Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2016
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Somm Note
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Ruby, tending towards garnet with age. Penetrating on the nose with ample and very complex nose with echoes of wild berry fruit. Dry, warm, solid, harmonious, combining delicacy and austerity, and persistent.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Seamlessly constructed, Caparzo’s Riserva combines fruit from the estate’s original vineyard in the far north of Montalcino with La Casa on the Montosoli hill, as well as Il Cassero and La Caduta which are in the south to southwest of the denomination. Under a sheen of polished wood, red and black berries, forest undergrowth and mint emerge. Plump, crunchy currants pack the mid-palate while textured tannins fill out the perimeters and provide a satisfying chew on the finish. Pepper and clove linger. By no means unpleasant now, this will be even better after another year or two in the bottle.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Caparzo 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is delicious with lots of pretty intensity, nicely balanced fruit, blackberry, spice, cedarwood and campfire ash. This is a delicately perfumed wine that offers more power and length than you might initially anticipate. That's the secret soul of the 2016 vintage—elegance and brawn wrapped tightly together in one package. Best after 2024.
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Wine Spectator
Boasts beautifully defined strawberry, cherry, rose, mint and mineral flavors embedded in a sleek, dense structure. Firm and lingers, with echoes of fruit, savory herbs and earth on the aftertaste. Best from 2025.
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Wine Enthusiast
Aromas of fragrant blue flowers mingle with perfumed berries and roasted coffee bean in this plush red. The supple palate reflects the nose, offering fleshy black cherry, star anise and espresso alongside velvety, fine-grained tannins.
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The origins of the place named Caparzo are still unknown. According to some people, the name is derived, as shown by ancient maps, from Ca’ Pazzo; according to others, the term should derive from the Latin Caput Arsum, indicating "a place touched by sun”. The history of Caparzo dates back to the end of the 1960s at the dawning of Brunello di Montalcino, when a group of friends, fond of Tuscany and of wine, purchased an old ruin with vineyards at Montalcino. The farm estate was renovated, modernized, and new vineyards were planted. In a short time, Caparzo made itself known in the Brunello market. In 1998, 30 years after the first rows of vines were planted, the farm estate came to a turning point when Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini purchased Caparzo. With the help of her son, Igino, and daughter, Alessandra, she immediately carried out her objective: combining tradition with innovation to create a high-quality wine that is the expression of an excellent territory.
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
Famous for its bold, layered and long-lived red, Brunello di Montalcino, the town of Montalcino is about 70 miles south of Florence, and has a warmer and drier climate than that of its neighbor, Chianti. The Sangiovese grape is king here, as it is in Chianti, but Montalcino has its own clone called Brunello.
The Brunello vineyards of Montalcino blanket the rolling hills surrounding the village and fan out at various elevations, creating the potential for Brunello wines expressing different styles. From the valleys, where deeper deposits of clay are found, come wines typically bolder, more concentrated and rich in opulent black fruit. The hillside vineyards produce wines more concentrated in red fruits and floral aromas; these sites reach up to over 1,600 feet and have shallow soils of rocks and shale.
Brunello di Montalcino by law must be aged a minimum of four years, including two years in barrel before realease and once released, typically needs more time in bottle for its drinking potential to be fully reached. The good news is that Montalcino makes a “baby brother” version. The wines called Rosso di Montalcino are often made from younger vines, aged for about a year before release, offer extraordinary values and are ready to drink young.