Zero Patience for Siro Pacenti

 

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2019 is being heralded as one of the all-time great Brunello vintages, building off of similar success for the year in the region of Piedmont to the north. As such, we’ll be bringing in a wide variety of top producers and bottlings from 2019 that demonstrate the incredible character of Montalcino and its ageworthy wines. One producer that consistently grabs our attention and is a MUST BUY for any Brunello enthusiast, is Siro Pacenti. This winery, founded in 1970 by Siro and now run by his son Giancarlo makes deliciously structured Brunello of a more opulent quality than many of its peers. The wines spend 2 years time in French oak, balancing Sangiovese Grosso’s powerful grape tannins with the softness of wood spice.

The estate’s vineyards exist in two zones. Their oldest vineyard Pelagrilli is just to the North of Montalcino (a place you must visit one in your life) and is comprised of sandy clay. Later in the estate’s history they incorporated vineyards to the South in the Piancornello district near Castelnuovo dell’Abate that consist of gravelly soil over hard bedrock. Pacenti works with massale selection of the existing vines, avoiding the use of clones to preserve the nuances of its vineyards. Biodynamic practices are paired with modern winemaking equipment to build Brunello that is meant to embody the terroir from where it is formed, and consistently achieve excellence in the bottle.
 

What is Brunello like?

It’s as ageworthy as a Bordeaux and as delicately perfumed as a fine Barolo. Dark black cherry, licorice, tobacco and sun-kissed Italian herbs.

There are 3 main wines which the estate produces:

• Brunello di Montalcino: The flagship wine, made from 100% Sangiovese, it is known for its elegance, complexity, and longevity.
• Brunello di Montalcino “Vecchie Vigne”: Produced from older vines, this wine is celebrated for its depth, concentration, and refined character.
• Rosso di Montalcino: Often referred to as a “baby Brunello,” this wine is made from younger Sangiovese vines and is approachable at a younger age.

Perhaps no single classic region has experiencd rebirth as much as Brunello di Montalcino. Back in the late 20th century there were only a handful of producers that were catching global attention and occupying spots on some of the finest wine lists in the world. Today, the gorgeous hilltown of Montalcino and its surrounding vineyards are bursting at the seams with top-class wineries and beautiful sangiovese grosso based wines.

The wine community often looks to Tuscany and Bolgheri as it’s Italian comparisons to the wines of Bordeaux. This makes sense given that those regions are incorporating French varietals like Cabernet and Merlot into their Super Tuscan blends. However, when it comes to the wines that have the most density, structure, and potential to unlock bold complexity with age, it is Brunello that I think most about. Siro Pacenti being a wine I’d buy in a heartbeat over the 10x priced crus of Chateau that rest on their laurels.

 

Check out our selection of Siro Pacenti wines below!

Siro Pacenti, Brunello di Montalcino Pelagrilli 2019 750ml $59 special, 36 bottles available
PRE-ARRIVAL ETA EARLY JULY
Wine Spectator 97 points “Packed with vivid black cherry, black currant and plum fruit, as well as iron, sanguine and tobacco accents, this red shows some power and tension, but also grace and balance. The lingering aftertaste features bright, ripe fruit and wild herbs. Best from 2027 through 2043. 2,000 cases made, 680 cases imported.”
Wine Advocate 94+ points “The Siro Pacenti 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Pelagrilli is heavily marked by an oak tone that sits front and center with whiffs of campfire ash or freshly split firewood. The wine shows rock-solid concentration and a level of phenolic extraction that you don’t easily find in Montalcino, unless you make it your mission. The tannins are bitter and grippy, and the oak tannins overshadow the fruit tannins at this very young stage in the wine’s life. The alcohol content is a very high 15.5%. Having said all that, 2019 does offer an excellent core of dark fruit, and it has the elements, and the freshness, for long aging. If you love the wines of Siro Pacenti, then you know these wines need more bottle age. Production is 24,000 bottles.”

Siro Pacenti, Brunello di Montalcino Vecche Vigne 2017 750ml $99 special, 12 bottles available
Wine Advocate 94 points “The Siro Pacenti 2017 Brunello di Montalcino Vecchie Vigne shows an extra degree of concentration and thickness thanks both to the vintage (this hot and dry growing season produced darker, more intense berries) and the older vines that also work toward greater fruit weight. The Vecchie Vigne shows lots of depth and textural weaving with dark berries and oak spice. In fact, the oak (and that big 15% alcohol) is more prominent in this 18,000-bottle release. It offers long-lasting notes of smoke, sweet cedar and woodshop.”
Vinous 92 points “The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino Vecchie Vigne presents an intense bouquet of crushed raspberries and cloves giving way to dusty florals and hints of incense. The textures are wonderfully silky and refined, ushering in a rush of mineral-tinged primary fruits that are brighter and more red-toned in this vintage than usual, as well as incredibly concentrated. The tannins come forward through the close, grippy and youthfully dry, along with a salty flourish, while leaving hints of licorice to slowly taper off. Siro Pacenti cut their production down by 50% to create this successful expression of the 2017 vintage.”

Siro Pacenti, Brunello di Montalcino Vecche Vigne 2018 750ml $99 special, 11 bottles available
Vinous 94 points “The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Vecchie Vigne opens with hauntingly dark florals and balsamic tones, as swirling bring about hints of black currant and crushed stone. This is supremely soft-textured, yet lifted by cooling minerality and bright acidity that guides its crunchy wild berry fruits across the palate. It tapers off with amazing length and potency, drenching the senses with primary concentration, as a framework of fine tannins gently tug at the cheeks. The 2018 Vecchie Vigne is a radiant Brunello in need of cellaring to fully blossom. That said, I don’t remember ever tasting a VV from Siro Pacenti with this much energy. I’m very eager to taste this again with some bottle age.”

Siro Pacenti, Brunello di Montalcino Vecche Vigne 2019 750ml $113.50 special, 18 bottles available
PRE-ARRIVAL ETA EARLY JULY
James Suckling 99 points “Black cherries, lavender, black mushrooms, lead pencil and violets on the nose. Full-bodied with a powerful and polished tannin structure that follows through to the very end. Pure, silky texture. Fascinating aftertaste of ripe fruit, yet it’s fresh and tense. Some orange peel, too. Glorious at the end. So well crafted and pointed. This needs another three to five years to integrate but already extremely impressive.” 
Wine Advocate 95+ points “Showing an inky dark appearance and made with old-vine fruit, the Siro Pacenti 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Vecchie Vigne has a note of baked blackberry pie with the crust, raspberry preserves, barbecue smoke, cigar box and every other rather extreme aromatic description you could apply to a heavily barrique-aged red wine. It’s overblown for sure, especially at this young age, but experience teaches us that Siro Pacenti’s wines need time, lots of time, before all the elements fall into palace. The alcohol is registered at 15%, and there are jackhammer tannins to close. Some 22,000 bottles were made, and they should be put aside for another 10 years.”
Vinou 95 points “The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Vecchie Vigne is intense, bursting from the glass with a blend of rosemary and spiced blood orange before evolving to show dried black cherries and hints of incense. This flows across the palate with velvety textures complicated by tactile mineral tones and zesty acidity as cool-toned red and black fruits slowly saturate. A web of fine-grained tannins envelops the senses as the 2019 finishes dramatically long and staining, leaving traces of cedary spice and inner rose to linger on and on. This is a formidable VecchieVigne that will pay dividends in the cellar. Drink: 2026-2039.”

Siro Pacenti, Rosso di Montalcino Pelagrilli 2021 750ml $59 special, 36 bottles available
Wine Advocate 92 points “The 2021 Rosso di Montalcino drinks more like a Brunello than it does a Rosso. The wine shows dark but vibrant fruit with blackberry and blackcurrant. There is earthy spice, cola and smoke. The wine is powerful and full throttle (with a 15% alcohol content that you can’t overlook) with a rich, medium-weight mouthfeel. It also shows good structure and young tannins. Production is 15,000 bottles.”