem, packendem Tannin, kompakt, sehr saftig, toller Stil, druckvoll, mit anhaltendem Abgang.
Brunello di Montalcino Trophy 2024
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler -
5 Grappoli
- Guida Bibenda 2025 -
Tasted alongside the 2020 annata and Montosoli bottlings from this estate, it seems clear that La Casaccia (and probably its fellow Canalicchio cru vineyards, where soils are clay-rich and calcareous and exposures sunbathed) lies towards the darker end of the fruit spectrum for the vintage. The same black-cherry lusciousness found on the annata is there, with edifying notes of wild strawberry, cedar sprig and blood orange. The northern Montalcino balsamic qualities come through on the palate, while the black cherry is gone, replaced by a fragrant blend of blood orange, gunpowder tea, palo santo and dried peppermint, lending a cooling effect. Tannins are pebbly and fine. Acidity is not especially elevated, but the herbal tones, translucency, fluid texture and linearity make its mildness less noticeable. There are lovely ferrous tones with whispers of black cherry to finish, giving a satisfying sense of symmetry. Drink 2027 – 2044.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Solare al naso, ricorda di succo di arance, zest di limone, chicchi di melagrana e fragoline di bosco. Nel profilo secondario, cedro in pezzi e ginger. Al palato, corpo pieno, tannini vividi ed un finale succoso. Meglio dal 2026.
- Raffaele Vecchione -
A red ruby color, the 2016 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia is layered and draws you in with aromas of leather, black cherries, and wild herbs. Medium to full-bodied, with a weightless feel, the tannins are more plush and ripe, and it has a supple texture as well as a long, elegant finish. Drink 2024-2044.
- Audrey Frick -
Vigna La Casaccia, dall’omonimo vigneto nel Cru Canalicchio, rappresenta il nostro desiderio di valorizzare l’unicità di un vigneto capace di mantenere la sua forte identità e riconoscibilità anche in annate diverse. È il vigneto che ci ha dimostrato negli anni come opulenza e freschezza possono convivere nella stessa bottiglia.
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
100% Sangiovese
Da 315 a 297 mt slm
1990
Terreno tendenzialmente argilloso con una buona dotazione di elementi minerali fra cui spicca il calcio, intervallato da elementi scheletrici. La caratteristiche del terreno plasmano vini dotati di grande struttura, colori brillanti, profondità ed una grande eleganza che regalano ogni anno tannini suadenti ed setosi. L’esposizione ottimale garantisce alla pianta un’insolazione costante dall’alba al tramonto.
Cordone speronato
N/S
3,00 metri x1,00 metro
In vasche d’acciaio con controllo della temperatura di fermentazione, rimontaggi soffici giornalieri. Macerazione sulle bucce per 25 giorni.
36 mesi in botti di Rovere di Slavonia da 25 hl
2015
15 %
3733 Bottiglie da 750 ml
200 Bottiglie da 1500 ml
La 2018 dal punto di vista climatico può essere definita un’annata fresca con una tendenza piovosa sopra la media degli ultimi anni, ma che ha beneficiato dell’azione del vento nel mese di settembre che è stato un prezioso alleato per garantire un corretto equilibrio del peso dell’acino acino e quindi bilanciare maturazioni tecnologiche e fenoliche. L’interpretazione del vignaiolo è stata fondamentale per lasciare sulla pianta una quantità di uva in linea con la necessità di avere maturazioni importanti, nell’ottica di equilibrio fra struttura e acidità.
L’inverno è stato caratterizzato da abbondanti precipitazioni (che hanno ri-equilibrato le riserve di acqua nel terreno inficiate dalla siccitosa annata 2017) e temperature fredde che hanno assicurato una successiva ripartenza vegetativa con piante ottimali dal punto di vista sanitario.
La primavera ha avuto temperature fresche e precipitazioni che hanno spostato in avanti di qualche giorno germogliamento e fioritura.
L’estate è stata caratterizzata da temperatura massime mai torride dove solo in rari giorni si sono superati i 30 C°. 30 C° che sono stati tuttavia raggiunti praticamente tutti i giorni da metà giugno a fine agosto e che hanno assicurato alle piante una maturazione continua e regolare. Ad accezioni di alcuni picchi di 2-3 giorni a fine luglio dove si sono raggiunti i 35-36 C° , l’estate è stata quindi costantemente mite, con forti escursioni giornaliere che hanno garantito una maturazione tecnologica costante e omogenea.
Nelle prime due settimane di settembre ci sono stati due eventi di pioggia importanti dove sono caduti 20 mm il 01 settembre e 35 mm il 17 settembre. Questi eventi avrebbero potuto compromettere la qualità dell’annata con un accrescimento del peso dei grappoli e la naturale diluizione della concentrazione e struttura delle uve. Fortunatamente i venti di Tramontana e di Grecale hanno che hanno accompagnato gli eventi piovosi hanno avuto l’effetto di asciugare i grappoli disidratando gli stessi della parte in eccesso di acqua e riportando in equilibrio il peso degli acini, assicurando agli stessi un’ottima concentrazione salvaguardando al contempo le acidità.
Nei 30 giorni antecedenti la vendemmia si sono avute forte escursioni fra giorno e notte che hanno garantito di raggiungere un elevato valore dell’indice di Fregoni (superiore a 500) che pone l’annata fra le annate con grande capacità di affinamento per i vini
La vendemmia si è svolta dal 28 settembre al 5 ottobre in un periodo soleggiato con fortissime escursioni termiche e temperature notturne spesso inferiori ai 10 C° che ci hanno permesso di portare in cantina uve sane con un profilo aromatico floreale, fragrante e ottima purezza del frutto.
2018: UN’ANNATA TRASPARENTE
Ci piace definire l’annata 2018 come un’annata TRASPARENTE, volendo cogliere con questo termine il suo significato legato alla grande capacità di questa annata di far trasparire nelle bottiglie l’unicità e le caratteristiche dei terreni dove i vini sono nati. Nel concetto di valorizzazione del terroir che è il perno fondamentale della nostra filosofia produttiva entrano in gioco diversi fattori: ESPERIENZA UMANA, CLIMA E TERRENO. L’annata 2018 per noi esalta in modo chiaro e leggibile la terza componente, ovvero quella del TERRENO, essendo stata, in totale controtendenza con le ultime annate, un’annata fresca e leggermente più piovosa della media, dove il clima non ha avuto un’impronta omologante ma al contrario ha lasciato “trasparire” nei vini le peculiarità dei diversi suoli da cui le uve provengono. Azzardando un paragone la 2018 si presenta come un mix incentrato sull’eleganza e la tensione fra la fresca annata 2008 e la classica annata 2013, creando fra le due un equilibrio perfetto che si traduce in freschezza, mineralità e lunghezza tannica, senza trascurare pienezza e profondità: mix perfetto per classificare la 2018 come annata da lungo affinamento ma anche di grande piacevolezza ed estremamente gastronomica.
In ogni annata ci sono dei punti di svolta, dei momenti cruciali che ne caratterizzano il risultato finale, la sua identità e le sue caratteristiche principali, momenti senza i quali il risultato sarebbe stato molto diverso. Il punto di svolta nella 2018 è arrivato prima della vendemmia, quando venti di Grecale e Tramontana da Nord- Nord/Est, hanno iniziato a soffiare in modo continuo e con forza concentrando i grappoli che fino a quel momento erano leggermente con un peso sopra la media a causa delle piogge di settembre. Queste condizioni hanno favorito l’asciugatura e la perdita di una percentuale di acqua tale da riportare in equilibrio la maturazione tecnologica e quella fenolica assicurando agli acini un bilanciamento ed una maturazione ottimale, salvaguardando al tempo stesso le acidità. Giornate soleggiate con forti escursioni termiche nei giorni di vendemmia hanno assicurato alle uve un profilo aromatico floreale ed elegante, fresco e balsamico che si unisce ad una bocca vibrante ed incalzante, lunga e sapida che gioca sulla piacevolezza e l’equilibrio Le operazioni di alleggerimento dei grappoli togliendo quelli con grado di maturazione più arretrato insieme ad una meticolosa cernita sui tavoli di scelta in cantina hanno garantito alle uve portate in cantina concentrazione e ottima maturazione fenolica.
La vendemmia proprio per le sue caratteristiche di freschezza è iniziata leggermente in ritardo rispetto alla tendenza degli ultimi anni, in un periodo con temperature fresche dal 28 settembre al 05 ottobre
La vendemmia 2018 è stata la prima realizzata all’interno della nuova cantina di Canalicchio di Sopra inaugurata proprio in occasione della vendemmia.
Il Brunello di Montalcino Docg 2018 Vigna La Casaccia “Canalicchio di Sopra”, dall’omonimo vigneto nel Cru Canalicchio si esprime con le note tipiche di questo vigneto che anche in un’annata più fresca mantiene la dolcezza, la setosità del tannino e la rotondità tipiche del suo terroir. Le caratteristiche climatiche dall’annata 2018 aggiungono a questo vino un’acidità più sostenuta che lo rende più scattante e leggiadro pur mantenendo la sua classica opulenza.
The intensity of fruit is staggering here, as this stacks up dried peaches, dried strawberries, red licorice, red-plum compote and glazed red cherries, in rapid succession. There’s a breadth of flavor to the palate that will take your breath away; muscular tannins draw in deeply set cherries, melding it together in a glistening coating of acidity, which only helps to carry it longer still. The finish is nearly endless. A stunning new single vineyard from Canalicchio di Sopra. Drink from 2026.
Lifting up with gorgeous floral perfumes and hints of white smoke, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia from Canalicchio di Sopra keeps you at the edge of your glass. It opens up with a dark and dramatic display of balsamic-tinged black cherry, sage and Indian spice, contrasted by savory notes of tobacco, rich earth tones and flowery undergrowth. There’s an amazing density of fruit here, offset by salty minerals, zesty acids and a hint of sour citrus. The textures are velvety-smooth, yet the expression remains feminine and lifted. In fact, you can hardly notice its underlying tannic heft until it’s too late, as the 2016 La Casaccia seems to youthfully fold in on itself, halting the expression but promising over a decade of further development.
- Eric Guido
The Vigna Casaccia 2018 opens with aromas of underbrush, leather, dark spice and whiffs of violet. More closed than the Brunello Annata, it’s also more structured, showing ripe dark-skinned berry, licorice, tobacco and balsamic notes recalling eucalyptus. Tight, fine-grained tannins provide support while great acidity keeps it fresh and balanced. Drink 2026–2040.
- Kerin O'Keefe
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia reveals medium-dark fruit and an open-knit approach with broad brushstrokes of black cherry, baked plum and spice. The alcohol content is too high at 15%, and that added power takes away from the finer nuances of the fruit. It ages in Slavonian oak for 36 months; however, the freshness is good in this wine. This is a limited release of 3,733 bottles and 200 magnums.
-Monica Larner
A delicate, graceful style, offering cherry, fruitcake, sage, eucalyptus, iron and leather flavors. Firm and nicely balanced, with a long, expanding aftertaste. Best from 2025 through 2042.
- Bruce Sanderson -
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia is impossible to ignore; it is earthy and mineral, almost smoky and animal in nature. Ashes stones, violets and balsam herbs complicate depths of dried black cherries, sage and clove. This is deeply textural and seductive, balancing ripe red and black fruits with sweet spice and minty herbal tones that create a kaleidoscope of sensation on the palate. A salty flourish shines through the finale, along with a crunchy tinge of blackberry seeds to contrast, as fine-grained tannins wrap the sense with youthful poise and a bitter twang resonates. The 2019 may be immortal. La Casaccia is a showstopper. Drinking window 2026-2040.
- Eric Guido -
Dark and brooding, the 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia slowly blossoms in the glass with a dramatic mix of steeped plums, cinnamon sticks, grilled herbs and sweet lavender. This is a model of purity, lifted and refined with soft textures and cool-toned acidity lending freshness as ripe red and hints of blue fruit settle upon the senses. The 2020 firms up through the finish, taking on a pleasantly bitter tinge that puckers the cheeks as grippy tannins and crunchy mineral tones frame the experience without getting in the way of its energetic persona. Drinking window 2027 – 2038.
- Reviewed by Eric Guido -
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2015 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia represents a new chapter in this estate's long history. This is a single-vineyard expression from the Canalicchio area, one of the most interesting subzones on the northeast side of Montalcino. Giving identity to individual parcels gives an estate like this huge potential for further expression and experimentation. The site is a little over two hectares, and it has dense, mineral-rich clay soils that add more power and a heavier center of gravity. The vines were planted in 1990. I notice slightly firmer tannin here, with a very distinct level of acidity purity. You also get lasting berry fruit favors with blueberry and dried raspberry followed by spice, licorice and lavender buds from the south of France and the rim of the Mediterranean. The wine is distinguished by endnotes of balsam or medicinal herb that grow in strength with time. It offers plenty of volume and weight. Not counting the various large format bottles made, only 3,610 750-milliliter bottles were produced. They were filled in May 2019, and the wine hit the market in January 2020.
- Monica Larner
The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia opens with an intense mix of zesty red fruits, spice and alluring sweet florals, backed by dark earth, crushed stone, hints of licorice, and a twang of savory herbs. On the palate, silky textures are contrasted by saline-minerals and brisk acids, as red berry fruits flood the senses along with savory herbs and spices, leaving a coating of fine-grained tannin. The finish is long, displaying lingering spiced red berries enlivened by resonating acids, saline-mineral tones and a hint of fine tannin. Talk about a great way to release a new single-vineyard bottling, The 2015 is classic to the core.
- Eric Guido
This is a newish single-vineyard wine (it's the second vintage) created by Francesco Ripaccioli and the team at Canalicchio di Sopra at the conclusion of an ambitious estate-wide mapping project. The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia draws its fruit from a two-hectare site planted in 1990 with clay soils and rich in mineral components. A precious 4,133 bottles were made. What I like most is the tightness of the fruit, which you chip away at slowly as the wine softens and yields in the glass. Each layer brings you forest fruit, sour cherry, almond, lilac and candied orange peel. On a second swirl, you might get black olive, bay leaf and scorched earth. There are subtle mineral notes, but what La Casaccia ultimately offers is that uniquely compact and extremely polished quality of fruit.
-Monica Larner
The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia is aromatically stunning, blasting up mineral in style, with a dark floral and balsam lift, giving way to licorice, black cherry and hints of camphor. It gains further depth and volume the longer it sits in the glass. The textures are silken, fleshy and pliant at first, as contrasting tart red fruits and minty herbal tones come through, saturating the palate with primary concentration. This is even savory at times and displays smoother contours than past vintages, yet it’s supremely balanced and pure. Repeating minerality comes through in spades and this turns youthfully dry and perfumed, yet still juicy and classic in feel. La Casaccia is a huge success for the vintage.
- Eric Guido
This is a relatively new addition to the Canalicchio di Sopra portfolio, and even its modern graphic label design represents a break from the rest of the line, which has more nostalgic labels that feature Montalcino's medieval main square. The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia takes a little longer to open, but it ultimately reveals the elegance and energy that comes with the house style. Wild cherry, ash and balsam herb drive a long, very polished finish. The La Casaccia site is distinguished by mineral-rich clay soils, which give this wine its power and density. Production is limited to 4,133 bottles in this vintage
- Monica Larner
A dark mix of crushed rocks and flowery underbrush is lifted by nuances of dried strawberry and worn leather as the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia smolders up from the glass. It’s silky in feel, communicating a wonderful elegance, with ripe red and hints of blue fruits accentuated by inner violet tones. This is potent and long through the finale, with sneaky tannins, staining the palate with liquid florals, as a hint of citrus-tinged black currant slowly fades. The 2018 is a beautifully balanced Brunello of this vintage.
- Eric Guido
Francesco Ripaccioli explains that La Casaccia’s clay soils absorbed the rains of September, initially diluting the grapes. He credits the subsequent dry northern winds with concentrating the berries as the estate waited until 28 September to pick. The resulting wine is certainly one of the vintage’s more solidly structured Brunello and also displays the darkest fruit of the estate’s trio of bottlings. Cherry and even blackcurrant are met with sage, rosemary and wet soil. The firmly built palate of dense fruit is framed by clingy tannins, while underlying juiciness keeps it bright and buoyant.
- Michaela Morris
Whereas Montosoli is more mineral-driven and finely stitched together, this wine is broad, big and driven by balsamic tones, vapor rub and dried rosemary.
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia, however, is more explosive with spice, toasted coffee, black licorice, cherry cola and rich cherry. The tannins feel chalky, although they are fine-grained, but they play a bigger role against the concentrated fruit. Only 7,200 bottles and larger formats were made. Drink Date 2025 - 2042.
- Monica Larner -
Rich and velvety, with cherry, raspberry, eucalyptus and juniper aromas and flavors, this is backed by a dense, steely structure, whose tannins leave a strong grip on the finish. Balanced, complex and long, with a saline, mineral impression persisting on the aftertaste. Best from 2027 through 2043, 147 cases imported.
- Bruce Sanderson -
Very intense and deep wine. The nose is savory, with earthy strawberries, cinnamon, sweet violets and even yellow stone-fruit. Full-bodied, graceful palate with velvety tannins, refreshing acidity and a polished finish. Long aftertaste. Grace and power go hand in hand here. Drinkable now, but best after 2025.
- James Suckling -
Bright medium red. Very pretty violet and red cherry aromas and flavours with hints of spicy cinnamon and nutmeg. Fleshy but precise, this finishes long clean and mineral. Owner Francesco Ripaccioli has arguably made the best pair of Brunellos of any estate from the 2018 vintage. Drinking window: 2027-2038.
- Ian D'Agata -
- Riccardo Viscardi -
Casaccia is a single vineyard in the Canalicchio area northeast of Montalcino. Here the cooler, windy mesoclimate and clay soils typically produce plump fruit, but with tannins of great finesse. This single cru bottling fulfils a long-term goal of owner Francesco Ripaccioli to capture the uniqueness of its various Sangiovese sites. The nose is initially earthy and dark with roasted chestnut, cigar and polished leather over amarena cherry. In keeping with the cooler 2018 vintage, a refreshing hit of acidity, menthol and eucalyptus strike the front palate just a beat before the fruit catches up. The tannins are like a finely woven wool suit that's cut close to the figure, but without being tight; the fruit returns on the finish, surprisingly fresher than before.
- Sarah Heller MW -
A single vineyard of great thickness and inimitable balance, nose with notes of cranberry, then touches of eucalyptus and gardenia, with hints of juniper. Brackish palate, thick, with a return of cranberry and spicy notes.
- Luca Gardini -
Very dark ruby with bricky rim. Spicy, minerally notes over generous cherry fruit. Lots of supple cherry fruit with a dose of well-judged tannins that cling to the fruit on the finish. A little riper and fuller than Montosoli, but has the bones to age gracefully. Drink 2026 – 2038.
- Walter Speller -
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2019 Vigna La Casaccia is fantastic. Generous and powerfully built, it also has a weightless grace, featuring aromas of black-skinned fruit, iris and camphor while the enveloping palate delivers ripe plum, mature black-skinned berry, licorice and cake spice. Velvety, enveloping tannins give it a smooth texture while fresh acidity keeps it balanced.
- Kerin O’Keefe -
La Casaccia is a brown clay with a prominence of calcium carbonate that gives this single vineyard sangiovese its colour. A place of high (8.2-8.3) pH characterized by the clay. "For me it's sleekness," tells Francesco Ripaccioli, "not opulence and less heaviness than from (a vineyard) of dense clay." La Casaccia from that calcareous clay is no simple Rosso or classic Brunello for that matter and it is immediately apparent that concentration and depth of all parts manage the wine's breadth at levels those drink earlier propositions do not. Similar grip to Riserva but not the same power although without tasting Riserva at the same time it would be hard to imagine how this could be improved or extrapolated upon. Simple but crazy complex and a most evocative elucidation to see this Brunello wooing with as much substance and intensity as it does - but these are the 2019s. A matter of deliberately annotating sangiovese and Casaccia through this interaction with a Brunello that enhances a taster's understanding, recall and reaction to the vintage. Drink 2027-2038.
- Michael Godel -
Medium-deep. Vibrant aromas of strawberry, peppery herbs and truffle. Then smooth and sultry, with multilayered flavours of red cherry, preserved plum, star anise, cinnamon and oaky spices. Long, balanced and suave on the rising finish. This will be a knockout in due course. Drinking window: 2030-2044.
- Ian D'Agata -
Bright ruby red in colour. Aromatics of blue florals, dried herbs and mellow spice. Small dark fruits abound, liquorice, blonde tobacco and distant cinnamon. Close knit fine tannins. Not an easy wine to fully appreciate at first, it has tremendous resonance, great structural integrity and soft textural curves. This wine is unique in as much it plays “hide and seek” with its interviewer. Personally I know it’s a stunning wine that needs time to relax and show all its fine character.
- Tony Wood -
Produced since the 2015 vintage, Vigna Casaccia is fashioned from 30-year-old vines of the BBS11 clone. Reaching 315 metres, the plot is characterised by a high percentage of brown, magnesium-rich clay. Surely the most impressive release yet, the 2019 exhibits the cru’s intrinsic sumptuous character and girth, along with telltale resinous herb nuances of rosemary, thyme and eucalyptus. yet this year, there is an extra spark. Through that expansiveness, an underlying firmness keeps this from overflowing its limits. Plump fruit marked with a mineral lick and terracotta earthiness is all wrapped up in smooth, velvety tannins, and it carries its 15% alcohol with ease and grace. Drinking Window: 2026 - 2041
- Michaela Morris -
The Vigna wines at Canalicchio are part of a long-standing project by Francesco Ripaccioli to isolate single plots within the estate. La Casaccia is in the Canalicchio cru, the more calcareous, clay-rich area surrounding the winery, and was planted in 1990. The nose starts savoury, with cheese rind and fresh mushroom opening up to reveal pretty notes of honeysuckle over blood orange and dried amarena cherry, reflecting the gentle warmth of the vintage. It gradually becomes sweeter and more strawberry-toned as the reduction from 36 months in large botti blows off. Mouthwatering acidity ushers in a palate lively with much brighter, redder cherry fruit than the nose, even shading into cranberry, with a pretty assortment of verbena and grassy herbs. There is an unexpected lightness and elegance to the mid-palate, graciously draped in slippery glycerol. The tannins are also quite luxuriant and baroque, forming folds of nappa leather on the back. Drink 2026 – 2045.
- Sarah Heller MW -
The 2016 Casaccia is really opening up now, charting a glorious middle course between the 2017 and the 2018, with more of the delicate balsamic tones of 2018 (dried rosemary, thyme and tobacco leaf) but with some of the sweeter amaro tones of the ’17 (sarsaparilla, bitter orange and liquorice root), with, as usual, subtle wafts of crisp crimson fruit. The sense of openness continues on the palate, which is filled in and rich in its marasca cherry fruit with beautiful acidity. Tannins are seamlessly woven into the fabric of the mid-palate, giving it the tactility of fine-spun virgin wool. On the back, the fruit washes away to reveal savoury nuances of tobacco and rust, tapering beautifully to a close. Drink 2025 – 2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Tasted immediately after the 2016, 2015 reveals its slightly warmer, more potent personality, with darker balsamic and sweet amaro tones of liquorice, bitter orange and cocoa. The palate is dark but with a potent sense of fruit just beneath, its black cherry refined by sharpening tones of bergamot and blood-orange citrus. Tannins remain enormous and bristling, though they have gained some tenderness with time. The acidity illuminates, giving both brightness and forward propulsion. Lovely iodine salinity on the finish. Drink 2025 – 2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Standing in stark contrast to the 2018, the 2017 is benefiting from both its riper conditions and another year of maturation in bottle. The nose is a luscious black cherry and strawberry amalgam that feels quite potent for Canalicchio, never a very effusive cru, with layers of Darjeeling tea, liquorice candy and carob. The richness of the brown spice tones (not coming from oak, which is untoasted and large) is much more marked than in 2018, and the tannins are likewise much more gravelly and chewy, typical of this calcareous clay-rich site. The mid-palate swells with oud, styrax and tea leaves – smoky, sensuous and exotic – kept in check by fresh acidity. Rust tones come through on the finish, accompanied by refined notes of polished leather. Drink 2025-2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Forest floor, violet and pipe tobacco mingle with leather and baked plum on the impressive 2020 Vigna La Casaccia. Polished and enveloping, the full-bodied palate features succulent black cherry, crushed raspberry, licorice and spiced orange peel set against compact, close-grained tannins. Fresh acidity keeps it balanced. Drink 2029–2034.
- Kerin O’Keefe -
Starting with this vintage, the Canalicchio di Sopra 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia carries a "Vigna" designation. La Casaccia is a two-hectare parcel with clay soils rich in minerals that was planted in 1990. Francesco Ripaccioli embarked on an estate-wide mapping project about 10 years ago to determine which parcels would be worthy of single-vineyard distinction. This wine always has an elegant brightness about it with aromas of iris root, blood orange and tart forest berry. This vintage delivers moderately more heft and intensity to the bouquet, although it remains understated in terms of palate. Give it more time to flesh out. Only 4,133 bottles were made. Drink Date 2026 – 2042.
- Monica Larner -
From the vineyard of the same name in cru Canalicchio, aged for 36 months in oak from Slavonia, olfactory attack on notes of cranberry jam, ginger, then touches of wild mint and gardenia, with hints of juniper. The palate is salty, dense, with minty memories and small fruits.
- Luca Gardini -
Mid ruby. Notes of dark earth and spice and, with aeration, focused fruit. But still not entirely open. Pure cherry fruit supported by grainy tannins. Firm structure and lots of lively sour-cherry fruit on the finish. Great balance, while the tannins need time to settle. Drink 2025 – 2034
- Walter Speller -
The 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia pours a rich and youthful red/ruby color and is from the unique clay-based soils just outside the winery. This wine takes things up another notch, with notes of raspberry liqueur, licorice, toasted sage, and lavender perfume. Full-bodied, it has a lot to offer, with ripe tannins, balanced, even acidity, dark mineral accents, and pure lasting concentration of fruit all the way through a mouthwatering finish. A remarkable wine, I highly recommend seeking out it for your cellar and aging. Drink 2027-2050.
- Audrey Frick -
Good full red. Inviting, rather cool, nuanced aromas of red berries, potpourri, violet, leather, smoke and minerals. Silky, delicately fleshy and suave, with a smooth, round texture and a seamless quality to its delicate spicy and fruity flavours nicely framed by fine-grained tannins and lingering notes of tobacco and camphor. A Brunello that conveys a classic nobility and that strikes me as being remarkably less chunky and thick than is usual for this bottling. Drinking window: 2030-2040.
- Ian D’Agata -
There is always something shared in common between the two single vineyards that is mitigated by the vintage from year to year – but Montosoli and Casaccia are very different wines. Here for the estate located block the extraction was lower, as was the maceration, to avoid any bitters or green possibilities. “Something was not perfectly mature” figures Francesco Ripaccioli. All that said there is more opulence, concentration and seduction from Casaccia but it plays a bit hard to get and to figure out. Take the time and stay with this Vigna because you need to be sure what kind of wine you are dealing with. A long relationship is necessary and time will tell what will be. Drink 2027-2036.
- Michael Godel -
From more clay-based soils, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna Casaccia pours a bit deeper ruby color and is riper and broader in its feel, with deeper notes of fresh black cherries, mocha, and pressed flowers. Medium to full-bodied, it offers more richness on the palate, with ripe tannins and good concentration for this challenging, cooler vintage. Long on the palate, with a great finish, it’s a very successful and more age-worthy wine for this vintage. Drink 2026-2046.
- Audrey Frick -
The bright red/ruby-hued 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino La Casaccia is fresh and offers a deeper though equally pure aromatic profile, with notes of darker cherries, candied flowers, sweet sage, and mossy earth. Medium-bodied, it's richer on the palate as well, with ripe tannins and more depth, but it's long and inviting, with a hearty feel in its hints of leather and porcini mushroom on the finish. Drink over the coming two decades. Maturity 2025 – 2045.
- Audrey Frick -
Helles Rubinrot mit violetten Reflexen. In der Nase nach gezuckerten Walderdbeeren, Hagebuttentee, Amarenakirsche und Minze, dahinter etwas Lavendel, etwas brandig. Am Gaumen viel reife Frucht, druckvoll, reife Gerbstoffe, gut eingebundene Säure, schöne Saftigkeit und Salzigkeit, elegantes Finale.
- Othmar Kiem and Simon Staffler -
A significant new release for Canalicchio di Sopra, La Casaccia is a single vineyard close to the winery in the district of Canalicchio, north of the town of Montalcino. Comparing it to his plots in Montosoli, owner Francesco Ripaccioli describes the soil here as a heavier brown clay with lots of magnesium giving more generous growth. It produces a relatively weighty, substantial wine with firm, sturdy tannins and balancing acidity. Notes of sage, tobacco, liquorice root and heather weave through the plush dark currant fruit. Both this and the classic Brunello are equally accomplished, however I suspect La Casaccia may have longer ageing capacity.
- Michaela Morris
A spectacular wine in every sense: a firm, deep, minerally fruit nose, a composed but full palate with finely chiselled tannins and perfectly integrated juicy acidity. Long and layered and impossible to resist but deserves more bottle age.
- Walter Speller
A red with cherry, walnut, bark and hints of dried flowers. It’s full-bodied with firm, chewy tannins and a tight finish. Really reserved now. Needs three or four years to open. Best after 2024.
- James Suckling
English:
Sparkling, dark ruby with a shimmering garnet edge. Compact, somewhat closed nose with notes of dark blackberries and cherries, a fine nougat note in the background. Blooms great on the palate, tightly meshed, substantial tannin, embedded in fine fruit melt, salty and juicy, is still very young, but has a long life ahead of it.
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
Deutsche:
Funkelndes, dunkles Rubin mit schillerndem Granatrand. Kompakte, etwas verschlossene Nase mit Noten nach dunklen Brombeeren und Kirschen, im Hintergrund feiner Nougatton. Blüht am Gaumen toll auf, dichtmaschiges, stoffiges Tannin, eingebettet in feinen Fruchtschmelz, salzig und saftig, zeigt sich noch sehr jung, hat aber ein langes Leben vor sich.
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
This ripe red is bursting with plum, cherry, floral and mineral aromas and flavors. Succulent and balanced, with savory, sanguine and earthy accents, rolling on through the long, herb-tinged aftertaste. Best from 2024 through 2045.
- Bruce Sanderson
Lustrous mid ruby. Leafy cherry hints but otherwise quite closed on the nose, yet with a clear sense of purity. Dense, yet elegant and with tangy acidity shooting through the mouth-filling fruit. Firm noble tannins add depth and contour. Real cru pedigree.
- Walter Speller
The second release of this single vineyard, La Casaccia was planted in 1990. At an average altitude of 300 metres, it sits on predominantly clay soils and is bathed in sun from morning until evening. This doesn’t have quite the plushness or gregarious personality of the 2015 but takes on the 2016 vintage’s more vertical path, opening slowly. Aromas are evocative of pine, cedar and sage. Full but not weighty, the palate brings in earthy nuances with wild berries.
Acidity is cleansing, and silky tannins build up to a powerful finish.
Drinking Window 2024 - 2040
- Michaela Morris
Brunello di Montalcino LA CASACCIA 2016 obtained the CORONA, the highest recognition assigned by GUIDA VINI BUONI D'ITALIA
This shows the ripeness of the vintage, with ripe-berry, cherry and floral
aromas and flavors. Some cedar, too. It’s full and flavorful, with lots of chewy
yet polished and focused tannins. A little dusty in texture. Drinkable now,
but better in 2023.
- James Suckling
Nobile ed elegantissimo mostra note miste floreali e fruttate che ricordano i gerani, l’ibisco, le prugne rosse, la buccia di arancia arsa, la china e la terra bagnata. Corpo pieno, tannini perfettamente maturi ed integrati nella matrice ed un finale iconico punto di riferimento per la denominazione nel difficile millesimo. Meglio dal 2023.
- Raffaele Vecchione
This is where all the recent hard work put by Francesco Ripaccioli and team really comes to light and fruition. La Casaccia is northerly-ish but certainly not Montosoli and yet the aromatic profile of this Vigna-designate Brunello is laced with cool nuance and found to be full of fine finesse. As per the Canalicchio di Sopra idiom there is plenty of wood casking through the bones of the wine and yet one can feel the highest quality of those large vessels gifting a select strength leading to the chic style, surely to be followed by one and the half decades of aging. All what needs, what is and must be for La Casaccia. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021.
- Michael Godel
Da uve brunello, matura in botti da 30 hl per almeno 24 mesi. Classico rubino. Olfatto nitido e intenso su ciliegie nere mature e more. Una leggera affumicatura che introduce erbe officinali che danno freschezza. Trama e progressione fitte, nervose con tannino giovanile ma perfettamente integrato. Ottimo il finale per lunghezza e sobrietà. La zona nordica esprime le sue caratteristiche anche in annate torride ma qui c’e il trucco: piovve a metà settembre.
- Riccardo Viscardi
A great release of Brunello from the northeast slope of the denomination. Nose of freshness and finesse, notes of raspberry, touches of fresh marjoram and undergrowth. The mouthfeel is juicy-savoury, dense, with a nice spicy finish and persistence.
- Luca Gardini
Within the Canalicchio area, the Casaccia vineyard boasts a high clay content, which helped curb water stress in 2017. As with all Canalicchio di Sopra’s wines, the grapes were double-sorted to remove any green or sun-dried berries. Pristine in aromas and flavours, this offers clove, cardamom, mint and sweet dark earth on a backdrop of black cherries. The ample, mouth-filling palate is hemmed in by compact, sandy tannins. Underlying succulence makes this quite moreish. Drinking Window 2024 - 2032
- Michaela Morris
Inviting aromas of baked plum, violet, baking spice and sun-warmed hay come to the forefront along with a whiff of leather. The enveloping palate is delicious, delivering ripe Marasca cherry, raspberry compote, licorice and nutmeg framed in tightly woven, polished tannins that lend finesse and a smooth texture. Drink 2024–2029.
-Kerin O’Keefe
Black cherry and blackberry flavors hold court in this dense, yet vibrant red, which is defined by brisk acidity. Stays beautifully integrated, harmonious and long, while earth and savory herb accents add depth. This should really sing in about 2-3 years. Best from 2024 through 2040.
- Bruce Sanderson
Just mid ruby with orange tinges. A subdued nose with malt-bread notes. Needs to take a very deep breath, while revealing oak hints. The palate displays fragrant marasca-cherry fruit balanced by supple acidity. Very long, concentrated and with beautiful, coating tannins.
- Walter Speller
Profondo, un po' tabacco, catrame e un po' nocciola, aroma di bacche nere e rosse mature con sfumature floreali secche che ricordano i petali di rosa e un po' di note eteree. Crostata, matura, frutta piuttosto scura, aromi di noce e legno leggermente speziato di cacao, note pepate e di ginepro, mineralità salata, con tutta la sua potenza anche note rinfrescanti, buona profondità, struttura ferma, abbastanza complesso, ma trasparente e lucido, ancora giovane, molto buono, fermo, crostata e finale speziato.
Reviewed by Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
Brunello di Montalcino LA CASACCIA 2017 obtained the CORONA, the highest recognition assigned by GUIDA VINI BUONI D'ITALIA
Einladende Noten von Waldbeeren und Sandelholz; der Ansatz geschliffen, besitzt präzise Säure und engmaschiges Tannin, intensiv-würziges Fruchtfinale. Muss sich noch etwas abrunden.
- Christian Eder
Absorbing display of black cherry, blackberries, violet florals and menthol. Quickly followed by fresh juicy textured nuances of red berries and balsamic notes, leave you almost gasping for breath. Sweet notes then savoury ones bombard the senses on this hedonistic experience. Phenomenal length and balance.
- Tony Wood
From the highly vocated vineyard of the same name, a beautiful version of Brunello, typical of the north-eastern area of the denomination. Freshness to the nose, notes of black raspberry, touches of eucalyptus and undergrowth. The palate is juicy-sapid, dense, with return of fruit and undergrowth.
- Luca Gardini
A tiny bit more developed (than the classic 2018 Brunello) lustrous ruby with orange, bricky narrow rim. There is a sense of richness combined with mineral intensity on the nose. Pure cherry and raspberry with a hint of orange and cinnamon bark. Juicy, minerally and savoury on the palate and with finely chiselled tannins. 15% but very elegant and poised.
-Walter Speller
Cedro peel, lavender, sour cherries, redcurrants and hints of lemongrass on the nose. Full-bodied, silky and perfumed, with a fine tannin backbone and a weightlessness to it. Swathes of creamy ripe fruit. Drink after 2023.
- James Suckling
Boom! Vigna la Casaccia nel millesimo 2018 è denso e compatto nel calice senza perdere in leggiadria e complessità sensoriale. Si alternano lentamente note di prugne nere, more, cannella in polvere, incenso, mirto selvatico, cumino e pepe nero. L’arancia sanguinella descrive il profilo secondario che si anima con buoni muscoli. Corpo pieno, tannini perfettamente morbidi di grana finissima ed un finale di lodevole bellezza. Meglio dal 2025.
- Raffaele Vecchione
Great anticipation to taste La Casaccia and Montosoli side by each from a vintage carrying no option but to act out the passion play through the glaring clarity of a sense of place. There are facts involved and there is no hiding the truth formed by these plots of sangiovese in this vintage. By now it is understood how 2018 exists on its own accord at one with nature though Francesco Ripaccioli will tell you there are similarities with 2013, if only because that vintage was greatly ignored and is drinking well at this time. La Casaccia in the località of Canalicchio is the wildcard of Montalcino and tasting several wines from the frazione reveals a collective affinity supplied by the year’s gifts. Nothing was portioned or taken away from the ’18 Annata and yet this Vigna sings with even more range and depth than that wine. The acids are simply out of this proverbial world, the linear aspects drawn with precise architectural or even, in Old English speak, a Cutter’s line. Remarkable reserve in concentration and forward slicing finesse. Forever long. Forever young. Drink 2025-2038.
- Michael Godel
Ruby red in colour. Wild meadow florals and violet awaken the senses. Wild black berries, boysenberry, dark plum and blackberry assisted by refreshing acidity and rounded tannins lift the palate to experience the layered intensity and textural resonance. The sheer appeal of this wine is mind blowing. Balance and energy are a given…
- Tony Wood -
Funkelndes Rubingranat mit aufhellendem Rand. Intensive und viel schichtige Nase mit feinen Noten nach Waldhimbeere, Schwarzkirsche und Rosen, im Hintergrund etwas Rauch. Kompakt in Ansatz und Verlauf, zeigt schöne reife Frucht, griffiges, dichtmaschiges Tannin, baut sich in vielen Schichten auf.
Brunello di Montalcino Trophy 2023
- Wolfgang M. Rosam, Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler -
Ebenso sehr komplexes und dichtes, nobles Bouquet mit à point reifen, überwiegend dunkelroten Beeren, dunklen Kirschen, Veilchen, Pfeffer und wieder erdigkräutrigen Noten. Sehr klar umrissenes Duftbild, das sich am dichten und druckvollen Gaumen fortsetzt. Das feinsandige Tanninkleid umhüllt gekonnt und nobel die konzentrierte Frucht und die würzig-mineralischen Noten, spannt sich ganz weit und ist ewig lang. Schöne Liaison aus Kraft und Eleganz mit der typischen Sangiovese-Frucht und Würze mit herrlichen ätherischen Noten im persistenten, mineralisch geprägten Finale. Einer der besten der Verkostung. Top 3. Bravo!
Guida 2024 - sezione "Vini da vitigni autoctoni"
Ausladendes Bouquet mit einer schönen Liaison aus reifer Frucht und floralwürzigen Noten. Hier treffen die saftigen Pflaumen auf getrocknete Veilchen und Zedernwürze. So geht es auch am saftigen Gaumen: wunderschöne SangioveseFrucht (dunkle Kirsche, Zwetschge) umrahmt von floralwürzigen und zart ledrigen Noten. 2025 – 2036
- Giuseppe Lauria -
Coinvolgente e di notevole spessore enologico mostra complessità nella stratificazione di prugne rosse, fragoline di bosco, buccia di lime, glicine, timo selvatico, bosso e verbena. In sottofondo nuance nobili di carattere verde ricordano le foglie di tè verde e la menta piperita. Corpo medio, tannini morbidi di grana fine ed un finale equilibrato e piacevolissimo che fa della delicata potenza la sua arma migliore. Meglio dal 2025.
- Raffaele Vecchione -
Sweet sour cherries with rose stems and hints of green leaves on the nose. Medium body with firm, chewy tannins with some juicy fruit. Fresh and vivid. Better after two or three years.
- James Suckling -
Vitae, La Guida Vini 2024 - X edizione
Tra i 5 migliori Brunello di Montalcino 2018 Selezione
Bright medium red with garnet highlights. Aromas and flavours of ripe red cherry, plum, and orange peel are complemented by strong notes of tobacco and earth. Perfumed and luscious on entry, then somewhat broad and diffuse in the middle, with ripe red cherry, plum nectar and redcurrant jelly flavours complicated by a dusting of wild herbs. Very fine tannins leave a suave mouthfeel behind on the long, savoury finish that features repeating strong nuances of sweet pipe tobacco. Drinking window: 2023-2033.
- Ian D’Agata -
Ungemein komplexes und tiefgestaffeltes, ätherisch-kräutriges Bouquet mit à point reifen, überwiegend dunklen Beeren, Tabak und wieder erdig-kräutrigen Noten. Sehr klar umrissene Struktur am Gaumen, messerscharf konturiert, ungemein druckvoll, gekonnt umhüllt vom feinen, eleganten Tanninkleid, nobel mit konzentrierter Frucht und würzig-mineralischen Noten, spannt sich ganz weit mit wunderbarer Fruchtsüße und Frische. Schöne Liaison aus Kraft und Eleganz, sehr persistent und lang im Finale mit der typischen Sangiovese Würze und ätherischen Noten. Einer der besten der Verkostung. [2026 – 2042]
- Giuseppe Lauria -
Leuchtendes Rubinrot. In der Nase auf erdigen Tönen, satter Kirschfrucht, etwas Blutorange, nicht ganz präzise, wenngleich in sich stimmig. Am Gaumen geschliffen, elegant, mit engmaschigem, packendem Tannin, kompakt, sehr saftig, toller Stil, druckvoll, mit anhaltendem Abgang.
Brunello di Montalcino Trophy 2024
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler -
5 Grappoli
- Guida Bibenda 2025 -
Tasted alongside the 2020 annata and Montosoli bottlings from this estate, it seems clear that La Casaccia (and probably its fellow Canalicchio cru vineyards, where soils are clay-rich and calcareous and exposures sunbathed) lies towards the darker end of the fruit spectrum for the vintage. The same black-cherry lusciousness found on the annata is there, with edifying notes of wild strawberry, cedar sprig and blood orange. The northern Montalcino balsamic qualities come through on the palate, while the black cherry is gone, replaced by a fragrant blend of blood orange, gunpowder tea, palo santo and dried peppermint, lending a cooling effect. Tannins are pebbly and fine. Acidity is not especially elevated, but the herbal tones, translucency, fluid texture and linearity make its mildness less noticeable. There are lovely ferrous tones with whispers of black cherry to finish, giving a satisfying sense of symmetry. Drink 2027 – 2044.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Solare al naso, ricorda di succo di arance, zest di limone, chicchi di melagrana e fragoline di bosco. Nel profilo secondario, cedro in pezzi e ginger. Al palato, corpo pieno, tannini vividi ed un finale succoso. Meglio dal 2026.
- Raffaele Vecchione -
A red ruby color, the 2016 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia is layered and draws you in with aromas of leather, black cherries, and wild herbs. Medium to full-bodied, with a weightless feel, the tannins are more plush and ripe, and it has a supple texture as well as a long, elegant finish. Drink 2024-2044.
- Audrey Frick -
Vigna La Casaccia, dall’omonimo vigneto nel Cru Canalicchio, rappresenta il nostro desiderio di valorizzare l’unicità di un vigneto capace di mantenere la sua forte identità e riconoscibilità anche in annate diverse. È il vigneto che ci ha dimostrato negli anni come opulenza e freschezza possono convivere nella stessa bottiglia.
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
100% Sangiovese
Da 315 a 297 mt slm
1990
Terreno tendenzialmente argilloso con una buona dotazione di elementi minerali fra cui spicca il calcio, intervallato da elementi scheletrici. La caratteristiche del terreno plasmano vini dotati di grande struttura, colori brillanti, profondità ed una grande eleganza che regalano ogni anno tannini suadenti ed setosi. L’esposizione ottimale garantisce alla pianta un’insolazione costante dall’alba al tramonto.
Cordone speronato
N/S
3,00 metri x1,00 metro
In vasche d’acciaio con controllo della temperatura di fermentazione, rimontaggi soffici giornalieri. Macerazione sulle bucce per 25 giorni.
36 mesi in botti di Rovere di Slavonia da 25 hl
2015
14,5%
3713 Bottiglie da 750 ml
210 Bottiglie da 1500 ml
La 2017 dal punto di vista climatico può essere definita un’annata estrema simile in molti aspetti climatici alla 2012, dove questi estremi sono diventati sicuramente il suo punto di forza in termini di piacevolezza, opulenza e prontezza di beva.
La primavera ha avuto temperature miti e poche precipitazioni che hanno caratterizzato un anticipo del germogliamento e ella fioritura. I primi mesi estivi sono stati molto caldi con temperature sopra le medie e assenza di piogge, situazione da un lato ottimale dal punto di vista sanitario con assenza di malattie, dall’altro di forte stress per le piante che però soprattutto nei terreni più argillosi del Cru Canalicchio hanno retto molto bene grazie alla riserva idrica abbondante accumulata dopo la vendemmia 2016.
Fra la fine di luglio e la fine di agosto ci sono state piogge fondamentali per apportare quella spinta necessaria ad una buona invaiatura, piogge che sono state in media con un’annata normale per un totale di 30 mm. Gli acini formati erano di dimensioni molto piccole con grande concentrazione e le piogge insieme ad un abbassamento delle temperature addirittura sotto le medie stagionali hanno permesso un’invaiatura omogenea ed equilibrata che ha creato le basi per una vendemmia si anticipata, ma non tanto quanto pensavamo a luglio quando il caldo e la siccità stavano compromettendo la tenuta delle piante.
I 30 millimetri di piogge del 01 settembre ed i 30 millimetri del 16 settembre, il raffrescamento delle temperature e le forti escursioni termiche sono stati la svolta qualitativa dell’annata, quello che ha permesso di non anticipare troppo la vendemmia, di non incidere troppo sulle acidità che sono rimaste equilibrate e relativamente alte a supporto di struttura, concentrazione ed alcolicità, garantendo ai vini equilibrio ed eleganza.
La vendemmia si è svolta in un periodo normale proprio grazie a questi fattori climatici di settembre, partendo il 25 settembre e terminando il 6 di ottobre.
Abbiamo operato con una doppia selezione sia in vigna che in cantina attraverso tavoli di cernita e selezioni sui singoli acini per eliminare imperfezioni di acini asciugati dal sole di giugno e di luglio che avrebbero conferito astringenza al tannino e amarezza al frutto. Questa operazione ha sicuramente influito dal punto di vista quantitativo per la nostra azienda ma ci ha permesso di mantenere un alto standard qualitativo.
La sorprendente freschezza di un’annata calda:
In un’annata per alcuni versi estrema, il singolo Vigneto La Casaccia, conferma il nostro concetto di singolo vigneto, ovvero identificare un vigneto che anche in annate diverse possa esprimere tutta l’unicità e la personalità del vigneto stesso, meno sensibile alle condizioni climatiche dell’annata pur traendo dall’annata le sfumature ed i contorni, ma rimanendo sempre fedele al suo terreno. Ne consegue un Casaccia in linea con le caratteristiche di questo vigneto, dove opulenza ed eleganza, mineralità e dolcezza si fondono in un vino dalla grande struttura, con una trama tannica fitta e setosa, avvolgente ma allo stesso tempo profonda, lungo e sapido, con una forte vibrazione.
The intensity of fruit is staggering here, as this stacks up dried peaches, dried strawberries, red licorice, red-plum compote and glazed red cherries, in rapid succession. There’s a breadth of flavor to the palate that will take your breath away; muscular tannins draw in deeply set cherries, melding it together in a glistening coating of acidity, which only helps to carry it longer still. The finish is nearly endless. A stunning new single vineyard from Canalicchio di Sopra. Drink from 2026.
Lifting up with gorgeous floral perfumes and hints of white smoke, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia from Canalicchio di Sopra keeps you at the edge of your glass. It opens up with a dark and dramatic display of balsamic-tinged black cherry, sage and Indian spice, contrasted by savory notes of tobacco, rich earth tones and flowery undergrowth. There’s an amazing density of fruit here, offset by salty minerals, zesty acids and a hint of sour citrus. The textures are velvety-smooth, yet the expression remains feminine and lifted. In fact, you can hardly notice its underlying tannic heft until it’s too late, as the 2016 La Casaccia seems to youthfully fold in on itself, halting the expression but promising over a decade of further development.
- Eric Guido
The Vigna Casaccia 2018 opens with aromas of underbrush, leather, dark spice and whiffs of violet. More closed than the Brunello Annata, it’s also more structured, showing ripe dark-skinned berry, licorice, tobacco and balsamic notes recalling eucalyptus. Tight, fine-grained tannins provide support while great acidity keeps it fresh and balanced. Drink 2026–2040.
- Kerin O'Keefe
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia reveals medium-dark fruit and an open-knit approach with broad brushstrokes of black cherry, baked plum and spice. The alcohol content is too high at 15%, and that added power takes away from the finer nuances of the fruit. It ages in Slavonian oak for 36 months; however, the freshness is good in this wine. This is a limited release of 3,733 bottles and 200 magnums.
-Monica Larner
A delicate, graceful style, offering cherry, fruitcake, sage, eucalyptus, iron and leather flavors. Firm and nicely balanced, with a long, expanding aftertaste. Best from 2025 through 2042.
- Bruce Sanderson -
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia is impossible to ignore; it is earthy and mineral, almost smoky and animal in nature. Ashes stones, violets and balsam herbs complicate depths of dried black cherries, sage and clove. This is deeply textural and seductive, balancing ripe red and black fruits with sweet spice and minty herbal tones that create a kaleidoscope of sensation on the palate. A salty flourish shines through the finale, along with a crunchy tinge of blackberry seeds to contrast, as fine-grained tannins wrap the sense with youthful poise and a bitter twang resonates. The 2019 may be immortal. La Casaccia is a showstopper. Drinking window 2026-2040.
- Eric Guido -
Dark and brooding, the 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia slowly blossoms in the glass with a dramatic mix of steeped plums, cinnamon sticks, grilled herbs and sweet lavender. This is a model of purity, lifted and refined with soft textures and cool-toned acidity lending freshness as ripe red and hints of blue fruit settle upon the senses. The 2020 firms up through the finish, taking on a pleasantly bitter tinge that puckers the cheeks as grippy tannins and crunchy mineral tones frame the experience without getting in the way of its energetic persona. Drinking window 2027 – 2038.
- Reviewed by Eric Guido -
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2015 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia represents a new chapter in this estate's long history. This is a single-vineyard expression from the Canalicchio area, one of the most interesting subzones on the northeast side of Montalcino. Giving identity to individual parcels gives an estate like this huge potential for further expression and experimentation. The site is a little over two hectares, and it has dense, mineral-rich clay soils that add more power and a heavier center of gravity. The vines were planted in 1990. I notice slightly firmer tannin here, with a very distinct level of acidity purity. You also get lasting berry fruit favors with blueberry and dried raspberry followed by spice, licorice and lavender buds from the south of France and the rim of the Mediterranean. The wine is distinguished by endnotes of balsam or medicinal herb that grow in strength with time. It offers plenty of volume and weight. Not counting the various large format bottles made, only 3,610 750-milliliter bottles were produced. They were filled in May 2019, and the wine hit the market in January 2020.
- Monica Larner
The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia opens with an intense mix of zesty red fruits, spice and alluring sweet florals, backed by dark earth, crushed stone, hints of licorice, and a twang of savory herbs. On the palate, silky textures are contrasted by saline-minerals and brisk acids, as red berry fruits flood the senses along with savory herbs and spices, leaving a coating of fine-grained tannin. The finish is long, displaying lingering spiced red berries enlivened by resonating acids, saline-mineral tones and a hint of fine tannin. Talk about a great way to release a new single-vineyard bottling, The 2015 is classic to the core.
- Eric Guido
This is a newish single-vineyard wine (it's the second vintage) created by Francesco Ripaccioli and the team at Canalicchio di Sopra at the conclusion of an ambitious estate-wide mapping project. The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia draws its fruit from a two-hectare site planted in 1990 with clay soils and rich in mineral components. A precious 4,133 bottles were made. What I like most is the tightness of the fruit, which you chip away at slowly as the wine softens and yields in the glass. Each layer brings you forest fruit, sour cherry, almond, lilac and candied orange peel. On a second swirl, you might get black olive, bay leaf and scorched earth. There are subtle mineral notes, but what La Casaccia ultimately offers is that uniquely compact and extremely polished quality of fruit.
-Monica Larner
The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia is aromatically stunning, blasting up mineral in style, with a dark floral and balsam lift, giving way to licorice, black cherry and hints of camphor. It gains further depth and volume the longer it sits in the glass. The textures are silken, fleshy and pliant at first, as contrasting tart red fruits and minty herbal tones come through, saturating the palate with primary concentration. This is even savory at times and displays smoother contours than past vintages, yet it’s supremely balanced and pure. Repeating minerality comes through in spades and this turns youthfully dry and perfumed, yet still juicy and classic in feel. La Casaccia is a huge success for the vintage.
- Eric Guido
This is a relatively new addition to the Canalicchio di Sopra portfolio, and even its modern graphic label design represents a break from the rest of the line, which has more nostalgic labels that feature Montalcino's medieval main square. The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia takes a little longer to open, but it ultimately reveals the elegance and energy that comes with the house style. Wild cherry, ash and balsam herb drive a long, very polished finish. The La Casaccia site is distinguished by mineral-rich clay soils, which give this wine its power and density. Production is limited to 4,133 bottles in this vintage
- Monica Larner
A dark mix of crushed rocks and flowery underbrush is lifted by nuances of dried strawberry and worn leather as the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia smolders up from the glass. It’s silky in feel, communicating a wonderful elegance, with ripe red and hints of blue fruits accentuated by inner violet tones. This is potent and long through the finale, with sneaky tannins, staining the palate with liquid florals, as a hint of citrus-tinged black currant slowly fades. The 2018 is a beautifully balanced Brunello of this vintage.
- Eric Guido
Francesco Ripaccioli explains that La Casaccia’s clay soils absorbed the rains of September, initially diluting the grapes. He credits the subsequent dry northern winds with concentrating the berries as the estate waited until 28 September to pick. The resulting wine is certainly one of the vintage’s more solidly structured Brunello and also displays the darkest fruit of the estate’s trio of bottlings. Cherry and even blackcurrant are met with sage, rosemary and wet soil. The firmly built palate of dense fruit is framed by clingy tannins, while underlying juiciness keeps it bright and buoyant.
- Michaela Morris
Whereas Montosoli is more mineral-driven and finely stitched together, this wine is broad, big and driven by balsamic tones, vapor rub and dried rosemary.
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia, however, is more explosive with spice, toasted coffee, black licorice, cherry cola and rich cherry. The tannins feel chalky, although they are fine-grained, but they play a bigger role against the concentrated fruit. Only 7,200 bottles and larger formats were made. Drink Date 2025 - 2042.
- Monica Larner -
Rich and velvety, with cherry, raspberry, eucalyptus and juniper aromas and flavors, this is backed by a dense, steely structure, whose tannins leave a strong grip on the finish. Balanced, complex and long, with a saline, mineral impression persisting on the aftertaste. Best from 2027 through 2043, 147 cases imported.
- Bruce Sanderson -
Very intense and deep wine. The nose is savory, with earthy strawberries, cinnamon, sweet violets and even yellow stone-fruit. Full-bodied, graceful palate with velvety tannins, refreshing acidity and a polished finish. Long aftertaste. Grace and power go hand in hand here. Drinkable now, but best after 2025.
- James Suckling -
Bright medium red. Very pretty violet and red cherry aromas and flavours with hints of spicy cinnamon and nutmeg. Fleshy but precise, this finishes long clean and mineral. Owner Francesco Ripaccioli has arguably made the best pair of Brunellos of any estate from the 2018 vintage. Drinking window: 2027-2038.
- Ian D'Agata -
- Riccardo Viscardi -
Casaccia is a single vineyard in the Canalicchio area northeast of Montalcino. Here the cooler, windy mesoclimate and clay soils typically produce plump fruit, but with tannins of great finesse. This single cru bottling fulfils a long-term goal of owner Francesco Ripaccioli to capture the uniqueness of its various Sangiovese sites. The nose is initially earthy and dark with roasted chestnut, cigar and polished leather over amarena cherry. In keeping with the cooler 2018 vintage, a refreshing hit of acidity, menthol and eucalyptus strike the front palate just a beat before the fruit catches up. The tannins are like a finely woven wool suit that's cut close to the figure, but without being tight; the fruit returns on the finish, surprisingly fresher than before.
- Sarah Heller MW -
A single vineyard of great thickness and inimitable balance, nose with notes of cranberry, then touches of eucalyptus and gardenia, with hints of juniper. Brackish palate, thick, with a return of cranberry and spicy notes.
- Luca Gardini -
Very dark ruby with bricky rim. Spicy, minerally notes over generous cherry fruit. Lots of supple cherry fruit with a dose of well-judged tannins that cling to the fruit on the finish. A little riper and fuller than Montosoli, but has the bones to age gracefully. Drink 2026 – 2038.
- Walter Speller -
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2019 Vigna La Casaccia is fantastic. Generous and powerfully built, it also has a weightless grace, featuring aromas of black-skinned fruit, iris and camphor while the enveloping palate delivers ripe plum, mature black-skinned berry, licorice and cake spice. Velvety, enveloping tannins give it a smooth texture while fresh acidity keeps it balanced.
- Kerin O’Keefe -
La Casaccia is a brown clay with a prominence of calcium carbonate that gives this single vineyard sangiovese its colour. A place of high (8.2-8.3) pH characterized by the clay. "For me it's sleekness," tells Francesco Ripaccioli, "not opulence and less heaviness than from (a vineyard) of dense clay." La Casaccia from that calcareous clay is no simple Rosso or classic Brunello for that matter and it is immediately apparent that concentration and depth of all parts manage the wine's breadth at levels those drink earlier propositions do not. Similar grip to Riserva but not the same power although without tasting Riserva at the same time it would be hard to imagine how this could be improved or extrapolated upon. Simple but crazy complex and a most evocative elucidation to see this Brunello wooing with as much substance and intensity as it does - but these are the 2019s. A matter of deliberately annotating sangiovese and Casaccia through this interaction with a Brunello that enhances a taster's understanding, recall and reaction to the vintage. Drink 2027-2038.
- Michael Godel -
Medium-deep. Vibrant aromas of strawberry, peppery herbs and truffle. Then smooth and sultry, with multilayered flavours of red cherry, preserved plum, star anise, cinnamon and oaky spices. Long, balanced and suave on the rising finish. This will be a knockout in due course. Drinking window: 2030-2044.
- Ian D'Agata -
Bright ruby red in colour. Aromatics of blue florals, dried herbs and mellow spice. Small dark fruits abound, liquorice, blonde tobacco and distant cinnamon. Close knit fine tannins. Not an easy wine to fully appreciate at first, it has tremendous resonance, great structural integrity and soft textural curves. This wine is unique in as much it plays “hide and seek” with its interviewer. Personally I know it’s a stunning wine that needs time to relax and show all its fine character.
- Tony Wood -
Produced since the 2015 vintage, Vigna Casaccia is fashioned from 30-year-old vines of the BBS11 clone. Reaching 315 metres, the plot is characterised by a high percentage of brown, magnesium-rich clay. Surely the most impressive release yet, the 2019 exhibits the cru’s intrinsic sumptuous character and girth, along with telltale resinous herb nuances of rosemary, thyme and eucalyptus. yet this year, there is an extra spark. Through that expansiveness, an underlying firmness keeps this from overflowing its limits. Plump fruit marked with a mineral lick and terracotta earthiness is all wrapped up in smooth, velvety tannins, and it carries its 15% alcohol with ease and grace. Drinking Window: 2026 - 2041
- Michaela Morris -
The Vigna wines at Canalicchio are part of a long-standing project by Francesco Ripaccioli to isolate single plots within the estate. La Casaccia is in the Canalicchio cru, the more calcareous, clay-rich area surrounding the winery, and was planted in 1990. The nose starts savoury, with cheese rind and fresh mushroom opening up to reveal pretty notes of honeysuckle over blood orange and dried amarena cherry, reflecting the gentle warmth of the vintage. It gradually becomes sweeter and more strawberry-toned as the reduction from 36 months in large botti blows off. Mouthwatering acidity ushers in a palate lively with much brighter, redder cherry fruit than the nose, even shading into cranberry, with a pretty assortment of verbena and grassy herbs. There is an unexpected lightness and elegance to the mid-palate, graciously draped in slippery glycerol. The tannins are also quite luxuriant and baroque, forming folds of nappa leather on the back. Drink 2026 – 2045.
- Sarah Heller MW -
The 2016 Casaccia is really opening up now, charting a glorious middle course between the 2017 and the 2018, with more of the delicate balsamic tones of 2018 (dried rosemary, thyme and tobacco leaf) but with some of the sweeter amaro tones of the ’17 (sarsaparilla, bitter orange and liquorice root), with, as usual, subtle wafts of crisp crimson fruit. The sense of openness continues on the palate, which is filled in and rich in its marasca cherry fruit with beautiful acidity. Tannins are seamlessly woven into the fabric of the mid-palate, giving it the tactility of fine-spun virgin wool. On the back, the fruit washes away to reveal savoury nuances of tobacco and rust, tapering beautifully to a close. Drink 2025 – 2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Tasted immediately after the 2016, 2015 reveals its slightly warmer, more potent personality, with darker balsamic and sweet amaro tones of liquorice, bitter orange and cocoa. The palate is dark but with a potent sense of fruit just beneath, its black cherry refined by sharpening tones of bergamot and blood-orange citrus. Tannins remain enormous and bristling, though they have gained some tenderness with time. The acidity illuminates, giving both brightness and forward propulsion. Lovely iodine salinity on the finish. Drink 2025 – 2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Standing in stark contrast to the 2018, the 2017 is benefiting from both its riper conditions and another year of maturation in bottle. The nose is a luscious black cherry and strawberry amalgam that feels quite potent for Canalicchio, never a very effusive cru, with layers of Darjeeling tea, liquorice candy and carob. The richness of the brown spice tones (not coming from oak, which is untoasted and large) is much more marked than in 2018, and the tannins are likewise much more gravelly and chewy, typical of this calcareous clay-rich site. The mid-palate swells with oud, styrax and tea leaves – smoky, sensuous and exotic – kept in check by fresh acidity. Rust tones come through on the finish, accompanied by refined notes of polished leather. Drink 2025-2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Forest floor, violet and pipe tobacco mingle with leather and baked plum on the impressive 2020 Vigna La Casaccia. Polished and enveloping, the full-bodied palate features succulent black cherry, crushed raspberry, licorice and spiced orange peel set against compact, close-grained tannins. Fresh acidity keeps it balanced. Drink 2029–2034.
- Kerin O’Keefe -
Starting with this vintage, the Canalicchio di Sopra 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia carries a "Vigna" designation. La Casaccia is a two-hectare parcel with clay soils rich in minerals that was planted in 1990. Francesco Ripaccioli embarked on an estate-wide mapping project about 10 years ago to determine which parcels would be worthy of single-vineyard distinction. This wine always has an elegant brightness about it with aromas of iris root, blood orange and tart forest berry. This vintage delivers moderately more heft and intensity to the bouquet, although it remains understated in terms of palate. Give it more time to flesh out. Only 4,133 bottles were made. Drink Date 2026 – 2042.
- Monica Larner -
From the vineyard of the same name in cru Canalicchio, aged for 36 months in oak from Slavonia, olfactory attack on notes of cranberry jam, ginger, then touches of wild mint and gardenia, with hints of juniper. The palate is salty, dense, with minty memories and small fruits.
- Luca Gardini -
Mid ruby. Notes of dark earth and spice and, with aeration, focused fruit. But still not entirely open. Pure cherry fruit supported by grainy tannins. Firm structure and lots of lively sour-cherry fruit on the finish. Great balance, while the tannins need time to settle. Drink 2025 – 2034
- Walter Speller -
The 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia pours a rich and youthful red/ruby color and is from the unique clay-based soils just outside the winery. This wine takes things up another notch, with notes of raspberry liqueur, licorice, toasted sage, and lavender perfume. Full-bodied, it has a lot to offer, with ripe tannins, balanced, even acidity, dark mineral accents, and pure lasting concentration of fruit all the way through a mouthwatering finish. A remarkable wine, I highly recommend seeking out it for your cellar and aging. Drink 2027-2050.
- Audrey Frick -
Good full red. Inviting, rather cool, nuanced aromas of red berries, potpourri, violet, leather, smoke and minerals. Silky, delicately fleshy and suave, with a smooth, round texture and a seamless quality to its delicate spicy and fruity flavours nicely framed by fine-grained tannins and lingering notes of tobacco and camphor. A Brunello that conveys a classic nobility and that strikes me as being remarkably less chunky and thick than is usual for this bottling. Drinking window: 2030-2040.
- Ian D’Agata -
There is always something shared in common between the two single vineyards that is mitigated by the vintage from year to year – but Montosoli and Casaccia are very different wines. Here for the estate located block the extraction was lower, as was the maceration, to avoid any bitters or green possibilities. “Something was not perfectly mature” figures Francesco Ripaccioli. All that said there is more opulence, concentration and seduction from Casaccia but it plays a bit hard to get and to figure out. Take the time and stay with this Vigna because you need to be sure what kind of wine you are dealing with. A long relationship is necessary and time will tell what will be. Drink 2027-2036.
- Michael Godel -
From more clay-based soils, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna Casaccia pours a bit deeper ruby color and is riper and broader in its feel, with deeper notes of fresh black cherries, mocha, and pressed flowers. Medium to full-bodied, it offers more richness on the palate, with ripe tannins and good concentration for this challenging, cooler vintage. Long on the palate, with a great finish, it’s a very successful and more age-worthy wine for this vintage. Drink 2026-2046.
- Audrey Frick -
The bright red/ruby-hued 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino La Casaccia is fresh and offers a deeper though equally pure aromatic profile, with notes of darker cherries, candied flowers, sweet sage, and mossy earth. Medium-bodied, it's richer on the palate as well, with ripe tannins and more depth, but it's long and inviting, with a hearty feel in its hints of leather and porcini mushroom on the finish. Drink over the coming two decades. Maturity 2025 – 2045.
- Audrey Frick -
Helles Rubinrot mit violetten Reflexen. In der Nase nach gezuckerten Walderdbeeren, Hagebuttentee, Amarenakirsche und Minze, dahinter etwas Lavendel, etwas brandig. Am Gaumen viel reife Frucht, druckvoll, reife Gerbstoffe, gut eingebundene Säure, schöne Saftigkeit und Salzigkeit, elegantes Finale.
- Othmar Kiem and Simon Staffler -
A significant new release for Canalicchio di Sopra, La Casaccia is a single vineyard close to the winery in the district of Canalicchio, north of the town of Montalcino. Comparing it to his plots in Montosoli, owner Francesco Ripaccioli describes the soil here as a heavier brown clay with lots of magnesium giving more generous growth. It produces a relatively weighty, substantial wine with firm, sturdy tannins and balancing acidity. Notes of sage, tobacco, liquorice root and heather weave through the plush dark currant fruit. Both this and the classic Brunello are equally accomplished, however I suspect La Casaccia may have longer ageing capacity.
- Michaela Morris
A spectacular wine in every sense: a firm, deep, minerally fruit nose, a composed but full palate with finely chiselled tannins and perfectly integrated juicy acidity. Long and layered and impossible to resist but deserves more bottle age.
- Walter Speller
A red with cherry, walnut, bark and hints of dried flowers. It’s full-bodied with firm, chewy tannins and a tight finish. Really reserved now. Needs three or four years to open. Best after 2024.
- James Suckling
English:
Sparkling, dark ruby with a shimmering garnet edge. Compact, somewhat closed nose with notes of dark blackberries and cherries, a fine nougat note in the background. Blooms great on the palate, tightly meshed, substantial tannin, embedded in fine fruit melt, salty and juicy, is still very young, but has a long life ahead of it.
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
Deutsche:
Funkelndes, dunkles Rubin mit schillerndem Granatrand. Kompakte, etwas verschlossene Nase mit Noten nach dunklen Brombeeren und Kirschen, im Hintergrund feiner Nougatton. Blüht am Gaumen toll auf, dichtmaschiges, stoffiges Tannin, eingebettet in feinen Fruchtschmelz, salzig und saftig, zeigt sich noch sehr jung, hat aber ein langes Leben vor sich.
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
This ripe red is bursting with plum, cherry, floral and mineral aromas and flavors. Succulent and balanced, with savory, sanguine and earthy accents, rolling on through the long, herb-tinged aftertaste. Best from 2024 through 2045.
- Bruce Sanderson
Lustrous mid ruby. Leafy cherry hints but otherwise quite closed on the nose, yet with a clear sense of purity. Dense, yet elegant and with tangy acidity shooting through the mouth-filling fruit. Firm noble tannins add depth and contour. Real cru pedigree.
- Walter Speller
The second release of this single vineyard, La Casaccia was planted in 1990. At an average altitude of 300 metres, it sits on predominantly clay soils and is bathed in sun from morning until evening. This doesn’t have quite the plushness or gregarious personality of the 2015 but takes on the 2016 vintage’s more vertical path, opening slowly. Aromas are evocative of pine, cedar and sage. Full but not weighty, the palate brings in earthy nuances with wild berries.
Acidity is cleansing, and silky tannins build up to a powerful finish.
Drinking Window 2024 - 2040
- Michaela Morris
Brunello di Montalcino LA CASACCIA 2016 obtained the CORONA, the highest recognition assigned by GUIDA VINI BUONI D'ITALIA
This shows the ripeness of the vintage, with ripe-berry, cherry and floral
aromas and flavors. Some cedar, too. It’s full and flavorful, with lots of chewy
yet polished and focused tannins. A little dusty in texture. Drinkable now,
but better in 2023.
- James Suckling
Nobile ed elegantissimo mostra note miste floreali e fruttate che ricordano i gerani, l’ibisco, le prugne rosse, la buccia di arancia arsa, la china e la terra bagnata. Corpo pieno, tannini perfettamente maturi ed integrati nella matrice ed un finale iconico punto di riferimento per la denominazione nel difficile millesimo. Meglio dal 2023.
- Raffaele Vecchione
This is where all the recent hard work put by Francesco Ripaccioli and team really comes to light and fruition. La Casaccia is northerly-ish but certainly not Montosoli and yet the aromatic profile of this Vigna-designate Brunello is laced with cool nuance and found to be full of fine finesse. As per the Canalicchio di Sopra idiom there is plenty of wood casking through the bones of the wine and yet one can feel the highest quality of those large vessels gifting a select strength leading to the chic style, surely to be followed by one and the half decades of aging. All what needs, what is and must be for La Casaccia. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021.
- Michael Godel
Da uve brunello, matura in botti da 30 hl per almeno 24 mesi. Classico rubino. Olfatto nitido e intenso su ciliegie nere mature e more. Una leggera affumicatura che introduce erbe officinali che danno freschezza. Trama e progressione fitte, nervose con tannino giovanile ma perfettamente integrato. Ottimo il finale per lunghezza e sobrietà. La zona nordica esprime le sue caratteristiche anche in annate torride ma qui c’e il trucco: piovve a metà settembre.
- Riccardo Viscardi
A great release of Brunello from the northeast slope of the denomination. Nose of freshness and finesse, notes of raspberry, touches of fresh marjoram and undergrowth. The mouthfeel is juicy-savoury, dense, with a nice spicy finish and persistence.
- Luca Gardini
Within the Canalicchio area, the Casaccia vineyard boasts a high clay content, which helped curb water stress in 2017. As with all Canalicchio di Sopra’s wines, the grapes were double-sorted to remove any green or sun-dried berries. Pristine in aromas and flavours, this offers clove, cardamom, mint and sweet dark earth on a backdrop of black cherries. The ample, mouth-filling palate is hemmed in by compact, sandy tannins. Underlying succulence makes this quite moreish. Drinking Window 2024 - 2032
- Michaela Morris
Inviting aromas of baked plum, violet, baking spice and sun-warmed hay come to the forefront along with a whiff of leather. The enveloping palate is delicious, delivering ripe Marasca cherry, raspberry compote, licorice and nutmeg framed in tightly woven, polished tannins that lend finesse and a smooth texture. Drink 2024–2029.
-Kerin O’Keefe
Black cherry and blackberry flavors hold court in this dense, yet vibrant red, which is defined by brisk acidity. Stays beautifully integrated, harmonious and long, while earth and savory herb accents add depth. This should really sing in about 2-3 years. Best from 2024 through 2040.
- Bruce Sanderson
Just mid ruby with orange tinges. A subdued nose with malt-bread notes. Needs to take a very deep breath, while revealing oak hints. The palate displays fragrant marasca-cherry fruit balanced by supple acidity. Very long, concentrated and with beautiful, coating tannins.
- Walter Speller
Profondo, un po' tabacco, catrame e un po' nocciola, aroma di bacche nere e rosse mature con sfumature floreali secche che ricordano i petali di rosa e un po' di note eteree. Crostata, matura, frutta piuttosto scura, aromi di noce e legno leggermente speziato di cacao, note pepate e di ginepro, mineralità salata, con tutta la sua potenza anche note rinfrescanti, buona profondità, struttura ferma, abbastanza complesso, ma trasparente e lucido, ancora giovane, molto buono, fermo, crostata e finale speziato.
Reviewed by Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
Brunello di Montalcino LA CASACCIA 2017 obtained the CORONA, the highest recognition assigned by GUIDA VINI BUONI D'ITALIA
Einladende Noten von Waldbeeren und Sandelholz; der Ansatz geschliffen, besitzt präzise Säure und engmaschiges Tannin, intensiv-würziges Fruchtfinale. Muss sich noch etwas abrunden.
- Christian Eder
Absorbing display of black cherry, blackberries, violet florals and menthol. Quickly followed by fresh juicy textured nuances of red berries and balsamic notes, leave you almost gasping for breath. Sweet notes then savoury ones bombard the senses on this hedonistic experience. Phenomenal length and balance.
- Tony Wood
From the highly vocated vineyard of the same name, a beautiful version of Brunello, typical of the north-eastern area of the denomination. Freshness to the nose, notes of black raspberry, touches of eucalyptus and undergrowth. The palate is juicy-sapid, dense, with return of fruit and undergrowth.
- Luca Gardini
A tiny bit more developed (than the classic 2018 Brunello) lustrous ruby with orange, bricky narrow rim. There is a sense of richness combined with mineral intensity on the nose. Pure cherry and raspberry with a hint of orange and cinnamon bark. Juicy, minerally and savoury on the palate and with finely chiselled tannins. 15% but very elegant and poised.
-Walter Speller
Cedro peel, lavender, sour cherries, redcurrants and hints of lemongrass on the nose. Full-bodied, silky and perfumed, with a fine tannin backbone and a weightlessness to it. Swathes of creamy ripe fruit. Drink after 2023.
- James Suckling
Boom! Vigna la Casaccia nel millesimo 2018 è denso e compatto nel calice senza perdere in leggiadria e complessità sensoriale. Si alternano lentamente note di prugne nere, more, cannella in polvere, incenso, mirto selvatico, cumino e pepe nero. L’arancia sanguinella descrive il profilo secondario che si anima con buoni muscoli. Corpo pieno, tannini perfettamente morbidi di grana finissima ed un finale di lodevole bellezza. Meglio dal 2025.
- Raffaele Vecchione
Great anticipation to taste La Casaccia and Montosoli side by each from a vintage carrying no option but to act out the passion play through the glaring clarity of a sense of place. There are facts involved and there is no hiding the truth formed by these plots of sangiovese in this vintage. By now it is understood how 2018 exists on its own accord at one with nature though Francesco Ripaccioli will tell you there are similarities with 2013, if only because that vintage was greatly ignored and is drinking well at this time. La Casaccia in the località of Canalicchio is the wildcard of Montalcino and tasting several wines from the frazione reveals a collective affinity supplied by the year’s gifts. Nothing was portioned or taken away from the ’18 Annata and yet this Vigna sings with even more range and depth than that wine. The acids are simply out of this proverbial world, the linear aspects drawn with precise architectural or even, in Old English speak, a Cutter’s line. Remarkable reserve in concentration and forward slicing finesse. Forever long. Forever young. Drink 2025-2038.
- Michael Godel
Ruby red in colour. Wild meadow florals and violet awaken the senses. Wild black berries, boysenberry, dark plum and blackberry assisted by refreshing acidity and rounded tannins lift the palate to experience the layered intensity and textural resonance. The sheer appeal of this wine is mind blowing. Balance and energy are a given…
- Tony Wood -
Funkelndes Rubingranat mit aufhellendem Rand. Intensive und viel schichtige Nase mit feinen Noten nach Waldhimbeere, Schwarzkirsche und Rosen, im Hintergrund etwas Rauch. Kompakt in Ansatz und Verlauf, zeigt schöne reife Frucht, griffiges, dichtmaschiges Tannin, baut sich in vielen Schichten auf.
Brunello di Montalcino Trophy 2023
- Wolfgang M. Rosam, Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler -
Ebenso sehr komplexes und dichtes, nobles Bouquet mit à point reifen, überwiegend dunkelroten Beeren, dunklen Kirschen, Veilchen, Pfeffer und wieder erdigkräutrigen Noten. Sehr klar umrissenes Duftbild, das sich am dichten und druckvollen Gaumen fortsetzt. Das feinsandige Tanninkleid umhüllt gekonnt und nobel die konzentrierte Frucht und die würzig-mineralischen Noten, spannt sich ganz weit und ist ewig lang. Schöne Liaison aus Kraft und Eleganz mit der typischen Sangiovese-Frucht und Würze mit herrlichen ätherischen Noten im persistenten, mineralisch geprägten Finale. Einer der besten der Verkostung. Top 3. Bravo!
Guida 2024 - sezione "Vini da vitigni autoctoni"
Ausladendes Bouquet mit einer schönen Liaison aus reifer Frucht und floralwürzigen Noten. Hier treffen die saftigen Pflaumen auf getrocknete Veilchen und Zedernwürze. So geht es auch am saftigen Gaumen: wunderschöne SangioveseFrucht (dunkle Kirsche, Zwetschge) umrahmt von floralwürzigen und zart ledrigen Noten. 2025 – 2036
- Giuseppe Lauria -
Coinvolgente e di notevole spessore enologico mostra complessità nella stratificazione di prugne rosse, fragoline di bosco, buccia di lime, glicine, timo selvatico, bosso e verbena. In sottofondo nuance nobili di carattere verde ricordano le foglie di tè verde e la menta piperita. Corpo medio, tannini morbidi di grana fine ed un finale equilibrato e piacevolissimo che fa della delicata potenza la sua arma migliore. Meglio dal 2025.
- Raffaele Vecchione -
Sweet sour cherries with rose stems and hints of green leaves on the nose. Medium body with firm, chewy tannins with some juicy fruit. Fresh and vivid. Better after two or three years.
- James Suckling -
Vitae, La Guida Vini 2024 - X edizione
Tra i 5 migliori Brunello di Montalcino 2018 Selezione
Bright medium red with garnet highlights. Aromas and flavours of ripe red cherry, plum, and orange peel are complemented by strong notes of tobacco and earth. Perfumed and luscious on entry, then somewhat broad and diffuse in the middle, with ripe red cherry, plum nectar and redcurrant jelly flavours complicated by a dusting of wild herbs. Very fine tannins leave a suave mouthfeel behind on the long, savoury finish that features repeating strong nuances of sweet pipe tobacco. Drinking window: 2023-2033.
- Ian D’Agata -
Ungemein komplexes und tiefgestaffeltes, ätherisch-kräutriges Bouquet mit à point reifen, überwiegend dunklen Beeren, Tabak und wieder erdig-kräutrigen Noten. Sehr klar umrissene Struktur am Gaumen, messerscharf konturiert, ungemein druckvoll, gekonnt umhüllt vom feinen, eleganten Tanninkleid, nobel mit konzentrierter Frucht und würzig-mineralischen Noten, spannt sich ganz weit mit wunderbarer Fruchtsüße und Frische. Schöne Liaison aus Kraft und Eleganz, sehr persistent und lang im Finale mit der typischen Sangiovese Würze und ätherischen Noten. Einer der besten der Verkostung. [2026 – 2042]
- Giuseppe Lauria -
Leuchtendes Rubinrot. In der Nase auf erdigen Tönen, satter Kirschfrucht, etwas Blutorange, nicht ganz präzise, wenngleich in sich stimmig. Am Gaumen geschliffen, elegant, mit engmaschigem, packendem Tannin, kompakt, sehr saftig, toller Stil, druckvoll, mit anhaltendem Abgang.
Brunello di Montalcino Trophy 2024
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler -
5 Grappoli
- Guida Bibenda 2025 -
Tasted alongside the 2020 annata and Montosoli bottlings from this estate, it seems clear that La Casaccia (and probably its fellow Canalicchio cru vineyards, where soils are clay-rich and calcareous and exposures sunbathed) lies towards the darker end of the fruit spectrum for the vintage. The same black-cherry lusciousness found on the annata is there, with edifying notes of wild strawberry, cedar sprig and blood orange. The northern Montalcino balsamic qualities come through on the palate, while the black cherry is gone, replaced by a fragrant blend of blood orange, gunpowder tea, palo santo and dried peppermint, lending a cooling effect. Tannins are pebbly and fine. Acidity is not especially elevated, but the herbal tones, translucency, fluid texture and linearity make its mildness less noticeable. There are lovely ferrous tones with whispers of black cherry to finish, giving a satisfying sense of symmetry. Drink 2027 – 2044.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Solare al naso, ricorda di succo di arance, zest di limone, chicchi di melagrana e fragoline di bosco. Nel profilo secondario, cedro in pezzi e ginger. Al palato, corpo pieno, tannini vividi ed un finale succoso. Meglio dal 2026.
- Raffaele Vecchione -
A red ruby color, the 2016 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia is layered and draws you in with aromas of leather, black cherries, and wild herbs. Medium to full-bodied, with a weightless feel, the tannins are more plush and ripe, and it has a supple texture as well as a long, elegant finish. Drink 2024-2044.
- Audrey Frick -
Vigna La Casaccia, dall’omonimo vigneto nel Cru Canalicchio, rappresenta il nostro desiderio di valorizzare l’unicità di un vigneto capace di mantenere la sua forte identità e riconoscibilità anche in annate diverse. È il vigneto che ci ha dimostrato negli anni come opulenza e freschezza possono convivere nella stessa bottiglia.
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
100% Sangiovese
Da 315 a 297 mt slm
1990
Terreno tendenzialmente argilloso con una buona dotazione di elementi minerali fra cui spicca il calcio, intervallato da elementi scheletrici. La caratteristiche del terreno plasmano vini dotati di grande struttura, colori brillanti, profondità ed una grande eleganza che regalano ogni anno tannini suadenti ed setosi. L’esposizione ottimale garantisce alla pianta un’insolazione costante dall’alba al tramonto.
Cordone speronato
N/S
3,00 metri x1,00 metro
In vasche d’acciaio con controllo della temperatura di fermentazione, rimontaggi soffici giornalieri. Macerazione sulle bucce per 25 giorni.
36 mesi in botti di Rovere di Slavonia da 25 hl
2015
14,5%
3763 Bottiglie da 750 ml
185 Bottiglie da 1500 ml
Dal punto di vista climatico possiamo riassumere l’annata 2016 come un’annata equilibrata, tendenzialmente calda nei mesi estivi durante il giorno ma senza mai raggiungere temperature torride, con forti escursioni fra giorno e notte, condizioni che hanno favorito una perfetta maturazione polifenolica mantenendo acidità sostenute e donando ai vini quell’equilibrio proprio delle grandi annate, fra dolcezza e sapidità, acidità e opulenza.
Dal primo gennaio a metà marzo abbiamo avuto piogge per 220 millimetri distribuite temporalmente in modo ordinato su tutto il periodo che hanno favorito una buona riserva di acqua per i mesi successivi. Le piogge cadute regolarmente e senza effetti violenti hanno visto una penetrazione totale nel terreno, creando appunto un’ottima riserva per la stagione più calda.
Nel mese di gennaio abbiamo avuto ben 12 giorni con temperature minime sotto lo zero, che ha creato un aiuto importante per l’eliminazione di spore e funghi accumulati nell’anno precedente, condizione ottimale per la ripartenza della pianta in una situazione di estrema sicurezza fitosanitaria.
L’avvio di marzo è stato tendenzialmente fresco con temperature minime di notte e questo ha favorito un naturale rallentamento del germogliamento che è partito verso la metà di marzo, assicurando poi una regolare epoca di vendemmia.
Fino al 20 di aprile le temperature sono state miti durante il giorno e fresche la notte con escursioni importanti, ed assenza di piogge. Le temperature miti insieme alle buone riserve di acqua accumulate nel terreno nei mesi invernali hanno favorito uno sviluppo della pianta regolare e omogeneo, ed abbiamo operato alla selezione dei germogli ad inizio maggio. Il 23, 24 e 25 aprile abbiamo avuto tre giorni di piogge importanti dal punto di vista quantitativo per un totale di circa 45 mm, che però non hanno creato problemi sanitari perché sono state subito accompagnate da una riduzione delle temperature e soprattutto da venti nord/nord est che hanno reso il clima subito asciutto e non favorevole quindi per le malattie funginee della vite.
Il mese di maggio è stato un mese tendenzialmente piovoso, con un accumulo di circa 100 mm di pioggia, accompagnato da temperature fresche per le medie stagionali, che hanno rallentato la pianta senza però comprometterne lo stato sanitario, piogge che si sono poi rilevate fondamentali per i mesi più secchi di luglio e agosto.
Il mese di giugno ha visto solamente due fenomeni di pioggia con precipitazioni in media con la stagione.
Luglio e agosto sono stati due mesi perfetti per la maturazione del sangiovese, con temperature calde di giorno ma non eccessive (mai superiori a 35 gradi celsius) e fresche di notte, forti escursioni che hanno favorito una maturazione lenta, costante e soprattutto il mantenimento di una buccia spessa e con grandi quantità di polifenoli.
Dal germogliamento alla raccolta ci sono stati 450 millimetri di pioggia, quantità ottimale, considerando che circa 40 sono avvenuti nel mese di settembre, 15 giorni prima della vendemmia, quantità non trascurabile ma che non ha minimamente inficiato la qualità delle uve, avendo queste bucce molto resistenti, ed essendo seguita la pioggia subito da venti da nord- nord/est. Questa pioggia avvenuta il 18/09 ha contribuito a lavare le uve che sono potute così entrare in cantina in condizioni perfette.
Le precipitazioni totali dall’inizio dell’anno fino alla vendemmia sono state leggermente inferiori ai 700 mm, condizioni ottimali per una grande vendemmia.
Interessante è l’analisi delle temperature che si contraddistingue per due fattori principali:
• Nell’annata 2016 la somma termica nel periodo vegetativo della pianta fino alla raccolta ha raggiunto un dato ottimale per il sangiovese a Montalcino, con un indice di 2300/2500 Gradi Huglin, questo ha garantito una maturazione perfetta dal punto di vista polifenolico donandoci vini di grande struttura e profondità
• L’indice di Fregoni, ovvero la somma della differenza fra le temperatura massima diurna e la temparatura minima notturna dei 30 giorni antecedenti alla vendemmia, ha raggiunto valori altissimi. Questo indice ci dimostra le escursioni termiche avvenute tra il giorno e la notte nel mesi prima della vendemmia, condizione fondamentale che ha donato ai vini dell’annata 2016 una forte espressività aromatica, il mantenimento di livelli di acidità importanti atti a garantire una elevata longevità al vino.
Riassumendo nella 2016 si sono verificate contemporaneamente e nei tempi giusti della natura 3 condizioni climatiche fondamentali per una grande annata
• Perfetta insolazione (Grado Huglin 2300/2500)
• Quantità di precipitazioni totali ottimali, nei momenti più opportuni per la pianta ed in modo regolare durante il suo ciclo vegetativo (650/700 mm – solo 450 mm durante il periodo vegetativo)
• Escursioni giorno/notte marcate per tutto il periodo vegetativo, accentuate nei 30 giorni prima della raccolta (Indice di Fregoni 490-500)
Tutti i vigneti sono stati raccolti dal 27/09 al 05/10, in un periodo molto breve, altro dato che dimostra una perfetta regolarità di maturazione
ENERGIA ED ELEGANZA:
Il Brunello di Montalcino Docg 2016 LA CASACCIA celebra in una versione di pura eleganza l'energia e lo slancio di questo vigneto. La forte identità di questo vigneto, che si esprime in un'equlibrio fra opulenza, grassezza e forte mineralità è sottolineata da un'annata che esalta il terroir in modo chiaro e leggibile, offrendoci la possibilità di sottolineare ancora di più le caratteristiche di un vigneto dal forte carattere
The intensity of fruit is staggering here, as this stacks up dried peaches, dried strawberries, red licorice, red-plum compote and glazed red cherries, in rapid succession. There’s a breadth of flavor to the palate that will take your breath away; muscular tannins draw in deeply set cherries, melding it together in a glistening coating of acidity, which only helps to carry it longer still. The finish is nearly endless. A stunning new single vineyard from Canalicchio di Sopra. Drink from 2026.
Lifting up with gorgeous floral perfumes and hints of white smoke, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia from Canalicchio di Sopra keeps you at the edge of your glass. It opens up with a dark and dramatic display of balsamic-tinged black cherry, sage and Indian spice, contrasted by savory notes of tobacco, rich earth tones and flowery undergrowth. There’s an amazing density of fruit here, offset by salty minerals, zesty acids and a hint of sour citrus. The textures are velvety-smooth, yet the expression remains feminine and lifted. In fact, you can hardly notice its underlying tannic heft until it’s too late, as the 2016 La Casaccia seems to youthfully fold in on itself, halting the expression but promising over a decade of further development.
- Eric Guido
The Vigna Casaccia 2018 opens with aromas of underbrush, leather, dark spice and whiffs of violet. More closed than the Brunello Annata, it’s also more structured, showing ripe dark-skinned berry, licorice, tobacco and balsamic notes recalling eucalyptus. Tight, fine-grained tannins provide support while great acidity keeps it fresh and balanced. Drink 2026–2040.
- Kerin O'Keefe
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia reveals medium-dark fruit and an open-knit approach with broad brushstrokes of black cherry, baked plum and spice. The alcohol content is too high at 15%, and that added power takes away from the finer nuances of the fruit. It ages in Slavonian oak for 36 months; however, the freshness is good in this wine. This is a limited release of 3,733 bottles and 200 magnums.
-Monica Larner
A delicate, graceful style, offering cherry, fruitcake, sage, eucalyptus, iron and leather flavors. Firm and nicely balanced, with a long, expanding aftertaste. Best from 2025 through 2042.
- Bruce Sanderson -
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia is impossible to ignore; it is earthy and mineral, almost smoky and animal in nature. Ashes stones, violets and balsam herbs complicate depths of dried black cherries, sage and clove. This is deeply textural and seductive, balancing ripe red and black fruits with sweet spice and minty herbal tones that create a kaleidoscope of sensation on the palate. A salty flourish shines through the finale, along with a crunchy tinge of blackberry seeds to contrast, as fine-grained tannins wrap the sense with youthful poise and a bitter twang resonates. The 2019 may be immortal. La Casaccia is a showstopper. Drinking window 2026-2040.
- Eric Guido -
Dark and brooding, the 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia slowly blossoms in the glass with a dramatic mix of steeped plums, cinnamon sticks, grilled herbs and sweet lavender. This is a model of purity, lifted and refined with soft textures and cool-toned acidity lending freshness as ripe red and hints of blue fruit settle upon the senses. The 2020 firms up through the finish, taking on a pleasantly bitter tinge that puckers the cheeks as grippy tannins and crunchy mineral tones frame the experience without getting in the way of its energetic persona. Drinking window 2027 – 2038.
- Reviewed by Eric Guido -
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2015 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia represents a new chapter in this estate's long history. This is a single-vineyard expression from the Canalicchio area, one of the most interesting subzones on the northeast side of Montalcino. Giving identity to individual parcels gives an estate like this huge potential for further expression and experimentation. The site is a little over two hectares, and it has dense, mineral-rich clay soils that add more power and a heavier center of gravity. The vines were planted in 1990. I notice slightly firmer tannin here, with a very distinct level of acidity purity. You also get lasting berry fruit favors with blueberry and dried raspberry followed by spice, licorice and lavender buds from the south of France and the rim of the Mediterranean. The wine is distinguished by endnotes of balsam or medicinal herb that grow in strength with time. It offers plenty of volume and weight. Not counting the various large format bottles made, only 3,610 750-milliliter bottles were produced. They were filled in May 2019, and the wine hit the market in January 2020.
- Monica Larner
The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia opens with an intense mix of zesty red fruits, spice and alluring sweet florals, backed by dark earth, crushed stone, hints of licorice, and a twang of savory herbs. On the palate, silky textures are contrasted by saline-minerals and brisk acids, as red berry fruits flood the senses along with savory herbs and spices, leaving a coating of fine-grained tannin. The finish is long, displaying lingering spiced red berries enlivened by resonating acids, saline-mineral tones and a hint of fine tannin. Talk about a great way to release a new single-vineyard bottling, The 2015 is classic to the core.
- Eric Guido
This is a newish single-vineyard wine (it's the second vintage) created by Francesco Ripaccioli and the team at Canalicchio di Sopra at the conclusion of an ambitious estate-wide mapping project. The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia draws its fruit from a two-hectare site planted in 1990 with clay soils and rich in mineral components. A precious 4,133 bottles were made. What I like most is the tightness of the fruit, which you chip away at slowly as the wine softens and yields in the glass. Each layer brings you forest fruit, sour cherry, almond, lilac and candied orange peel. On a second swirl, you might get black olive, bay leaf and scorched earth. There are subtle mineral notes, but what La Casaccia ultimately offers is that uniquely compact and extremely polished quality of fruit.
-Monica Larner
The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia is aromatically stunning, blasting up mineral in style, with a dark floral and balsam lift, giving way to licorice, black cherry and hints of camphor. It gains further depth and volume the longer it sits in the glass. The textures are silken, fleshy and pliant at first, as contrasting tart red fruits and minty herbal tones come through, saturating the palate with primary concentration. This is even savory at times and displays smoother contours than past vintages, yet it’s supremely balanced and pure. Repeating minerality comes through in spades and this turns youthfully dry and perfumed, yet still juicy and classic in feel. La Casaccia is a huge success for the vintage.
- Eric Guido
This is a relatively new addition to the Canalicchio di Sopra portfolio, and even its modern graphic label design represents a break from the rest of the line, which has more nostalgic labels that feature Montalcino's medieval main square. The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia takes a little longer to open, but it ultimately reveals the elegance and energy that comes with the house style. Wild cherry, ash and balsam herb drive a long, very polished finish. The La Casaccia site is distinguished by mineral-rich clay soils, which give this wine its power and density. Production is limited to 4,133 bottles in this vintage
- Monica Larner
A dark mix of crushed rocks and flowery underbrush is lifted by nuances of dried strawberry and worn leather as the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia smolders up from the glass. It’s silky in feel, communicating a wonderful elegance, with ripe red and hints of blue fruits accentuated by inner violet tones. This is potent and long through the finale, with sneaky tannins, staining the palate with liquid florals, as a hint of citrus-tinged black currant slowly fades. The 2018 is a beautifully balanced Brunello of this vintage.
- Eric Guido
Francesco Ripaccioli explains that La Casaccia’s clay soils absorbed the rains of September, initially diluting the grapes. He credits the subsequent dry northern winds with concentrating the berries as the estate waited until 28 September to pick. The resulting wine is certainly one of the vintage’s more solidly structured Brunello and also displays the darkest fruit of the estate’s trio of bottlings. Cherry and even blackcurrant are met with sage, rosemary and wet soil. The firmly built palate of dense fruit is framed by clingy tannins, while underlying juiciness keeps it bright and buoyant.
- Michaela Morris
Whereas Montosoli is more mineral-driven and finely stitched together, this wine is broad, big and driven by balsamic tones, vapor rub and dried rosemary.
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia, however, is more explosive with spice, toasted coffee, black licorice, cherry cola and rich cherry. The tannins feel chalky, although they are fine-grained, but they play a bigger role against the concentrated fruit. Only 7,200 bottles and larger formats were made. Drink Date 2025 - 2042.
- Monica Larner -
Rich and velvety, with cherry, raspberry, eucalyptus and juniper aromas and flavors, this is backed by a dense, steely structure, whose tannins leave a strong grip on the finish. Balanced, complex and long, with a saline, mineral impression persisting on the aftertaste. Best from 2027 through 2043, 147 cases imported.
- Bruce Sanderson -
Very intense and deep wine. The nose is savory, with earthy strawberries, cinnamon, sweet violets and even yellow stone-fruit. Full-bodied, graceful palate with velvety tannins, refreshing acidity and a polished finish. Long aftertaste. Grace and power go hand in hand here. Drinkable now, but best after 2025.
- James Suckling -
Bright medium red. Very pretty violet and red cherry aromas and flavours with hints of spicy cinnamon and nutmeg. Fleshy but precise, this finishes long clean and mineral. Owner Francesco Ripaccioli has arguably made the best pair of Brunellos of any estate from the 2018 vintage. Drinking window: 2027-2038.
- Ian D'Agata -
- Riccardo Viscardi -
Casaccia is a single vineyard in the Canalicchio area northeast of Montalcino. Here the cooler, windy mesoclimate and clay soils typically produce plump fruit, but with tannins of great finesse. This single cru bottling fulfils a long-term goal of owner Francesco Ripaccioli to capture the uniqueness of its various Sangiovese sites. The nose is initially earthy and dark with roasted chestnut, cigar and polished leather over amarena cherry. In keeping with the cooler 2018 vintage, a refreshing hit of acidity, menthol and eucalyptus strike the front palate just a beat before the fruit catches up. The tannins are like a finely woven wool suit that's cut close to the figure, but without being tight; the fruit returns on the finish, surprisingly fresher than before.
- Sarah Heller MW -
A single vineyard of great thickness and inimitable balance, nose with notes of cranberry, then touches of eucalyptus and gardenia, with hints of juniper. Brackish palate, thick, with a return of cranberry and spicy notes.
- Luca Gardini -
Very dark ruby with bricky rim. Spicy, minerally notes over generous cherry fruit. Lots of supple cherry fruit with a dose of well-judged tannins that cling to the fruit on the finish. A little riper and fuller than Montosoli, but has the bones to age gracefully. Drink 2026 – 2038.
- Walter Speller -
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2019 Vigna La Casaccia is fantastic. Generous and powerfully built, it also has a weightless grace, featuring aromas of black-skinned fruit, iris and camphor while the enveloping palate delivers ripe plum, mature black-skinned berry, licorice and cake spice. Velvety, enveloping tannins give it a smooth texture while fresh acidity keeps it balanced.
- Kerin O’Keefe -
La Casaccia is a brown clay with a prominence of calcium carbonate that gives this single vineyard sangiovese its colour. A place of high (8.2-8.3) pH characterized by the clay. "For me it's sleekness," tells Francesco Ripaccioli, "not opulence and less heaviness than from (a vineyard) of dense clay." La Casaccia from that calcareous clay is no simple Rosso or classic Brunello for that matter and it is immediately apparent that concentration and depth of all parts manage the wine's breadth at levels those drink earlier propositions do not. Similar grip to Riserva but not the same power although without tasting Riserva at the same time it would be hard to imagine how this could be improved or extrapolated upon. Simple but crazy complex and a most evocative elucidation to see this Brunello wooing with as much substance and intensity as it does - but these are the 2019s. A matter of deliberately annotating sangiovese and Casaccia through this interaction with a Brunello that enhances a taster's understanding, recall and reaction to the vintage. Drink 2027-2038.
- Michael Godel -
Medium-deep. Vibrant aromas of strawberry, peppery herbs and truffle. Then smooth and sultry, with multilayered flavours of red cherry, preserved plum, star anise, cinnamon and oaky spices. Long, balanced and suave on the rising finish. This will be a knockout in due course. Drinking window: 2030-2044.
- Ian D'Agata -
Bright ruby red in colour. Aromatics of blue florals, dried herbs and mellow spice. Small dark fruits abound, liquorice, blonde tobacco and distant cinnamon. Close knit fine tannins. Not an easy wine to fully appreciate at first, it has tremendous resonance, great structural integrity and soft textural curves. This wine is unique in as much it plays “hide and seek” with its interviewer. Personally I know it’s a stunning wine that needs time to relax and show all its fine character.
- Tony Wood -
Produced since the 2015 vintage, Vigna Casaccia is fashioned from 30-year-old vines of the BBS11 clone. Reaching 315 metres, the plot is characterised by a high percentage of brown, magnesium-rich clay. Surely the most impressive release yet, the 2019 exhibits the cru’s intrinsic sumptuous character and girth, along with telltale resinous herb nuances of rosemary, thyme and eucalyptus. yet this year, there is an extra spark. Through that expansiveness, an underlying firmness keeps this from overflowing its limits. Plump fruit marked with a mineral lick and terracotta earthiness is all wrapped up in smooth, velvety tannins, and it carries its 15% alcohol with ease and grace. Drinking Window: 2026 - 2041
- Michaela Morris -
The Vigna wines at Canalicchio are part of a long-standing project by Francesco Ripaccioli to isolate single plots within the estate. La Casaccia is in the Canalicchio cru, the more calcareous, clay-rich area surrounding the winery, and was planted in 1990. The nose starts savoury, with cheese rind and fresh mushroom opening up to reveal pretty notes of honeysuckle over blood orange and dried amarena cherry, reflecting the gentle warmth of the vintage. It gradually becomes sweeter and more strawberry-toned as the reduction from 36 months in large botti blows off. Mouthwatering acidity ushers in a palate lively with much brighter, redder cherry fruit than the nose, even shading into cranberry, with a pretty assortment of verbena and grassy herbs. There is an unexpected lightness and elegance to the mid-palate, graciously draped in slippery glycerol. The tannins are also quite luxuriant and baroque, forming folds of nappa leather on the back. Drink 2026 – 2045.
- Sarah Heller MW -
The 2016 Casaccia is really opening up now, charting a glorious middle course between the 2017 and the 2018, with more of the delicate balsamic tones of 2018 (dried rosemary, thyme and tobacco leaf) but with some of the sweeter amaro tones of the ’17 (sarsaparilla, bitter orange and liquorice root), with, as usual, subtle wafts of crisp crimson fruit. The sense of openness continues on the palate, which is filled in and rich in its marasca cherry fruit with beautiful acidity. Tannins are seamlessly woven into the fabric of the mid-palate, giving it the tactility of fine-spun virgin wool. On the back, the fruit washes away to reveal savoury nuances of tobacco and rust, tapering beautifully to a close. Drink 2025 – 2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Tasted immediately after the 2016, 2015 reveals its slightly warmer, more potent personality, with darker balsamic and sweet amaro tones of liquorice, bitter orange and cocoa. The palate is dark but with a potent sense of fruit just beneath, its black cherry refined by sharpening tones of bergamot and blood-orange citrus. Tannins remain enormous and bristling, though they have gained some tenderness with time. The acidity illuminates, giving both brightness and forward propulsion. Lovely iodine salinity on the finish. Drink 2025 – 2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Standing in stark contrast to the 2018, the 2017 is benefiting from both its riper conditions and another year of maturation in bottle. The nose is a luscious black cherry and strawberry amalgam that feels quite potent for Canalicchio, never a very effusive cru, with layers of Darjeeling tea, liquorice candy and carob. The richness of the brown spice tones (not coming from oak, which is untoasted and large) is much more marked than in 2018, and the tannins are likewise much more gravelly and chewy, typical of this calcareous clay-rich site. The mid-palate swells with oud, styrax and tea leaves – smoky, sensuous and exotic – kept in check by fresh acidity. Rust tones come through on the finish, accompanied by refined notes of polished leather. Drink 2025-2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Forest floor, violet and pipe tobacco mingle with leather and baked plum on the impressive 2020 Vigna La Casaccia. Polished and enveloping, the full-bodied palate features succulent black cherry, crushed raspberry, licorice and spiced orange peel set against compact, close-grained tannins. Fresh acidity keeps it balanced. Drink 2029–2034.
- Kerin O’Keefe -
Starting with this vintage, the Canalicchio di Sopra 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia carries a "Vigna" designation. La Casaccia is a two-hectare parcel with clay soils rich in minerals that was planted in 1990. Francesco Ripaccioli embarked on an estate-wide mapping project about 10 years ago to determine which parcels would be worthy of single-vineyard distinction. This wine always has an elegant brightness about it with aromas of iris root, blood orange and tart forest berry. This vintage delivers moderately more heft and intensity to the bouquet, although it remains understated in terms of palate. Give it more time to flesh out. Only 4,133 bottles were made. Drink Date 2026 – 2042.
- Monica Larner -
From the vineyard of the same name in cru Canalicchio, aged for 36 months in oak from Slavonia, olfactory attack on notes of cranberry jam, ginger, then touches of wild mint and gardenia, with hints of juniper. The palate is salty, dense, with minty memories and small fruits.
- Luca Gardini -
Mid ruby. Notes of dark earth and spice and, with aeration, focused fruit. But still not entirely open. Pure cherry fruit supported by grainy tannins. Firm structure and lots of lively sour-cherry fruit on the finish. Great balance, while the tannins need time to settle. Drink 2025 – 2034
- Walter Speller -
The 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia pours a rich and youthful red/ruby color and is from the unique clay-based soils just outside the winery. This wine takes things up another notch, with notes of raspberry liqueur, licorice, toasted sage, and lavender perfume. Full-bodied, it has a lot to offer, with ripe tannins, balanced, even acidity, dark mineral accents, and pure lasting concentration of fruit all the way through a mouthwatering finish. A remarkable wine, I highly recommend seeking out it for your cellar and aging. Drink 2027-2050.
- Audrey Frick -
Good full red. Inviting, rather cool, nuanced aromas of red berries, potpourri, violet, leather, smoke and minerals. Silky, delicately fleshy and suave, with a smooth, round texture and a seamless quality to its delicate spicy and fruity flavours nicely framed by fine-grained tannins and lingering notes of tobacco and camphor. A Brunello that conveys a classic nobility and that strikes me as being remarkably less chunky and thick than is usual for this bottling. Drinking window: 2030-2040.
- Ian D’Agata -
There is always something shared in common between the two single vineyards that is mitigated by the vintage from year to year – but Montosoli and Casaccia are very different wines. Here for the estate located block the extraction was lower, as was the maceration, to avoid any bitters or green possibilities. “Something was not perfectly mature” figures Francesco Ripaccioli. All that said there is more opulence, concentration and seduction from Casaccia but it plays a bit hard to get and to figure out. Take the time and stay with this Vigna because you need to be sure what kind of wine you are dealing with. A long relationship is necessary and time will tell what will be. Drink 2027-2036.
- Michael Godel -
From more clay-based soils, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna Casaccia pours a bit deeper ruby color and is riper and broader in its feel, with deeper notes of fresh black cherries, mocha, and pressed flowers. Medium to full-bodied, it offers more richness on the palate, with ripe tannins and good concentration for this challenging, cooler vintage. Long on the palate, with a great finish, it’s a very successful and more age-worthy wine for this vintage. Drink 2026-2046.
- Audrey Frick -
The bright red/ruby-hued 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino La Casaccia is fresh and offers a deeper though equally pure aromatic profile, with notes of darker cherries, candied flowers, sweet sage, and mossy earth. Medium-bodied, it's richer on the palate as well, with ripe tannins and more depth, but it's long and inviting, with a hearty feel in its hints of leather and porcini mushroom on the finish. Drink over the coming two decades. Maturity 2025 – 2045.
- Audrey Frick -
Helles Rubinrot mit violetten Reflexen. In der Nase nach gezuckerten Walderdbeeren, Hagebuttentee, Amarenakirsche und Minze, dahinter etwas Lavendel, etwas brandig. Am Gaumen viel reife Frucht, druckvoll, reife Gerbstoffe, gut eingebundene Säure, schöne Saftigkeit und Salzigkeit, elegantes Finale.
- Othmar Kiem and Simon Staffler -
A significant new release for Canalicchio di Sopra, La Casaccia is a single vineyard close to the winery in the district of Canalicchio, north of the town of Montalcino. Comparing it to his plots in Montosoli, owner Francesco Ripaccioli describes the soil here as a heavier brown clay with lots of magnesium giving more generous growth. It produces a relatively weighty, substantial wine with firm, sturdy tannins and balancing acidity. Notes of sage, tobacco, liquorice root and heather weave through the plush dark currant fruit. Both this and the classic Brunello are equally accomplished, however I suspect La Casaccia may have longer ageing capacity.
- Michaela Morris
A spectacular wine in every sense: a firm, deep, minerally fruit nose, a composed but full palate with finely chiselled tannins and perfectly integrated juicy acidity. Long and layered and impossible to resist but deserves more bottle age.
- Walter Speller
A red with cherry, walnut, bark and hints of dried flowers. It’s full-bodied with firm, chewy tannins and a tight finish. Really reserved now. Needs three or four years to open. Best after 2024.
- James Suckling
English:
Sparkling, dark ruby with a shimmering garnet edge. Compact, somewhat closed nose with notes of dark blackberries and cherries, a fine nougat note in the background. Blooms great on the palate, tightly meshed, substantial tannin, embedded in fine fruit melt, salty and juicy, is still very young, but has a long life ahead of it.
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
Deutsche:
Funkelndes, dunkles Rubin mit schillerndem Granatrand. Kompakte, etwas verschlossene Nase mit Noten nach dunklen Brombeeren und Kirschen, im Hintergrund feiner Nougatton. Blüht am Gaumen toll auf, dichtmaschiges, stoffiges Tannin, eingebettet in feinen Fruchtschmelz, salzig und saftig, zeigt sich noch sehr jung, hat aber ein langes Leben vor sich.
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
This ripe red is bursting with plum, cherry, floral and mineral aromas and flavors. Succulent and balanced, with savory, sanguine and earthy accents, rolling on through the long, herb-tinged aftertaste. Best from 2024 through 2045.
- Bruce Sanderson
Lustrous mid ruby. Leafy cherry hints but otherwise quite closed on the nose, yet with a clear sense of purity. Dense, yet elegant and with tangy acidity shooting through the mouth-filling fruit. Firm noble tannins add depth and contour. Real cru pedigree.
- Walter Speller
The second release of this single vineyard, La Casaccia was planted in 1990. At an average altitude of 300 metres, it sits on predominantly clay soils and is bathed in sun from morning until evening. This doesn’t have quite the plushness or gregarious personality of the 2015 but takes on the 2016 vintage’s more vertical path, opening slowly. Aromas are evocative of pine, cedar and sage. Full but not weighty, the palate brings in earthy nuances with wild berries.
Acidity is cleansing, and silky tannins build up to a powerful finish.
Drinking Window 2024 - 2040
- Michaela Morris
Brunello di Montalcino LA CASACCIA 2016 obtained the CORONA, the highest recognition assigned by GUIDA VINI BUONI D'ITALIA
This shows the ripeness of the vintage, with ripe-berry, cherry and floral
aromas and flavors. Some cedar, too. It’s full and flavorful, with lots of chewy
yet polished and focused tannins. A little dusty in texture. Drinkable now,
but better in 2023.
- James Suckling
Nobile ed elegantissimo mostra note miste floreali e fruttate che ricordano i gerani, l’ibisco, le prugne rosse, la buccia di arancia arsa, la china e la terra bagnata. Corpo pieno, tannini perfettamente maturi ed integrati nella matrice ed un finale iconico punto di riferimento per la denominazione nel difficile millesimo. Meglio dal 2023.
- Raffaele Vecchione
This is where all the recent hard work put by Francesco Ripaccioli and team really comes to light and fruition. La Casaccia is northerly-ish but certainly not Montosoli and yet the aromatic profile of this Vigna-designate Brunello is laced with cool nuance and found to be full of fine finesse. As per the Canalicchio di Sopra idiom there is plenty of wood casking through the bones of the wine and yet one can feel the highest quality of those large vessels gifting a select strength leading to the chic style, surely to be followed by one and the half decades of aging. All what needs, what is and must be for La Casaccia. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021.
- Michael Godel
Da uve brunello, matura in botti da 30 hl per almeno 24 mesi. Classico rubino. Olfatto nitido e intenso su ciliegie nere mature e more. Una leggera affumicatura che introduce erbe officinali che danno freschezza. Trama e progressione fitte, nervose con tannino giovanile ma perfettamente integrato. Ottimo il finale per lunghezza e sobrietà. La zona nordica esprime le sue caratteristiche anche in annate torride ma qui c’e il trucco: piovve a metà settembre.
- Riccardo Viscardi
A great release of Brunello from the northeast slope of the denomination. Nose of freshness and finesse, notes of raspberry, touches of fresh marjoram and undergrowth. The mouthfeel is juicy-savoury, dense, with a nice spicy finish and persistence.
- Luca Gardini
Within the Canalicchio area, the Casaccia vineyard boasts a high clay content, which helped curb water stress in 2017. As with all Canalicchio di Sopra’s wines, the grapes were double-sorted to remove any green or sun-dried berries. Pristine in aromas and flavours, this offers clove, cardamom, mint and sweet dark earth on a backdrop of black cherries. The ample, mouth-filling palate is hemmed in by compact, sandy tannins. Underlying succulence makes this quite moreish. Drinking Window 2024 - 2032
- Michaela Morris
Inviting aromas of baked plum, violet, baking spice and sun-warmed hay come to the forefront along with a whiff of leather. The enveloping palate is delicious, delivering ripe Marasca cherry, raspberry compote, licorice and nutmeg framed in tightly woven, polished tannins that lend finesse and a smooth texture. Drink 2024–2029.
-Kerin O’Keefe
Black cherry and blackberry flavors hold court in this dense, yet vibrant red, which is defined by brisk acidity. Stays beautifully integrated, harmonious and long, while earth and savory herb accents add depth. This should really sing in about 2-3 years. Best from 2024 through 2040.
- Bruce Sanderson
Just mid ruby with orange tinges. A subdued nose with malt-bread notes. Needs to take a very deep breath, while revealing oak hints. The palate displays fragrant marasca-cherry fruit balanced by supple acidity. Very long, concentrated and with beautiful, coating tannins.
- Walter Speller
Profondo, un po' tabacco, catrame e un po' nocciola, aroma di bacche nere e rosse mature con sfumature floreali secche che ricordano i petali di rosa e un po' di note eteree. Crostata, matura, frutta piuttosto scura, aromi di noce e legno leggermente speziato di cacao, note pepate e di ginepro, mineralità salata, con tutta la sua potenza anche note rinfrescanti, buona profondità, struttura ferma, abbastanza complesso, ma trasparente e lucido, ancora giovane, molto buono, fermo, crostata e finale speziato.
Reviewed by Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
Brunello di Montalcino LA CASACCIA 2017 obtained the CORONA, the highest recognition assigned by GUIDA VINI BUONI D'ITALIA
Einladende Noten von Waldbeeren und Sandelholz; der Ansatz geschliffen, besitzt präzise Säure und engmaschiges Tannin, intensiv-würziges Fruchtfinale. Muss sich noch etwas abrunden.
- Christian Eder
Absorbing display of black cherry, blackberries, violet florals and menthol. Quickly followed by fresh juicy textured nuances of red berries and balsamic notes, leave you almost gasping for breath. Sweet notes then savoury ones bombard the senses on this hedonistic experience. Phenomenal length and balance.
- Tony Wood
From the highly vocated vineyard of the same name, a beautiful version of Brunello, typical of the north-eastern area of the denomination. Freshness to the nose, notes of black raspberry, touches of eucalyptus and undergrowth. The palate is juicy-sapid, dense, with return of fruit and undergrowth.
- Luca Gardini
A tiny bit more developed (than the classic 2018 Brunello) lustrous ruby with orange, bricky narrow rim. There is a sense of richness combined with mineral intensity on the nose. Pure cherry and raspberry with a hint of orange and cinnamon bark. Juicy, minerally and savoury on the palate and with finely chiselled tannins. 15% but very elegant and poised.
-Walter Speller
Cedro peel, lavender, sour cherries, redcurrants and hints of lemongrass on the nose. Full-bodied, silky and perfumed, with a fine tannin backbone and a weightlessness to it. Swathes of creamy ripe fruit. Drink after 2023.
- James Suckling
Boom! Vigna la Casaccia nel millesimo 2018 è denso e compatto nel calice senza perdere in leggiadria e complessità sensoriale. Si alternano lentamente note di prugne nere, more, cannella in polvere, incenso, mirto selvatico, cumino e pepe nero. L’arancia sanguinella descrive il profilo secondario che si anima con buoni muscoli. Corpo pieno, tannini perfettamente morbidi di grana finissima ed un finale di lodevole bellezza. Meglio dal 2025.
- Raffaele Vecchione
Great anticipation to taste La Casaccia and Montosoli side by each from a vintage carrying no option but to act out the passion play through the glaring clarity of a sense of place. There are facts involved and there is no hiding the truth formed by these plots of sangiovese in this vintage. By now it is understood how 2018 exists on its own accord at one with nature though Francesco Ripaccioli will tell you there are similarities with 2013, if only because that vintage was greatly ignored and is drinking well at this time. La Casaccia in the località of Canalicchio is the wildcard of Montalcino and tasting several wines from the frazione reveals a collective affinity supplied by the year’s gifts. Nothing was portioned or taken away from the ’18 Annata and yet this Vigna sings with even more range and depth than that wine. The acids are simply out of this proverbial world, the linear aspects drawn with precise architectural or even, in Old English speak, a Cutter’s line. Remarkable reserve in concentration and forward slicing finesse. Forever long. Forever young. Drink 2025-2038.
- Michael Godel
Ruby red in colour. Wild meadow florals and violet awaken the senses. Wild black berries, boysenberry, dark plum and blackberry assisted by refreshing acidity and rounded tannins lift the palate to experience the layered intensity and textural resonance. The sheer appeal of this wine is mind blowing. Balance and energy are a given…
- Tony Wood -
Funkelndes Rubingranat mit aufhellendem Rand. Intensive und viel schichtige Nase mit feinen Noten nach Waldhimbeere, Schwarzkirsche und Rosen, im Hintergrund etwas Rauch. Kompakt in Ansatz und Verlauf, zeigt schöne reife Frucht, griffiges, dichtmaschiges Tannin, baut sich in vielen Schichten auf.
Brunello di Montalcino Trophy 2023
- Wolfgang M. Rosam, Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler -
Ebenso sehr komplexes und dichtes, nobles Bouquet mit à point reifen, überwiegend dunkelroten Beeren, dunklen Kirschen, Veilchen, Pfeffer und wieder erdigkräutrigen Noten. Sehr klar umrissenes Duftbild, das sich am dichten und druckvollen Gaumen fortsetzt. Das feinsandige Tanninkleid umhüllt gekonnt und nobel die konzentrierte Frucht und die würzig-mineralischen Noten, spannt sich ganz weit und ist ewig lang. Schöne Liaison aus Kraft und Eleganz mit der typischen Sangiovese-Frucht und Würze mit herrlichen ätherischen Noten im persistenten, mineralisch geprägten Finale. Einer der besten der Verkostung. Top 3. Bravo!
Guida 2024 - sezione "Vini da vitigni autoctoni"
Ausladendes Bouquet mit einer schönen Liaison aus reifer Frucht und floralwürzigen Noten. Hier treffen die saftigen Pflaumen auf getrocknete Veilchen und Zedernwürze. So geht es auch am saftigen Gaumen: wunderschöne SangioveseFrucht (dunkle Kirsche, Zwetschge) umrahmt von floralwürzigen und zart ledrigen Noten. 2025 – 2036
- Giuseppe Lauria -
Coinvolgente e di notevole spessore enologico mostra complessità nella stratificazione di prugne rosse, fragoline di bosco, buccia di lime, glicine, timo selvatico, bosso e verbena. In sottofondo nuance nobili di carattere verde ricordano le foglie di tè verde e la menta piperita. Corpo medio, tannini morbidi di grana fine ed un finale equilibrato e piacevolissimo che fa della delicata potenza la sua arma migliore. Meglio dal 2025.
- Raffaele Vecchione -
Sweet sour cherries with rose stems and hints of green leaves on the nose. Medium body with firm, chewy tannins with some juicy fruit. Fresh and vivid. Better after two or three years.
- James Suckling -
Vitae, La Guida Vini 2024 - X edizione
Tra i 5 migliori Brunello di Montalcino 2018 Selezione
Bright medium red with garnet highlights. Aromas and flavours of ripe red cherry, plum, and orange peel are complemented by strong notes of tobacco and earth. Perfumed and luscious on entry, then somewhat broad and diffuse in the middle, with ripe red cherry, plum nectar and redcurrant jelly flavours complicated by a dusting of wild herbs. Very fine tannins leave a suave mouthfeel behind on the long, savoury finish that features repeating strong nuances of sweet pipe tobacco. Drinking window: 2023-2033.
- Ian D’Agata -
Ungemein komplexes und tiefgestaffeltes, ätherisch-kräutriges Bouquet mit à point reifen, überwiegend dunklen Beeren, Tabak und wieder erdig-kräutrigen Noten. Sehr klar umrissene Struktur am Gaumen, messerscharf konturiert, ungemein druckvoll, gekonnt umhüllt vom feinen, eleganten Tanninkleid, nobel mit konzentrierter Frucht und würzig-mineralischen Noten, spannt sich ganz weit mit wunderbarer Fruchtsüße und Frische. Schöne Liaison aus Kraft und Eleganz, sehr persistent und lang im Finale mit der typischen Sangiovese Würze und ätherischen Noten. Einer der besten der Verkostung. [2026 – 2042]
- Giuseppe Lauria -
Leuchtendes Rubinrot. In der Nase auf erdigen Tönen, satter Kirschfrucht, etwas Blutorange, nicht ganz präzise, wenngleich in sich stimmig. Am Gaumen geschliffen, elegant, mit engmaschigem, packendem Tannin, kompakt, sehr saftig, toller Stil, druckvoll, mit anhaltendem Abgang.
Brunello di Montalcino Trophy 2024
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler -
5 Grappoli
- Guida Bibenda 2025 -
Tasted alongside the 2020 annata and Montosoli bottlings from this estate, it seems clear that La Casaccia (and probably its fellow Canalicchio cru vineyards, where soils are clay-rich and calcareous and exposures sunbathed) lies towards the darker end of the fruit spectrum for the vintage. The same black-cherry lusciousness found on the annata is there, with edifying notes of wild strawberry, cedar sprig and blood orange. The northern Montalcino balsamic qualities come through on the palate, while the black cherry is gone, replaced by a fragrant blend of blood orange, gunpowder tea, palo santo and dried peppermint, lending a cooling effect. Tannins are pebbly and fine. Acidity is not especially elevated, but the herbal tones, translucency, fluid texture and linearity make its mildness less noticeable. There are lovely ferrous tones with whispers of black cherry to finish, giving a satisfying sense of symmetry. Drink 2027 – 2044.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Solare al naso, ricorda di succo di arance, zest di limone, chicchi di melagrana e fragoline di bosco. Nel profilo secondario, cedro in pezzi e ginger. Al palato, corpo pieno, tannini vividi ed un finale succoso. Meglio dal 2026.
- Raffaele Vecchione -
A red ruby color, the 2016 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia is layered and draws you in with aromas of leather, black cherries, and wild herbs. Medium to full-bodied, with a weightless feel, the tannins are more plush and ripe, and it has a supple texture as well as a long, elegant finish. Drink 2024-2044.
- Audrey Frick -
Vigna La Casaccia, dall’omonimo vigneto nel Cru Canalicchio, rappresenta il nostro desiderio di valorizzare l’unicità di un vigneto capace di mantenere la sua forte identità e riconoscibilità anche in annate diverse. È il vigneto che ci ha dimostrato negli anni come opulenza e freschezza possono convivere nella stessa bottiglia.
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
100% Sangiovese
Da 315 a 297 mt slm
1990
Terreno tendenzialmente argilloso con una buona dotazione di elementi minerali fra cui spicca il calcio, intervallato da elementi scheletrici. La caratteristiche del terreno plasmano vini dotati di grande struttura, colori brillanti, profondità ed una grande eleganza che regalano ogni anno tannini suadenti ed setosi. L’esposizione ottimale garantisce alla pianta un’insolazione costante dall’alba al tramonto.
Cordone speronato
N/S
3,00 metri x1,00 metro
In vasche d’acciaio con controllo della temperatura di fermentazione, rimontaggi soffici giornalieri. Macerazione sulle bucce per 25 giorni.
36 mesi in botti di Rovere di Slavonia da 25 hl
2015
14,5%
3763 Bottiglie da 750 ml
185 Bottiglie da 1500 ml
The intensity of fruit is staggering here, as this stacks up dried peaches, dried strawberries, red licorice, red-plum compote and glazed red cherries, in rapid succession. There’s a breadth of flavor to the palate that will take your breath away; muscular tannins draw in deeply set cherries, melding it together in a glistening coating of acidity, which only helps to carry it longer still. The finish is nearly endless. A stunning new single vineyard from Canalicchio di Sopra. Drink from 2026.
Lifting up with gorgeous floral perfumes and hints of white smoke, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia from Canalicchio di Sopra keeps you at the edge of your glass. It opens up with a dark and dramatic display of balsamic-tinged black cherry, sage and Indian spice, contrasted by savory notes of tobacco, rich earth tones and flowery undergrowth. There’s an amazing density of fruit here, offset by salty minerals, zesty acids and a hint of sour citrus. The textures are velvety-smooth, yet the expression remains feminine and lifted. In fact, you can hardly notice its underlying tannic heft until it’s too late, as the 2016 La Casaccia seems to youthfully fold in on itself, halting the expression but promising over a decade of further development.
- Eric Guido
The Vigna Casaccia 2018 opens with aromas of underbrush, leather, dark spice and whiffs of violet. More closed than the Brunello Annata, it’s also more structured, showing ripe dark-skinned berry, licorice, tobacco and balsamic notes recalling eucalyptus. Tight, fine-grained tannins provide support while great acidity keeps it fresh and balanced. Drink 2026–2040.
- Kerin O'Keefe
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia reveals medium-dark fruit and an open-knit approach with broad brushstrokes of black cherry, baked plum and spice. The alcohol content is too high at 15%, and that added power takes away from the finer nuances of the fruit. It ages in Slavonian oak for 36 months; however, the freshness is good in this wine. This is a limited release of 3,733 bottles and 200 magnums.
-Monica Larner
A delicate, graceful style, offering cherry, fruitcake, sage, eucalyptus, iron and leather flavors. Firm and nicely balanced, with a long, expanding aftertaste. Best from 2025 through 2042.
- Bruce Sanderson -
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia is impossible to ignore; it is earthy and mineral, almost smoky and animal in nature. Ashes stones, violets and balsam herbs complicate depths of dried black cherries, sage and clove. This is deeply textural and seductive, balancing ripe red and black fruits with sweet spice and minty herbal tones that create a kaleidoscope of sensation on the palate. A salty flourish shines through the finale, along with a crunchy tinge of blackberry seeds to contrast, as fine-grained tannins wrap the sense with youthful poise and a bitter twang resonates. The 2019 may be immortal. La Casaccia is a showstopper. Drinking window 2026-2040.
- Eric Guido -
Dark and brooding, the 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia slowly blossoms in the glass with a dramatic mix of steeped plums, cinnamon sticks, grilled herbs and sweet lavender. This is a model of purity, lifted and refined with soft textures and cool-toned acidity lending freshness as ripe red and hints of blue fruit settle upon the senses. The 2020 firms up through the finish, taking on a pleasantly bitter tinge that puckers the cheeks as grippy tannins and crunchy mineral tones frame the experience without getting in the way of its energetic persona. Drinking window 2027 – 2038.
- Reviewed by Eric Guido -
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2015 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia represents a new chapter in this estate's long history. This is a single-vineyard expression from the Canalicchio area, one of the most interesting subzones on the northeast side of Montalcino. Giving identity to individual parcels gives an estate like this huge potential for further expression and experimentation. The site is a little over two hectares, and it has dense, mineral-rich clay soils that add more power and a heavier center of gravity. The vines were planted in 1990. I notice slightly firmer tannin here, with a very distinct level of acidity purity. You also get lasting berry fruit favors with blueberry and dried raspberry followed by spice, licorice and lavender buds from the south of France and the rim of the Mediterranean. The wine is distinguished by endnotes of balsam or medicinal herb that grow in strength with time. It offers plenty of volume and weight. Not counting the various large format bottles made, only 3,610 750-milliliter bottles were produced. They were filled in May 2019, and the wine hit the market in January 2020.
- Monica Larner
The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia opens with an intense mix of zesty red fruits, spice and alluring sweet florals, backed by dark earth, crushed stone, hints of licorice, and a twang of savory herbs. On the palate, silky textures are contrasted by saline-minerals and brisk acids, as red berry fruits flood the senses along with savory herbs and spices, leaving a coating of fine-grained tannin. The finish is long, displaying lingering spiced red berries enlivened by resonating acids, saline-mineral tones and a hint of fine tannin. Talk about a great way to release a new single-vineyard bottling, The 2015 is classic to the core.
- Eric Guido
This is a newish single-vineyard wine (it's the second vintage) created by Francesco Ripaccioli and the team at Canalicchio di Sopra at the conclusion of an ambitious estate-wide mapping project. The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia draws its fruit from a two-hectare site planted in 1990 with clay soils and rich in mineral components. A precious 4,133 bottles were made. What I like most is the tightness of the fruit, which you chip away at slowly as the wine softens and yields in the glass. Each layer brings you forest fruit, sour cherry, almond, lilac and candied orange peel. On a second swirl, you might get black olive, bay leaf and scorched earth. There are subtle mineral notes, but what La Casaccia ultimately offers is that uniquely compact and extremely polished quality of fruit.
-Monica Larner
The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia is aromatically stunning, blasting up mineral in style, with a dark floral and balsam lift, giving way to licorice, black cherry and hints of camphor. It gains further depth and volume the longer it sits in the glass. The textures are silken, fleshy and pliant at first, as contrasting tart red fruits and minty herbal tones come through, saturating the palate with primary concentration. This is even savory at times and displays smoother contours than past vintages, yet it’s supremely balanced and pure. Repeating minerality comes through in spades and this turns youthfully dry and perfumed, yet still juicy and classic in feel. La Casaccia is a huge success for the vintage.
- Eric Guido
This is a relatively new addition to the Canalicchio di Sopra portfolio, and even its modern graphic label design represents a break from the rest of the line, which has more nostalgic labels that feature Montalcino's medieval main square. The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia takes a little longer to open, but it ultimately reveals the elegance and energy that comes with the house style. Wild cherry, ash and balsam herb drive a long, very polished finish. The La Casaccia site is distinguished by mineral-rich clay soils, which give this wine its power and density. Production is limited to 4,133 bottles in this vintage
- Monica Larner
A dark mix of crushed rocks and flowery underbrush is lifted by nuances of dried strawberry and worn leather as the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia smolders up from the glass. It’s silky in feel, communicating a wonderful elegance, with ripe red and hints of blue fruits accentuated by inner violet tones. This is potent and long through the finale, with sneaky tannins, staining the palate with liquid florals, as a hint of citrus-tinged black currant slowly fades. The 2018 is a beautifully balanced Brunello of this vintage.
- Eric Guido
Francesco Ripaccioli explains that La Casaccia’s clay soils absorbed the rains of September, initially diluting the grapes. He credits the subsequent dry northern winds with concentrating the berries as the estate waited until 28 September to pick. The resulting wine is certainly one of the vintage’s more solidly structured Brunello and also displays the darkest fruit of the estate’s trio of bottlings. Cherry and even blackcurrant are met with sage, rosemary and wet soil. The firmly built palate of dense fruit is framed by clingy tannins, while underlying juiciness keeps it bright and buoyant.
- Michaela Morris
Whereas Montosoli is more mineral-driven and finely stitched together, this wine is broad, big and driven by balsamic tones, vapor rub and dried rosemary.
The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia, however, is more explosive with spice, toasted coffee, black licorice, cherry cola and rich cherry. The tannins feel chalky, although they are fine-grained, but they play a bigger role against the concentrated fruit. Only 7,200 bottles and larger formats were made. Drink Date 2025 - 2042.
- Monica Larner -
Rich and velvety, with cherry, raspberry, eucalyptus and juniper aromas and flavors, this is backed by a dense, steely structure, whose tannins leave a strong grip on the finish. Balanced, complex and long, with a saline, mineral impression persisting on the aftertaste. Best from 2027 through 2043, 147 cases imported.
- Bruce Sanderson -
Very intense and deep wine. The nose is savory, with earthy strawberries, cinnamon, sweet violets and even yellow stone-fruit. Full-bodied, graceful palate with velvety tannins, refreshing acidity and a polished finish. Long aftertaste. Grace and power go hand in hand here. Drinkable now, but best after 2025.
- James Suckling -
Bright medium red. Very pretty violet and red cherry aromas and flavours with hints of spicy cinnamon and nutmeg. Fleshy but precise, this finishes long clean and mineral. Owner Francesco Ripaccioli has arguably made the best pair of Brunellos of any estate from the 2018 vintage. Drinking window: 2027-2038.
- Ian D'Agata -
- Riccardo Viscardi -
Casaccia is a single vineyard in the Canalicchio area northeast of Montalcino. Here the cooler, windy mesoclimate and clay soils typically produce plump fruit, but with tannins of great finesse. This single cru bottling fulfils a long-term goal of owner Francesco Ripaccioli to capture the uniqueness of its various Sangiovese sites. The nose is initially earthy and dark with roasted chestnut, cigar and polished leather over amarena cherry. In keeping with the cooler 2018 vintage, a refreshing hit of acidity, menthol and eucalyptus strike the front palate just a beat before the fruit catches up. The tannins are like a finely woven wool suit that's cut close to the figure, but without being tight; the fruit returns on the finish, surprisingly fresher than before.
- Sarah Heller MW -
A single vineyard of great thickness and inimitable balance, nose with notes of cranberry, then touches of eucalyptus and gardenia, with hints of juniper. Brackish palate, thick, with a return of cranberry and spicy notes.
- Luca Gardini -
Very dark ruby with bricky rim. Spicy, minerally notes over generous cherry fruit. Lots of supple cherry fruit with a dose of well-judged tannins that cling to the fruit on the finish. A little riper and fuller than Montosoli, but has the bones to age gracefully. Drink 2026 – 2038.
- Walter Speller -
The Canalicchio di Sopra 2019 Vigna La Casaccia is fantastic. Generous and powerfully built, it also has a weightless grace, featuring aromas of black-skinned fruit, iris and camphor while the enveloping palate delivers ripe plum, mature black-skinned berry, licorice and cake spice. Velvety, enveloping tannins give it a smooth texture while fresh acidity keeps it balanced.
- Kerin O’Keefe -
La Casaccia is a brown clay with a prominence of calcium carbonate that gives this single vineyard sangiovese its colour. A place of high (8.2-8.3) pH characterized by the clay. "For me it's sleekness," tells Francesco Ripaccioli, "not opulence and less heaviness than from (a vineyard) of dense clay." La Casaccia from that calcareous clay is no simple Rosso or classic Brunello for that matter and it is immediately apparent that concentration and depth of all parts manage the wine's breadth at levels those drink earlier propositions do not. Similar grip to Riserva but not the same power although without tasting Riserva at the same time it would be hard to imagine how this could be improved or extrapolated upon. Simple but crazy complex and a most evocative elucidation to see this Brunello wooing with as much substance and intensity as it does - but these are the 2019s. A matter of deliberately annotating sangiovese and Casaccia through this interaction with a Brunello that enhances a taster's understanding, recall and reaction to the vintage. Drink 2027-2038.
- Michael Godel -
Medium-deep. Vibrant aromas of strawberry, peppery herbs and truffle. Then smooth and sultry, with multilayered flavours of red cherry, preserved plum, star anise, cinnamon and oaky spices. Long, balanced and suave on the rising finish. This will be a knockout in due course. Drinking window: 2030-2044.
- Ian D'Agata -
Bright ruby red in colour. Aromatics of blue florals, dried herbs and mellow spice. Small dark fruits abound, liquorice, blonde tobacco and distant cinnamon. Close knit fine tannins. Not an easy wine to fully appreciate at first, it has tremendous resonance, great structural integrity and soft textural curves. This wine is unique in as much it plays “hide and seek” with its interviewer. Personally I know it’s a stunning wine that needs time to relax and show all its fine character.
- Tony Wood -
Produced since the 2015 vintage, Vigna Casaccia is fashioned from 30-year-old vines of the BBS11 clone. Reaching 315 metres, the plot is characterised by a high percentage of brown, magnesium-rich clay. Surely the most impressive release yet, the 2019 exhibits the cru’s intrinsic sumptuous character and girth, along with telltale resinous herb nuances of rosemary, thyme and eucalyptus. yet this year, there is an extra spark. Through that expansiveness, an underlying firmness keeps this from overflowing its limits. Plump fruit marked with a mineral lick and terracotta earthiness is all wrapped up in smooth, velvety tannins, and it carries its 15% alcohol with ease and grace. Drinking Window: 2026 - 2041
- Michaela Morris -
The Vigna wines at Canalicchio are part of a long-standing project by Francesco Ripaccioli to isolate single plots within the estate. La Casaccia is in the Canalicchio cru, the more calcareous, clay-rich area surrounding the winery, and was planted in 1990. The nose starts savoury, with cheese rind and fresh mushroom opening up to reveal pretty notes of honeysuckle over blood orange and dried amarena cherry, reflecting the gentle warmth of the vintage. It gradually becomes sweeter and more strawberry-toned as the reduction from 36 months in large botti blows off. Mouthwatering acidity ushers in a palate lively with much brighter, redder cherry fruit than the nose, even shading into cranberry, with a pretty assortment of verbena and grassy herbs. There is an unexpected lightness and elegance to the mid-palate, graciously draped in slippery glycerol. The tannins are also quite luxuriant and baroque, forming folds of nappa leather on the back. Drink 2026 – 2045.
- Sarah Heller MW -
The 2016 Casaccia is really opening up now, charting a glorious middle course between the 2017 and the 2018, with more of the delicate balsamic tones of 2018 (dried rosemary, thyme and tobacco leaf) but with some of the sweeter amaro tones of the ’17 (sarsaparilla, bitter orange and liquorice root), with, as usual, subtle wafts of crisp crimson fruit. The sense of openness continues on the palate, which is filled in and rich in its marasca cherry fruit with beautiful acidity. Tannins are seamlessly woven into the fabric of the mid-palate, giving it the tactility of fine-spun virgin wool. On the back, the fruit washes away to reveal savoury nuances of tobacco and rust, tapering beautifully to a close. Drink 2025 – 2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Tasted immediately after the 2016, 2015 reveals its slightly warmer, more potent personality, with darker balsamic and sweet amaro tones of liquorice, bitter orange and cocoa. The palate is dark but with a potent sense of fruit just beneath, its black cherry refined by sharpening tones of bergamot and blood-orange citrus. Tannins remain enormous and bristling, though they have gained some tenderness with time. The acidity illuminates, giving both brightness and forward propulsion. Lovely iodine salinity on the finish. Drink 2025 – 2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Standing in stark contrast to the 2018, the 2017 is benefiting from both its riper conditions and another year of maturation in bottle. The nose is a luscious black cherry and strawberry amalgam that feels quite potent for Canalicchio, never a very effusive cru, with layers of Darjeeling tea, liquorice candy and carob. The richness of the brown spice tones (not coming from oak, which is untoasted and large) is much more marked than in 2018, and the tannins are likewise much more gravelly and chewy, typical of this calcareous clay-rich site. The mid-palate swells with oud, styrax and tea leaves – smoky, sensuous and exotic – kept in check by fresh acidity. Rust tones come through on the finish, accompanied by refined notes of polished leather. Drink 2025-2041.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Forest floor, violet and pipe tobacco mingle with leather and baked plum on the impressive 2020 Vigna La Casaccia. Polished and enveloping, the full-bodied palate features succulent black cherry, crushed raspberry, licorice and spiced orange peel set against compact, close-grained tannins. Fresh acidity keeps it balanced. Drink 2029–2034.
- Kerin O’Keefe -
Starting with this vintage, the Canalicchio di Sopra 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia carries a "Vigna" designation. La Casaccia is a two-hectare parcel with clay soils rich in minerals that was planted in 1990. Francesco Ripaccioli embarked on an estate-wide mapping project about 10 years ago to determine which parcels would be worthy of single-vineyard distinction. This wine always has an elegant brightness about it with aromas of iris root, blood orange and tart forest berry. This vintage delivers moderately more heft and intensity to the bouquet, although it remains understated in terms of palate. Give it more time to flesh out. Only 4,133 bottles were made. Drink Date 2026 – 2042.
- Monica Larner -
From the vineyard of the same name in cru Canalicchio, aged for 36 months in oak from Slavonia, olfactory attack on notes of cranberry jam, ginger, then touches of wild mint and gardenia, with hints of juniper. The palate is salty, dense, with minty memories and small fruits.
- Luca Gardini -
Mid ruby. Notes of dark earth and spice and, with aeration, focused fruit. But still not entirely open. Pure cherry fruit supported by grainy tannins. Firm structure and lots of lively sour-cherry fruit on the finish. Great balance, while the tannins need time to settle. Drink 2025 – 2034
- Walter Speller -
The 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia pours a rich and youthful red/ruby color and is from the unique clay-based soils just outside the winery. This wine takes things up another notch, with notes of raspberry liqueur, licorice, toasted sage, and lavender perfume. Full-bodied, it has a lot to offer, with ripe tannins, balanced, even acidity, dark mineral accents, and pure lasting concentration of fruit all the way through a mouthwatering finish. A remarkable wine, I highly recommend seeking out it for your cellar and aging. Drink 2027-2050.
- Audrey Frick -
Good full red. Inviting, rather cool, nuanced aromas of red berries, potpourri, violet, leather, smoke and minerals. Silky, delicately fleshy and suave, with a smooth, round texture and a seamless quality to its delicate spicy and fruity flavours nicely framed by fine-grained tannins and lingering notes of tobacco and camphor. A Brunello that conveys a classic nobility and that strikes me as being remarkably less chunky and thick than is usual for this bottling. Drinking window: 2030-2040.
- Ian D’Agata -
There is always something shared in common between the two single vineyards that is mitigated by the vintage from year to year – but Montosoli and Casaccia are very different wines. Here for the estate located block the extraction was lower, as was the maceration, to avoid any bitters or green possibilities. “Something was not perfectly mature” figures Francesco Ripaccioli. All that said there is more opulence, concentration and seduction from Casaccia but it plays a bit hard to get and to figure out. Take the time and stay with this Vigna because you need to be sure what kind of wine you are dealing with. A long relationship is necessary and time will tell what will be. Drink 2027-2036.
- Michael Godel -
From more clay-based soils, the 2018 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna Casaccia pours a bit deeper ruby color and is riper and broader in its feel, with deeper notes of fresh black cherries, mocha, and pressed flowers. Medium to full-bodied, it offers more richness on the palate, with ripe tannins and good concentration for this challenging, cooler vintage. Long on the palate, with a great finish, it’s a very successful and more age-worthy wine for this vintage. Drink 2026-2046.
- Audrey Frick -
The bright red/ruby-hued 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino La Casaccia is fresh and offers a deeper though equally pure aromatic profile, with notes of darker cherries, candied flowers, sweet sage, and mossy earth. Medium-bodied, it's richer on the palate as well, with ripe tannins and more depth, but it's long and inviting, with a hearty feel in its hints of leather and porcini mushroom on the finish. Drink over the coming two decades. Maturity 2025 – 2045.
- Audrey Frick -
Helles Rubinrot mit violetten Reflexen. In der Nase nach gezuckerten Walderdbeeren, Hagebuttentee, Amarenakirsche und Minze, dahinter etwas Lavendel, etwas brandig. Am Gaumen viel reife Frucht, druckvoll, reife Gerbstoffe, gut eingebundene Säure, schöne Saftigkeit und Salzigkeit, elegantes Finale.
- Othmar Kiem and Simon Staffler -
A significant new release for Canalicchio di Sopra, La Casaccia is a single vineyard close to the winery in the district of Canalicchio, north of the town of Montalcino. Comparing it to his plots in Montosoli, owner Francesco Ripaccioli describes the soil here as a heavier brown clay with lots of magnesium giving more generous growth. It produces a relatively weighty, substantial wine with firm, sturdy tannins and balancing acidity. Notes of sage, tobacco, liquorice root and heather weave through the plush dark currant fruit. Both this and the classic Brunello are equally accomplished, however I suspect La Casaccia may have longer ageing capacity.
- Michaela Morris
A spectacular wine in every sense: a firm, deep, minerally fruit nose, a composed but full palate with finely chiselled tannins and perfectly integrated juicy acidity. Long and layered and impossible to resist but deserves more bottle age.
- Walter Speller
A red with cherry, walnut, bark and hints of dried flowers. It’s full-bodied with firm, chewy tannins and a tight finish. Really reserved now. Needs three or four years to open. Best after 2024.
- James Suckling
English:
Sparkling, dark ruby with a shimmering garnet edge. Compact, somewhat closed nose with notes of dark blackberries and cherries, a fine nougat note in the background. Blooms great on the palate, tightly meshed, substantial tannin, embedded in fine fruit melt, salty and juicy, is still very young, but has a long life ahead of it.
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
Deutsche:
Funkelndes, dunkles Rubin mit schillerndem Granatrand. Kompakte, etwas verschlossene Nase mit Noten nach dunklen Brombeeren und Kirschen, im Hintergrund feiner Nougatton. Blüht am Gaumen toll auf, dichtmaschiges, stoffiges Tannin, eingebettet in feinen Fruchtschmelz, salzig und saftig, zeigt sich noch sehr jung, hat aber ein langes Leben vor sich.
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
This ripe red is bursting with plum, cherry, floral and mineral aromas and flavors. Succulent and balanced, with savory, sanguine and earthy accents, rolling on through the long, herb-tinged aftertaste. Best from 2024 through 2045.
- Bruce Sanderson
Lustrous mid ruby. Leafy cherry hints but otherwise quite closed on the nose, yet with a clear sense of purity. Dense, yet elegant and with tangy acidity shooting through the mouth-filling fruit. Firm noble tannins add depth and contour. Real cru pedigree.
- Walter Speller
The second release of this single vineyard, La Casaccia was planted in 1990. At an average altitude of 300 metres, it sits on predominantly clay soils and is bathed in sun from morning until evening. This doesn’t have quite the plushness or gregarious personality of the 2015 but takes on the 2016 vintage’s more vertical path, opening slowly. Aromas are evocative of pine, cedar and sage. Full but not weighty, the palate brings in earthy nuances with wild berries.
Acidity is cleansing, and silky tannins build up to a powerful finish.
Drinking Window 2024 - 2040
- Michaela Morris
Brunello di Montalcino LA CASACCIA 2016 obtained the CORONA, the highest recognition assigned by GUIDA VINI BUONI D'ITALIA
This shows the ripeness of the vintage, with ripe-berry, cherry and floral
aromas and flavors. Some cedar, too. It’s full and flavorful, with lots of chewy
yet polished and focused tannins. A little dusty in texture. Drinkable now,
but better in 2023.
- James Suckling
Nobile ed elegantissimo mostra note miste floreali e fruttate che ricordano i gerani, l’ibisco, le prugne rosse, la buccia di arancia arsa, la china e la terra bagnata. Corpo pieno, tannini perfettamente maturi ed integrati nella matrice ed un finale iconico punto di riferimento per la denominazione nel difficile millesimo. Meglio dal 2023.
- Raffaele Vecchione
This is where all the recent hard work put by Francesco Ripaccioli and team really comes to light and fruition. La Casaccia is northerly-ish but certainly not Montosoli and yet the aromatic profile of this Vigna-designate Brunello is laced with cool nuance and found to be full of fine finesse. As per the Canalicchio di Sopra idiom there is plenty of wood casking through the bones of the wine and yet one can feel the highest quality of those large vessels gifting a select strength leading to the chic style, surely to be followed by one and the half decades of aging. All what needs, what is and must be for La Casaccia. Drink 2023-2030. Tasted November 2021.
- Michael Godel
Da uve brunello, matura in botti da 30 hl per almeno 24 mesi. Classico rubino. Olfatto nitido e intenso su ciliegie nere mature e more. Una leggera affumicatura che introduce erbe officinali che danno freschezza. Trama e progressione fitte, nervose con tannino giovanile ma perfettamente integrato. Ottimo il finale per lunghezza e sobrietà. La zona nordica esprime le sue caratteristiche anche in annate torride ma qui c’e il trucco: piovve a metà settembre.
- Riccardo Viscardi
A great release of Brunello from the northeast slope of the denomination. Nose of freshness and finesse, notes of raspberry, touches of fresh marjoram and undergrowth. The mouthfeel is juicy-savoury, dense, with a nice spicy finish and persistence.
- Luca Gardini
Within the Canalicchio area, the Casaccia vineyard boasts a high clay content, which helped curb water stress in 2017. As with all Canalicchio di Sopra’s wines, the grapes were double-sorted to remove any green or sun-dried berries. Pristine in aromas and flavours, this offers clove, cardamom, mint and sweet dark earth on a backdrop of black cherries. The ample, mouth-filling palate is hemmed in by compact, sandy tannins. Underlying succulence makes this quite moreish. Drinking Window 2024 - 2032
- Michaela Morris
Inviting aromas of baked plum, violet, baking spice and sun-warmed hay come to the forefront along with a whiff of leather. The enveloping palate is delicious, delivering ripe Marasca cherry, raspberry compote, licorice and nutmeg framed in tightly woven, polished tannins that lend finesse and a smooth texture. Drink 2024–2029.
-Kerin O’Keefe
Black cherry and blackberry flavors hold court in this dense, yet vibrant red, which is defined by brisk acidity. Stays beautifully integrated, harmonious and long, while earth and savory herb accents add depth. This should really sing in about 2-3 years. Best from 2024 through 2040.
- Bruce Sanderson
Just mid ruby with orange tinges. A subdued nose with malt-bread notes. Needs to take a very deep breath, while revealing oak hints. The palate displays fragrant marasca-cherry fruit balanced by supple acidity. Very long, concentrated and with beautiful, coating tannins.
- Walter Speller
Profondo, un po' tabacco, catrame e un po' nocciola, aroma di bacche nere e rosse mature con sfumature floreali secche che ricordano i petali di rosa e un po' di note eteree. Crostata, matura, frutta piuttosto scura, aromi di noce e legno leggermente speziato di cacao, note pepate e di ginepro, mineralità salata, con tutta la sua potenza anche note rinfrescanti, buona profondità, struttura ferma, abbastanza complesso, ma trasparente e lucido, ancora giovane, molto buono, fermo, crostata e finale speziato.
Reviewed by Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler
Brunello di Montalcino LA CASACCIA 2017 obtained the CORONA, the highest recognition assigned by GUIDA VINI BUONI D'ITALIA
Einladende Noten von Waldbeeren und Sandelholz; der Ansatz geschliffen, besitzt präzise Säure und engmaschiges Tannin, intensiv-würziges Fruchtfinale. Muss sich noch etwas abrunden.
- Christian Eder
Absorbing display of black cherry, blackberries, violet florals and menthol. Quickly followed by fresh juicy textured nuances of red berries and balsamic notes, leave you almost gasping for breath. Sweet notes then savoury ones bombard the senses on this hedonistic experience. Phenomenal length and balance.
- Tony Wood
From the highly vocated vineyard of the same name, a beautiful version of Brunello, typical of the north-eastern area of the denomination. Freshness to the nose, notes of black raspberry, touches of eucalyptus and undergrowth. The palate is juicy-sapid, dense, with return of fruit and undergrowth.
- Luca Gardini
A tiny bit more developed (than the classic 2018 Brunello) lustrous ruby with orange, bricky narrow rim. There is a sense of richness combined with mineral intensity on the nose. Pure cherry and raspberry with a hint of orange and cinnamon bark. Juicy, minerally and savoury on the palate and with finely chiselled tannins. 15% but very elegant and poised.
-Walter Speller
Cedro peel, lavender, sour cherries, redcurrants and hints of lemongrass on the nose. Full-bodied, silky and perfumed, with a fine tannin backbone and a weightlessness to it. Swathes of creamy ripe fruit. Drink after 2023.
- James Suckling
Boom! Vigna la Casaccia nel millesimo 2018 è denso e compatto nel calice senza perdere in leggiadria e complessità sensoriale. Si alternano lentamente note di prugne nere, more, cannella in polvere, incenso, mirto selvatico, cumino e pepe nero. L’arancia sanguinella descrive il profilo secondario che si anima con buoni muscoli. Corpo pieno, tannini perfettamente morbidi di grana finissima ed un finale di lodevole bellezza. Meglio dal 2025.
- Raffaele Vecchione
Great anticipation to taste La Casaccia and Montosoli side by each from a vintage carrying no option but to act out the passion play through the glaring clarity of a sense of place. There are facts involved and there is no hiding the truth formed by these plots of sangiovese in this vintage. By now it is understood how 2018 exists on its own accord at one with nature though Francesco Ripaccioli will tell you there are similarities with 2013, if only because that vintage was greatly ignored and is drinking well at this time. La Casaccia in the località of Canalicchio is the wildcard of Montalcino and tasting several wines from the frazione reveals a collective affinity supplied by the year’s gifts. Nothing was portioned or taken away from the ’18 Annata and yet this Vigna sings with even more range and depth than that wine. The acids are simply out of this proverbial world, the linear aspects drawn with precise architectural or even, in Old English speak, a Cutter’s line. Remarkable reserve in concentration and forward slicing finesse. Forever long. Forever young. Drink 2025-2038.
- Michael Godel
Ruby red in colour. Wild meadow florals and violet awaken the senses. Wild black berries, boysenberry, dark plum and blackberry assisted by refreshing acidity and rounded tannins lift the palate to experience the layered intensity and textural resonance. The sheer appeal of this wine is mind blowing. Balance and energy are a given…
- Tony Wood -
Funkelndes Rubingranat mit aufhellendem Rand. Intensive und viel schichtige Nase mit feinen Noten nach Waldhimbeere, Schwarzkirsche und Rosen, im Hintergrund etwas Rauch. Kompakt in Ansatz und Verlauf, zeigt schöne reife Frucht, griffiges, dichtmaschiges Tannin, baut sich in vielen Schichten auf.
Brunello di Montalcino Trophy 2023
- Wolfgang M. Rosam, Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler -
Ebenso sehr komplexes und dichtes, nobles Bouquet mit à point reifen, überwiegend dunkelroten Beeren, dunklen Kirschen, Veilchen, Pfeffer und wieder erdigkräutrigen Noten. Sehr klar umrissenes Duftbild, das sich am dichten und druckvollen Gaumen fortsetzt. Das feinsandige Tanninkleid umhüllt gekonnt und nobel die konzentrierte Frucht und die würzig-mineralischen Noten, spannt sich ganz weit und ist ewig lang. Schöne Liaison aus Kraft und Eleganz mit der typischen Sangiovese-Frucht und Würze mit herrlichen ätherischen Noten im persistenten, mineralisch geprägten Finale. Einer der besten der Verkostung. Top 3. Bravo!
Guida 2024 - sezione "Vini da vitigni autoctoni"
Ausladendes Bouquet mit einer schönen Liaison aus reifer Frucht und floralwürzigen Noten. Hier treffen die saftigen Pflaumen auf getrocknete Veilchen und Zedernwürze. So geht es auch am saftigen Gaumen: wunderschöne SangioveseFrucht (dunkle Kirsche, Zwetschge) umrahmt von floralwürzigen und zart ledrigen Noten. 2025 – 2036
- Giuseppe Lauria -
Coinvolgente e di notevole spessore enologico mostra complessità nella stratificazione di prugne rosse, fragoline di bosco, buccia di lime, glicine, timo selvatico, bosso e verbena. In sottofondo nuance nobili di carattere verde ricordano le foglie di tè verde e la menta piperita. Corpo medio, tannini morbidi di grana fine ed un finale equilibrato e piacevolissimo che fa della delicata potenza la sua arma migliore. Meglio dal 2025.
- Raffaele Vecchione -
Sweet sour cherries with rose stems and hints of green leaves on the nose. Medium body with firm, chewy tannins with some juicy fruit. Fresh and vivid. Better after two or three years.
- James Suckling -
Vitae, La Guida Vini 2024 - X edizione
Tra i 5 migliori Brunello di Montalcino 2018 Selezione
Bright medium red with garnet highlights. Aromas and flavours of ripe red cherry, plum, and orange peel are complemented by strong notes of tobacco and earth. Perfumed and luscious on entry, then somewhat broad and diffuse in the middle, with ripe red cherry, plum nectar and redcurrant jelly flavours complicated by a dusting of wild herbs. Very fine tannins leave a suave mouthfeel behind on the long, savoury finish that features repeating strong nuances of sweet pipe tobacco. Drinking window: 2023-2033.
- Ian D’Agata -
Ungemein komplexes und tiefgestaffeltes, ätherisch-kräutriges Bouquet mit à point reifen, überwiegend dunklen Beeren, Tabak und wieder erdig-kräutrigen Noten. Sehr klar umrissene Struktur am Gaumen, messerscharf konturiert, ungemein druckvoll, gekonnt umhüllt vom feinen, eleganten Tanninkleid, nobel mit konzentrierter Frucht und würzig-mineralischen Noten, spannt sich ganz weit mit wunderbarer Fruchtsüße und Frische. Schöne Liaison aus Kraft und Eleganz, sehr persistent und lang im Finale mit der typischen Sangiovese Würze und ätherischen Noten. Einer der besten der Verkostung. [2026 – 2042]
- Giuseppe Lauria -
Leuchtendes Rubinrot. In der Nase auf erdigen Tönen, satter Kirschfrucht, etwas Blutorange, nicht ganz präzise, wenngleich in sich stimmig. Am Gaumen geschliffen, elegant, mit engmaschigem, packendem Tannin, kompakt, sehr saftig, toller Stil, druckvoll, mit anhaltendem Abgang.
Brunello di Montalcino Trophy 2024
- Othmar Kiem, Simon Staffler -
5 Grappoli
- Guida Bibenda 2025 -
Tasted alongside the 2020 annata and Montosoli bottlings from this estate, it seems clear that La Casaccia (and probably its fellow Canalicchio cru vineyards, where soils are clay-rich and calcareous and exposures sunbathed) lies towards the darker end of the fruit spectrum for the vintage. The same black-cherry lusciousness found on the annata is there, with edifying notes of wild strawberry, cedar sprig and blood orange. The northern Montalcino balsamic qualities come through on the palate, while the black cherry is gone, replaced by a fragrant blend of blood orange, gunpowder tea, palo santo and dried peppermint, lending a cooling effect. Tannins are pebbly and fine. Acidity is not especially elevated, but the herbal tones, translucency, fluid texture and linearity make its mildness less noticeable. There are lovely ferrous tones with whispers of black cherry to finish, giving a satisfying sense of symmetry. Drink 2027 – 2044.
- Sarah Heller MW -
Solare al naso, ricorda di succo di arance, zest di limone, chicchi di melagrana e fragoline di bosco. Nel profilo secondario, cedro in pezzi e ginger. Al palato, corpo pieno, tannini vividi ed un finale succoso. Meglio dal 2026.
- Raffaele Vecchione -
A red ruby color, the 2016 Brunello Di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia is layered and draws you in with aromas of leather, black cherries, and wild herbs. Medium to full-bodied, with a weightless feel, the tannins are more plush and ripe, and it has a supple texture as well as a long, elegant finish. Drink 2024-2044.
- Audrey Frick -
