Wine Advisor
Casanova di Neri, Brunello di Montalcino 2018
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Description
Casanova di Neri proudly produces the White Label Brunello since 1978. Their passion and love for the land and their own distinctive Sangiovese joined together to make a wine that stands out for elegance, finesse, high quality and long ageing potential.
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Lots of clean cherry and plummy character to the nose and palate. Medium- to full-bodied with dense, chewy tannins and a long finish. Lovely freshness of fruit here, but give the tannins a year or two to sink in. 40th anniversary bottling. Best from 2024.
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
With a special commemorative label that celebrates its 40th birthday (1978–2018), the Casanova di Neri 2018 Brunello di Montalcino is lush and carefully concentrated to offer intensity and textural richness. The bright fruit remains intact in this wine, with plenty of cherry and blackberry, in an encouraging nod to the future cellar potential of this bottle. Many Brunellos from this vintage reveal faded or dried fruit, but thankfully not this wine. The acidity is mild, falling softly to the background, and the tannins are expertly managed. Only the finish is a bit leaner and quicker than anticipated. The wine ages in large oak casks for 42 months, and this year's production is an ample 105,000 bottles. Happy anniversary.
Reviewed by: Eric Guido
The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino keeps me coming back to the glass to take in its pretty bouquet of dusty florals, exotic spices and dried strawberries. This is like pure silk on the palate, seamless and supple, with depths of dark red fruit and mineral tones that add a more tactile feel toward the close. Balsam herbs, cedar and tobacco all resonate throughout the long and dramatic finale, as fine tannins frame the experience with youthful poise. As is often the case, Casanova di Neri is a master at creating one of the region's most balanced and enjoyable “entry-level” Brunellos.
About the Producer
Casanova di Neri is founded by Giovanni Neri, a 48-year-old grain merchant from the town of Montevarchi in the Arno valley south of Florence. Passionate about wine, Neri had long dreamed of making a great Italian red, and although the long-established wine zone of Chianti Classico was just on his doorstep, it was remote Montalcino and its austere Sangiovese wines that fascinated him. Brunello di Montalcino had achieved DOC (controlled origin) status just four years previously, and there were still only around thirty producers in the whole area, compared to more than 250 today. One rural property on the market had caught Neri’s attention during his frequent forays to Montalcino: Podere Casanova, a working farm of around 200 hectares on the eastern side of town. Wine represented only a small part of the farm’s production at the time, and what was made was sold in bulk, but Neri recognized that thanks to its altitude, aspect and soil composition, the place had the potential to make great Brunellos. In May 1971, he bought Podere Casanova, changed its name to Casanova di Neri, and in consultation with some of Tuscany’s leading winemakers, immediately began work to restore the estate’s existing Sangiovese vines and plant new ones.
