LE RAGNAIE

Le Ragnaie is known for its elegant, terroir-driven wines that stand out in this Tuscan powerhouse category. The owner and winemaker, Riccardo Campinoti, acquired the property in 2002 and now farms 15.5 ha. Making complex, traditional wines from Sangiovese Grosso, Riccardo's wines exhibit elegance and finesse from farming some of the highest altitude vineyards in Montalcino. The wines are bottled unfiltered and certified organic in the vineyards and in the cellar.

2015 Brunello di Montalcino
Fermented in concrete with indigenous yeasts followed by a long maceration of 90 days and 36 months in Slavonian oak. Earthy aromas of truffle, scorched soil, tobacco, violet and new leather lead the way. It's full bodied and chewy, doling out mature black cherry, raspberry jam, ground clove and a hint of carob alongside enveloping, close-grained tannins

Accolaides:

96 points James Suckling

 Amazing aromas of decadent fruit, spice and meat. Mushrooms, too. Full body and ripe, caressing tannins that fan out on the palate. Goes on for minutes. From organically grown grapes. Better after 2021.  (10/2019)

 Luminous red-ruby. Beautifully expressive nose hints at red cherry, coffee, herbs and sweet spices. Then at once graceful and powerful, with outstanding acid-tannin balance and sweet spices complicating the ripe red cherry fruit flavors. Closes long and youthfully chewy, with above average density and a multilayered complexity that makes this one of the very top classico Brunellos of the vintage. (ID)  (4/2020)

 The Le Ragnaie 2015 Brunello di Montalcino doles out impressive intensity and depth. This is a tour de force expression of Sangiovese that travels the entire continuum of Sangiovese, starting with wild cherry and unfolding to later reveal pressed blue flowers, spice and potting soil. This is textbook Brunello on all levels, and I am happily excited by this particular vintage. Fruit for this wine is sourced from four unique sites, all located in different parts of the appellation. This explains the wine's pan-Brunello appeal. The 2015 growing season brings out personality and aromatic abundance with slightly softer and more approachable contours. The acidity feels tame in 2015. Continuing with that thought, I would recommend this wine for near- and medium-term drinking because it performs so nicely now, straight out of the gate. Some 30,000 bottles were made. This wine will released in February 2020. (ML) 93+  (1/2020)

 Riccardo Campinoti draws fruit for this wine from four plots at varying altitudes, rendering a balanced and juicy Brunello underlined by notes of tobacco, loamy earth and subtle spice. Although firmly tannic, its generous red-cherry tones make it somewhat more approachable than his single-site bottlings.  (4/2020)

 This Brunello shows an appealing savory, earthy quality, along with bright cherry and plum fruit flavors. An underlying mineral streak adds interest as this unravels slowly toward the long, earth- and herb-inflected aftertaste. (BS)  (6/2020)

 Earthy aromas of truffle, scorched soil, tobacco, violet and new leather lead the way. It's full bodied and chewy, doling out mature black cherry, raspberry jam, ground clove and a hint of carob alongside enveloping, close-grained tannins. (KO)  (5/2020)

 This brings together grapes from Le Ragnaie's diverse vineyards throughout the region - the high altitude (530 metres plus) plots around the winery, a slightly lower (380 metres) one near the town of Montalcino, a warm site in Castelnuovo dell’Abate, as well as a new parcel on the hill of Montosoli. Balsamic and dusty earth notes evoke Montalcino's countryside. There is welcome firmness on the palate and cool, refreshing undertow underneath ripe red currants. It finishes with a slight austerity that isn't a hallmark of the vintage. (MM)  (2/2020)