SAN FILIPPO BRUNELLO DI MONTALCINO LE LUCERE 2018

Style: Bold & Powerful

Watching the evolution of San Filippo's wines over the last few years has been fascinating. In part it is because owner, Roberto Gianelli, is a great person and his enthusiasm and love of the wines from his adopted home (he's from Florence) is contagious but also it is because the wines are now - more and more - bearing the mark of his personal philosophy and preferences rather than that of his original consultant oenologist. Tasting through several vintages recently they clearly hold more freshness, more typicity and an altogether more interesting personality than the very first wines made here. Gianelli has changed fermentation times, changed oak regime (now increasingly botte and older tonneaux) and increasingly played around the edges to make his wines more about fruit freshness and site identity than a lumbering caricature. The most recent vintages bear testament to these changes but coming vintages will reinforce the new style and in turn the superb quality. PWS

Complex and open already, with aromas of slate, dried rosemary, grilled sage, lemon peel, sour cherries and cardamom. Supple and full-bodied with sleek and fine tannins. I like the olive-stone and herbal undertones. Firmer, mineral finish. Try after 2025. JAMES SUCKLING

Region: Tuscany, ITALY

Variety: Sangiovese

ABV: 14%

Liquor Act 2007. It is against the law to sell or supply alcohol to, or to obtain alcohol on behalf of a person under the age of 18 years. Lic No. LIQP770016424

*We endeavor to ensure the correct vintage is displayed, however some variations may occur in store and for delivered bottles.