The US drinks molto Brunello di Montalcino. We drink so much that one out of every four bottles of Brunello is shipped to the US. Plus, cases upon cases of gray market wines make it to the US outside of legal distribution channels. However, it may come as a surprise to many wine lovers that Montalcino's primary export is a relatively recent phenomenon. The category, created by a single estate in the 1860s, wasn’t widely recognized until the second half of the twentieth century. 

Montalcino releases its new vintages at the beginning of every year. The wide array of vintages arriving on the market between the three classifications—Rosso, Brunello and Brunello Riserva in ascending order of quality—means that drinkers are spoiled for options, and that they have a lot of decisions to make. The 2019s are the latest annata, or vintage, Brunellos, along with the 2018 Riservas. Additionally, there are the 2021 and 2022 Rosso wines. These are sometimes referred to as “Baby Brunello” since they are often made of wines that didn't make it into the Brunello bottling or grapes from vines too young to be labeled Brunello.

Annatas: Pure Joy

Summing up the 2019 Brunelli in a word is easy: euphoric. Winemakers are jubilant, and you will be, too. These wines are all about upfront pleasure. The fruit is exuberant, with no reaches into over-ripeness. A strong backbone of acidity is present in every bottle, regardless of the winemaking style. The tannins are mature but still show that classically firm Sangiovese crunch. 

Vintage Report

• The 2019s are unique. They don't taste like other recent vintages.
• The wines are more concentrated than the relaxed and occasionally dilute 2018s and far fresher than the 2017s that shriveled in the hot, dry weather. 
• They are more balanced in their fruit-to-terroir flavor ratios. The wines are not just about the fruit, but they are also not as dense as the occasionally thick 2015s and 2016s.
• If there is a comparison in recent years, it’s to the 2016s. The 2019s just show more quiver and vivacity in their firmer structures. 
• Most importantly, there are few truly undesirable 2019s. Good to excellent wines were made in every sector of this highly differentiated, denominazione. 
• You can drink the 2019 Brunelli right now, given their tremendous harmony. However, due to the plentiful structure and baby-fat density of the best 2019 bottlings, you can also wait ten to fifteen years for most wines and longer for the very best. Count Francesco Marone Cinzano, owner of Col d'Orcia, told me, "I usually begin drinking Brunello 25 years after the vintage." The 2001s and 1991s are his go-to wines now. 
• Most of us have neither the time and patience nor the space for long-term wine aging. So, bring on the 2019s! Just beware: the danger will be wanting to enjoy too many 2019s now and having nothing left in the cellar later. 

The Growing Season for the 2019s

• All this deliciousness stems from the unusually easy 2019 growing season. Grape growers throughout this compact region were spared the drought of 2017 and the heat and precipitation of 2018.

• The vintage started with plenty of rain, filling the groundwater reserves for later in the season. 
• Temperatures remained relatively gentle throughout the summer and never exceeded the mid-90s. This is in marked contrast to other recent years where, thanks to the hot weather and intense sunshine, the vines effectively sat under a broiler.
• Given the idyllic weather, there were no extremes and little disease in the vineyards.

2018 Riservas: Choose Carefully

• As for the 2018 Riservas, selectivity is key. The balance is more delicate, and the wines are generally harder to read—even when tasted five years after the vintage.
• The best wines show a clear nobility of structure, but many show edgy and ambitious oak. 
• You'd expect Riservas to have more oak than the annatas— they should have more stuffing to be more age-worthy. But the 2018 vintage is less concentrated than 2019.
• Given that, when oak use was less judicious, smoky, toasty tones are more evident and can overtake the wine. 

Not Every Vintage is a Riserva Vintage

• Many producers did not make Riservas in 2018. 
• Some wineries blended juice that might normally have gone into a Riserva into their 2018 annata wines, to give them more heft and nobility. 
• Most 2018 annatas will be for early to mid-term drinking, thanks to their supple, swashbuckling fruit and because the concentration of the 18s is several notches down from the 19s.
• If the saying is true that the best wines are balanced from the start, some of 2018 Riservas are trying to be more than they can be.
• While there certainly are some seriously impressive 2018 Riservas, most should be chosen carefully—especially given their eye-wateringly high price tags.

2021 and 2022 Rossos: Gluggability

• The 2021 and 2022 Rosso wines are some of their category’s most joyous recent releases.
• There is a load of pure and exuberant fruit packing into these vivacious, youthful wines! There’s no need to wait to  pop their corks.

• Rosso wines are often unoaked, or see only older oak. Some are aged in stainless steel, while others are made in anforas or concrete tanks. These wines are made to emphasize their fruit.
• Rossos are made for early enjoyment, even if some—especially in these two high-quality vintages—will mature nicely, too. 
• The quality of these wines bodes well for the Brunelli of these vintages when they hit the market.

Turning the Quality Pyramid Upside Down

• There is one oddity to note: far less Rosso is made than Brunello. 
• Almost everywhere else in the wine world, more lower quality wines are made than higher quality ones.
• So if you find a Rosso or two you like, stock up quickly. They may have evaporated from the shelves by the time you go back for more!

2019 Brunello: A Buyer’s Guide

• Even if your cellar is bulging at the seams, don't miss the 2019 Brunelli.
• Anyone who likes Super Tuscans or Bordeaux will like these wines. If you like more elegant expressions of Argentinian Malbecs or Napa Cabernets, you'll probably enjoy these wines, too. A bit more of a reach, but if you like 2019 and 2020 Burgundies—but don't like 2021s or 2017s—these are worth a try.
• To that end, if you typically buy the top shelf Super Tuscans, Bordeaux, Napa and Burgundy wines, your money is going to go a lot further with Brunello annata wines. Just don't overdo it. You'll likely want space in your cellar for the 2019 Riservas.
• Investing in Brunello means buying to drink the wines. Brunello doesn't get much traction in the auction market, except for Soldera and Biondi-Santi. (Don't even think of trying to make a case for the 2018 Argiano Brunello. It makes zero sense that people are clamoring over a wine that happened to be listed #1 on the 2023 Wine Spectator Top 100. That doesn't make it the best wine that the magazine tasted in 2023—just look up their highest scoring wines from that year. Other people may misunderstand the meaning of the ranking, but you need not follow them. The 2019 Argiano is a better wine.) 
• If you don't have a lot of space, try buying in trios to have a bottle for today, one for two or three years down the road, and another for a few years after that. Or, if you're like most of us, you'll have a 2019 Brunello today, one for next week, and the last for the week after that.

My cheat sheet to the vintages' most impressive wines, from tastings conducted in Montalcino in late 2023.
(Asterisks denote my top choices).