Pian delle Querci: Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2019

Mandarin juice, blood orange, jasmine. Not what you’d expect straight away from a Brunello Riserva, yet that’s what my first note on the Pian delle Querci Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2019 says. Six months later I tasted it again and met a very different wine: closed, austere, the fruit locked away. Until it had spent an hour in a decanter.

What a Riserva has to be

A standard Brunello di Montalcino can go on sale on 1 January of the fifth year after harvest. A Riserva has to wait a year longer. Both need at least two years in wood, then four months in bottle for a standard Brunello and six for a Riserva.

Pian delle Querci, the family estate of winemaker Vittorio Pinti, goes well past that. Only the best fruit goes into the Riserva. After a long stay in new 50-hectolitre Slavonian botti, medium toast and no barrique, the wine rests at least twelve more months in bottle.

How it’s made

One hundred percent Sangiovese Grosso, the local Sangiovese that Brunello is made from. Fermentation runs in small stainless steel tanks under temperature control. During the long maceration the juice is alternately pumped over the skins and drained off them, which draws depth from the skins without making the wine heavy.

2019 was a hot, powerful year in Montalcino. Even so, my note reads more citrus and flowers than weight.

Tasting Note

Tasting Note

Nose

Aromatically rich. Red plum and wild strawberry up front, with mandarin juice, blood orange and lemon zest. Underneath, a floral layer: rose petal, pink grapefruit, jasmine and elderflower.

Palate

Medium-plus body. Precisely extracted tannins inside a harmonious structure.

Finish

Long, with a clear build. Subtle, modern and incisive.

Quality

One of the sharpest examples of what Pian delle Querci can do with a serious Brunello vintage.

Six months later

In spring 2025 the same Riserva 2019 was poured at La Grande Bellezza in Amsterdam, next to the house’s Brunello 2020. The nose was still elegant, with orange peel. But on the first sip it was closed and austere, and the fruit held back. After the formal tasting we went back to it, decanted, and it opened up. By the main course it was at its best.

A year later I saw the same pattern in the house’s Riserva 2020: locked at first, opening only with light and air. Twice isn’t a rule, but with this house I’d count on it.

My advice

In my first note I wrote that it drinks beautifully now, with an hour in a decanter. That still holds, but the hour isn’t optional, it’s a condition. Open it and pour straight away and you get the austere, closed version. Decant generously, or leave it lying down: until 2030 to 2035 is the window in which it should show its complexity.

The second caveat is about what you’re looking for. If Brunello Riserva means dark fruit, leather and power to you, this is something else: citrus, flowers and precision. Beautiful, but not the classic power Riserva.

For anyone after top-level Brunello Riserva without Biondi-Santi prices, it’s still a recommendation. With patience.

Producer

Pian delle Querci, Montalcino

Wine

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG

Vintage

2019

Region

Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy

Grape

Sangiovese Grosso (100%)

Winemaking

Small stainless steel tanks, long maceration, pump-overs and délestage

Ageing

New 50 hl Slavonian botti, at least 12 months bottle

Drinking window

Decant or wait, until 2030-2035

Sources

• My own tasting notes, autumn 2024, and La Grande Bellezza, Amsterdam, spring 2025
• Pian delle Querci (official): piandellequerci.it
• Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino: consorziobrunellodimontalcino.it, for the Brunello and Riserva rules