Pian delle Querci Brunello 2021: cheerful but young
Pian delle Querci Brunello di Montalcino 2021: ripe red fruit and raspberries, classic Brunello, but the earthy layer is still missing. My tasting note.
2021 counts as an excellent vintage in Montalcino, and you notice it in the cheer in the glass. Pian delle Querci Brunello di Montalcino 2021 gave plenty of ripe red fruit and raspberries, classic Brunello. Yet this is a wine with its best days still ahead, and I say that without hesitation. I tasted it at La Grande Bellezza in Amsterdam.
Pian delle Querci Brunello 2021 in brief
The wine is one hundred percent Sangiovese Grosso, simply called Brunello in Montalcino. The grapes grow on a tufaceous clay soil rich in stones, at 250 metres, with 4,000 vines per hectare. After a medium-long maceration with intense pump-overs, letting the temperature rise freely to 33 degrees, the wine ages 36 months in young Slavonian oak. The result: soft, fine-grained tannins and a graceful finish.
Tasting Note
Appearance
Light ruby, the tint I consider classic Brunello.
Nose
Plenty of ripe red fruit, with cheerful raspberries up front. Behind them spicy leather, exactly what you expect from Brunello.
Palate
Ripe and approachable, with that same red fruit and a spicy edge. The tannins are soft and fine, the structure elegant rather than powerful.
Finish
Fruit-driven and neat, though everything still feels a touch young.
Quality
A fine, approachable 2021 that shows the charm of the vintage. What is missing is the earthy depth that will make this wine complete.
Here is my critical note. What disappointed me was the earthy layer: the damp earth and mushroom that make a mature Brunello so compelling were barely present yet. For me that could have been more. It is not a fault, it is youth. The building blocks are there, they just need to fuse.
Next to La Fortuna
At the same tasting, La Fortuna’s Brunello 2021 stood alongside it. Same appellation, same vintage, and yet two different wines. Pian delle Querci warmer and fruitier, La Fortuna cooler and more closed, with chili, tobacco and cacao next to the strawberry.
La Fortuna sits on the cooler northwest side of Montalcino and started picking on 25 September. Site and picking date explain more than any brochure. If you want to understand Pian delle Querci, taste it next to a Brunello from a cooler spot.
Drink or keep? I would wait. Best from 2028 according to the house, and that seems fair. Open it now and you miss the earthy development that lifts this wine to its potential. Lay it down.
- Producer
- Pian delle Querci
- Wine
- Brunello di Montalcino 2021
- Vintage
- 2021
- Region
- Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy
- Grape
- Sangiovese Grosso (100%)
- Ageing
- 36 months young Slavonian oak
- Soil
- Tufaceous clay, rich in stones, 250 m
- Alcohol
- 13.5%
Sources
- Pian delle Querci (official): piandellequerci.it
- Consorzio Vino Brunello di Montalcino: consorziobrunellodimontalcino.it
- La Grande Bellezza (tasting): lagrandebellezza.com
Tasted at La Grande Bellezza 2026 in Amsterdam. No partnership, independent assessment.
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