Frescobaldi CastelGiocondo Brunello di Montalcino (2017)

CastelGiocondo 2017 has an intense, bright ruby-red color. Like every vintage, 2017 brought with it a wonderfully elegant quality. The bouquet features fruity aromas, particularly at the beginning, with notes of raspberry, blackcurrant and even pomegranate. The beautifully harmonious and alluring hints of violet and rose are truly wonderful. Gradually, its maturity becomes truly remarkable, revealing spiced hints of white pepper, clove and star anise, toasted notes and more complex roasted notes and hints of licorice. On the palate, the tannic structure is dense, and the mineral quality is wonderful. This is an incredibly harmonious wine with a long, persistent finish.

Tasting Notes

95 Decanter
Supple and generous in terms of acidity, crushed velvet-textured tannins and herbal-edged red berry fruit - mouth filling and lively. This has character and definition, so youthful still, with tannins on the ripe, grippy side but there is nice underlying spice and touches of bitter orange peel, cinnamon and toasted cedar alongside more delicate rose and violet floral elements all of which come in waves presenting themselves one after the other building to a harmonious and characterful crescendo on the finish. Structured and persistent with depth and lasting power. Totally captivating.

93 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Frescobaldi 2017 Brunello di Montalcino CastelGiocondo is one of those wines that has seen slight tweaks and stylistic changes over the past 10 years, going from an abundant, large-scale generic Tuscan red to a more subdued and authentic interpretation of the cool Montalcino territory. I'd say that the transition has been smooth and not obvious, unless you were especially attentive. Despite the hot-vintage character of this sample, the wine freely dispenses of wild berry, crushed stone and red rose aromas. This is an ambitious production of 300,000 bottles.

93 James Suckling
Dark-cherry and walnut aromas with some dried flowers. Cedar comes through as well. It’s full-bodied with round, juicy tannins.

92 Wine Enthusiast
Smooth and full-bodied, this offers aromas of menthol, violet and baked plum with a whiff of scorched earth. The enveloping palate features fleshy black cherry, licorice and mocha framed in crushed velvet tannins that leave a firm finish.

90 Wine Spectator
A tightly-woven version, the cherry, berry and earth flavors quickly give way to beefy tannins. Leans to the dry, tannic side in the balance, yet has fine length. Best from 2025.