I have reviewed five wines from Ciacci Piccolomini, from the 2020 to 2024 vintages, across Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalcino. All are Sangiovese. Scores range from 92 to 96, averaging 94; the highest is the 2021 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona “Pianrosso” Brunello di Montalcino (96 points). Ciacci Piccolomini also features in one journal article on this site.
Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona lies in the warm southern reaches of Montalcino near Castelnuovo dell’Abate, and is one of the appellation’s most beloved names. The property’s heritage reaches back to the 17th century, and in 1985, in a fairy-tale turn of events, it was inherited by Giuseppe Bianchini, a farmer on the estate.
Southern Montalcino can produce baked, heavy wines; Ciacci avoids that trap. The Brunello di Montalcino comes mainly from the vineyards around the winery, including younger vines in the Pianrosso site, and is fermented in stainless steel and glass-lined concrete and aged in large Slavonian oak. Generous and polished in a warm year like 2020, it snapped with energy in 2021: Mediterranean scrub, cracked earth, blood orange and sour cherry on sandy, saline tannins.
Pianrosso is the big gun: a sun-drenched amphitheatre of red, iron-rich galestro that gives a dark, brooding Brunello of crushed iron, wet stone and wild mint, massive yet never fat, with monumental tannins built for the cellar. In 2021 it yielded a wine of remarkable depth.
If Rossofonte is the Bianchini family’s single-vineyard statement, this is the Rosso that built Ciacci Piccolomini’s reputation with a generation
2024 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Rosso di Montalcino Read Post »
Ciacci Piccolomini makes two Rossi, and this is the one with the pedigree. The Fonte vineyard — 1.4 hectares planted
2023 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona “Rossofonte” Rosso di Montalcino Read Post »
Then there’s Pianrosso. This is the big gun. It comes from a sun-drenched amphitheater of red, iron-rich galestro soil, and
2021 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona “Pianrosso” Brunello di Montalcino Read Post »
Look, Ciacci Piccolomini is absolute royalty in Castelnuovo dell’Abate. But let’s be brutally honest for a second: the southern sector
2021 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino Read Post »
If 2019 was operatic and 2020 was sunny, 2021 is the year of transparency. This is a vintage that vibrates with energy, defined by significant diurnal shifts that locked in soaring aromatics and “al dente” fruit profiles. Moving away from sheer muscle, the 2021 Brunellos are architectural and nervy, showcasing a savory, saline grip that speaks clearly of the Montalcino soil. For the collector who values elegance and tension over weight, this is a sophisticated, “intellectual” vintage that promises a fascinating evolution in the cellar.
The 2020 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona is a phenomenal Brunello that delivers the richness and power of the Castelnuovo dell’Abate subzone.
2020 Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona Brunello di Montalcino Read Post »
