2017 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova, Tuscany

This is one of my all-time favorite Brunellos, and although personal tastes are fluid and may change from time to time, there is something timeless and solid about this wine. It's like a touchstone. The Casanova di Neri 2017 Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova is graced with a similar interlude of elegant rose or crushed flower that we saw in the annata wine. It appears more prominently here, and with more shape and focused intensity. Make no mistake, Giacomo Neri builds wines for pleasure and sensual impact, and this wine (helped by a hot growing season and 15% alcohol) ticks all those boxes. But it also shows floral elegance and sour cherry freshness that defies our expectations of the vintage.

96 points Monica Larner robertparker.com

Graphite, talcum and chalk are the primary scents of remarkable beauty and rarity which describe the primary profile of this young Brunello. In the secondary matrix notes of salted caramel, chopped almonds and mixed white flowers which suggest magnolia, hawthorn and jasmine slowly emerge. Full bodied, fine grain soft tannins and a juicy, biting finale which motivates a return to the glass. Professionals in a difficult year. Better from 2023.

95 points Raffaele Vecchione winescritic.com

Rich, bright garnet red. Intense nose with notes of pomegranate, beetroot, then lots of plum and dark cherry. Hearty and gripping on the palate, dark berry fruit, then opens up with lots of dense tannins, firm drive on the finish.

96 points falstaff.com

Full-bodied, with muscular tannins supporting a ripe and transparent core of dark cherry, plum and blueberry fruit. Balanced and well done for the vintage. Chewy. Drinkable now but better in a couple of years.

94 points jamessuckling.com

Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova is one of the most influential Brunellos of the modern era, a wine that helped shift perceptions of Montalcino in the late 1990s and early 2000s while remaining deeply rooted in Sangiovese tradition. The Tenuta Nuova estate lies on the eastern side of Montalcino at higher altitude, where galestro, clay and stony soils naturally restrict vigour and encourage deep root systems. These vineyards experience warm, sunny days and cool nights that slow ripening, preserving acidity and aromatic detail while allowing full phenolic maturity. Casanova di Neri was founded in 1971 by Giovanni Neri, one of the pioneers of Brunello’s rise, and today the estate is led by his sons Giacomo and Gianlorenzo Neri, who continue to refine the style with a strong focus on vineyard expression, low yields and meticulous cellar work. Tenuta Nuova, first released with the 1993 vintage, was conceived as a single estate Brunello that could express the full potential of this side of Montalcino, and it quickly became one of the appellation’s most sought after wines.

In the glass Tenuta Nuova shows a deep ruby core that slowly opens to reveal layers of black cherry, dark plum, sour cherry, rose petal, tobacco, cedar, spice and a subtle balsamic note that speaks of both Sangiovese and the Montalcino landscape. The palate is powerful yet beautifully composed, with dense red and dark fruit framed by firm, fine grained tannins and a long, savoury, mineral driven finish. Despite its intensity, there is a wonderful sense of balance and freshness, a hallmark of the estate’s high altitude vineyards. It is a superb match for bistecca alla fiorentina, roast lamb, wild game, porcini mushrooms and aged pecorino, and it is built for long aging, evolving effortlessly for twenty five years or more as truffle, leather, dried herbs and forest floor complexity emerge. Tenuta Nuova is a Brunello that combines modern precision with classical soul, offering both immediate impact and extraordinary longevity.