Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino 2018

Ever since the picturesque winery was acquired in 1998 by Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini everything started skyrocketing for the small Tuscan winery. Along with their sibling winery, Altesino (which Angelini purchased a few years later) the wineries consistently light up the scoreboard to the tune of 94 points or higher. Amazingly, this is actually Caparzo’s fifth time now in the last six vintages where their green label bottling of Brunello di Montalcino has accomplished that feat. That simply does not happen anywhere else.

Nearly every vintage the Caparzo drinks better than almost any other Brunello I taste in a line up next to it (and I often taste a dozen or so at a time). In a difficult 2018 vintage that became the hottest on record in Montalcino, Caparzo benefitted greatly from having their high altitude vineyard in their own little rolling hill oasis. This protected them from much of the heat and allowed them to make the wine in their own style, whilst many of the winemakers in the regions were left holding on for dear life.

Instead, they turned out a beauty, one that dazzled critics and outpointed and outclassed many Brunelli priced two or three times as high. But at today’s price, this remains one of the only annual genuine Brunello “case buys”.