Wine Advisor
Frescobaldi, CastelGiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2016
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
The Frescobaldi 2016 Brunello di Montalcino CastelGiocondo shows dark fruit, plum and spice. The wine offers good density and richness, but the aromatic intensity is downplayed compared to some of its peers from this classic vintage. Other than that, all the wine's elements are in the right place with cherry, wild plum, rose and tilled earth. Production is an ample 300,000 bottles.
Reviewed by: Eric Guido
Sour cherries, spiced orange and dusty dried flowers open in the glass, as the 2016 Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino slowly blossoms. The textures are creamy, contrasted by cooling minerality and juicy acids, as tart red berries saturate under an air of sweet herbs and inner florals. This finishes dry yet long, with chewy tannins and remnants of crunchy red fruit. The 2016 Castelgiocondo needs some time to come together, yet it has all of the balance necessary to mature into a real beauty.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Black-cherry and blackberry aromas with minerals and fresh flowers, following through to a full body with firm, silky tannins that are polished and intense. Lovely finesse and length. Drink after 2023.
About the Producer
A commitment to viticulture and to agriculture in general has always been a prominent hallmark of the Frescobaldi family, who have been producing wine in Tuscany for seven hundred years, beginning in the early 1300s. And that family history is filled with illustrious ancestors: literary figures, explorers, musicians, financiers, bishops, and statesmen. The Frescobaldi archives boast many ancient documents and historical registers, such as commercial contracts with an array of European Courts, beginning in the 13th century. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Florentine wine house furnished wine to the Court of England and to the Papal Court in Rome, amongst others. Even earlier, the Frescobaldis had established relationships and commercial ties with the workshops of numerous artists, among them Donatello, Michelozzo Michelozzi, and Filippo Brunelleschi. Around the year 1000, the first members of the familymoved to Florence from the Val di Pesa, where their most ancient agricultural estate, the Tenuta Castiglioni, still flourishes today. In that era, the cities in Italy’s centre and north were making impressive advances economically, politically, and financially, to the detriment of the then-dominant feudal system. The noble families began settling in the cities, attracted by the commercial and political advantages offered by the urban agglomerations. The Frescobaldis established their presence in the Oltrarno district of Florence, in the Piazza de’ Frescobaldi, where they built their palazzo, covered loggia, and tower. In 1252, Lamberto Frescobaldi constructed the first bridge, built of wood, over the Arno, today’s Ponte Santa Trinita, to connect his own properties with Florence’s historic centre. In 1855, the forebears of the family introduced hitherto unknown vine varietals in Tuscany, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Nero and Chardonnay, paving the way for the future. The 20th century was characterised by the activities of Vittorio, Ferdinando and Leonardo Frescobaldi, who elevated Tuscany to a place of excellence for viticulture. Today, as President, Lamberto Frescobaldi aims to use his significant expertise in the field to further strengthen the uniqueness of the wines of each family estate.
