Blueberries with violets, dark olives and a touch of charcoal. The palate has voluminous, pretty fruit restrained by some tight yet polished tannins. Concludes compact and firm. Best after 2026.

The single vineyard bottling of Campo del Drago from Castiglion del Bosco comes from a high elevation parcel of their Brunello vineyards. It was first bottled on its own in the 1999 vintage. Because of the higher elevation, this wine comes in just a touch lower in octane than the 2020 117 Normale, tipping the scales at fourteen percent octane. It is handled identically in the cellars to the regular bottling, with fermentation done with indigenous yeasts and aging done in twenty percent new oak. The 2020 Campo del Drago delivers a superb aromatic constellation of red and black cherries, plums, brown spices, Cuban cigars, a mineral-infused base of soil, incipient notes of nutskin and a delicate framing of new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a stunning core of fruit, great mineral undertow, fine-grained tannins and impeccable balance on the long, seamless, complex and beautifully vibrant finish. Simply outstanding juice in the making and one of the best young Brunellos I have tasted in quite some time! 2037-2075+. 

Castiglion del Bosco’s 2020 Brunello di Montalcino normale is an outstanding young wine. The wine comes in at 14.5 percent octane in this vintage and was raised in its customary twenty percent new oak. It offers up a deep and beautifully sappy bouquet of plums, black cherries, cigar wrapper, a lovely foundation of soil tones, gentle Tuscan herb tones, woodsmoke and a deft framing of cedary oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a fine core of fruit, excellent soil signature and grip, ripe, buried tannins and excellent balance on the long and complex finish. This is excellent young Brunello! 2035-2075+.

The Castiglion del Bosco 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Campo del Drago (with 10,000 bottles made) comes from a panoramic plateau of vineyards. The rich bouquet is shaped by dark fruit, tobacco, sauna cedar and campfire ember. The oak imparts spice, but it also lends a soft and fleshy quality to the wine. Despite the aromatic intensity on hand, the wine is leaner than expected in terms of mouthfeel. This is a trait I find across many of these new releases from 2020, although I expect we can count on these wines to put on more volume with bottle age.

The Castiglion del Bosco 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is a softly enriched and contemporary interpretation of Sangiovese in which ripeness and oak aging play big roles in shaping the final product. The wine is plush and soft and definitely feels like it is geared to an international palate that is less interested in the acidic sharpness and rigidity of traditional Brunello. Blackberry and dried cherry cede to cured tobacco and barbecue ash. The finish is on the dry side. This is an ample 100,000-bottle release.