Stella di Campalto 2011 Brunello di Montalcino "Beatrice" 750ml

Pale red with an amber tinge. Candied red cherry, tobacco and musky herbs on the deep nose. Then urgent flavors of red fruits, botanical herbs and ink show very good cut and thrust. A spicy nuance lingers on the juicy finish. Much more closed and brooding than the 2011 Benedetta Brunello, in keeping with the fact that the Beatrice (unlike the Benedetta) contains roughly 10 percent Brunello from the 2010 vintage, added because di Campalto believed the wine needed more backbone. Stella di Campalto’s 2010 Brunello is especially deep, dark, and musky, and those elements are obvious in the Beatrice as well (this is the first time she has bottled a wine not entirely made with the vintage indicated on the label). Stella di Campalto is not especially fond of this wine right now, so she’s considering declassifying to Rosso status, but this has yet to be decided and things may change depending on the wine’s evolution. Should she decide to turn this into a Rosso, it’s going to be one heck of a Rosso di Montalcino; that said, I find the Benedetta Brunello to be much superior and more typical of Stella di Campalto’s production.

Score: (90-91+) points -- Ian D'Agata, Vinous, Feb 2017