2019 Costanti - Brunello di Montalcino (750ml)

The Costanti family has been documented in Montalcino since the sixteenth century, making theirs one of the region's founding estates and, by many accounts, second in age only to Biondi-Santi in the history of Brunello. Count Emilio Costanti began bottling and selling the wine commercially around 1964, and having no children of his own, he later passed the estate to a distant relative, Andrea Costanti, a geology graduate with no prior background in wine. Andrea has run Conti Costanti since 1983, working alongside consulting oenologist Vittorio Fiore to steadily build the estate's reputation for precision and elegance.

The Brunello comes from the historic Colle al Matrichese vineyard in eastern Montalcino, planted on lean, Cretaceous marl soils at 310 to 450 meters on southeast-facing slopes, farmed organically. Fermentation runs fourteen to twenty-one days on the skins in temperature-controlled stainless steel, followed by an extended aging regimen of roughly eighteen months in tonneaux, eighteen months in large Slavonian oak casks, and a further year in bottle.

The 2019 opens with crushed black cherry and strawberry laced with clove and savory spice, unfolding into a silky, richly textured palate with firm tannins and hints of licorice and orange on the finish. It pairs beautifully with roast pork, braised short ribs, or a well-aged cheese.