Pre-Arrival SG60 Offer: ETA end Sept 2025
Tasting Notes & Reviews
Vintage 2020
"Fattoria dei Barbi is a historic estate with family winemaking roots that span all the way back to 1352, as impossible as that may sound. The 2020 Brunello di Montalcino reflects an authentic identity for Sangiovese with sour cherry, blue flower, grilled herb and toasted spice. The wine has fine tannins, a snappy style and a hint of bitterness that should subside with more years in the cellar. This is a big production of 150,000 bottles." 94/100, Monica Larner, Robert Parker, Nov 2024
Vintage 2019
"Offering a clean and bright fruit profile, the Fattoria dei Barbi 2019 Brunello di Montalcino shows plum, dark cherry and blackberry. The fruit presented in this vintage is fresh, velvety, nicely contoured and still tastes quite primary in nature. This bodes well for the wine's future bottle evolution. The tannins are slightly chalky but supported by rich texture. This is from a widely distributed production of 160,000 bottles that will hit the market in January 2024. Great job here." 95/100, Monica Larner, Robert Parker, Dec, 2023
Vintage 2017
"Lightly dried fruit with citrus and cherry character. Medium body with fresh acidity and a linear and bright finish. Lively and delicious for the vintage. Drink now or hold." 93/100 James Suckling, Nov 2021
"The Fattoria dei Barbi 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is quite rich and velvety in appearance and in sensation. The wine carries extra fruit weight that is linked to the warm and dry conditions of the vintage, and that richer core is a sounding board for ripe and plummy fruit aromas. I can smell the oak barrels too, and although they don't impart obvious spice or toast, they add soft, earthy contours to this full-bodied Brunello. This ample 158,000-bottle release offers an accessible personality overall." 92/100, Monica Larner, Robert Parker, Feb 2022
Vintage 2016
"The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a delicate and graceful wine. It shows the precision, linearity and power of the vintage for sure, but it also delivers floral tones, bright raspberry, toasted almond and a playful touch of medicinal herb that shape a careful and contemplative bouquet. Those bright aromatic nuances are followed by silky tannins and softly finessed fruit flavors. With an ample 160,000 bottles made, this is a solid go-to Brunello, especially if you are looking for a bottle with a relatively accessible drinking window." 94+/100, Monica Larner, Robert Parker, Dec 2020
"Dark and minerally intense from start to finish, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino displays crushed stone and ashen earth tones before blossoming further with notes of black cherry, cedar box and sage. The textures are creamy, with cooling acids that lift the expression while also maintaining an energetic feel, as tart wild berries and spices give way to a coating of fine tannins. This is full of character, yet youthfully poised and tense, but it’s like a bomb waiting to explode. Fattoria dei Barbi really overdelivers in 2016, but it will be a number of years before this is truly ready to drink." 94/100, Eric Guido, Vinous, Nov 2020
The Estate
How often do we come across families which can trace history and lineage back for over 7 centuries? Colombini family that runs Fattoria dei Barbi is one such family. The second oldest estate in Montalcino, it's pioneer non pareil. The estate extends over 306 hectares (around 757 acres) at Montalcino and Scansano. Stefano Cinelli Colombini, heir of the ancient Sienese line that has been present in Montalcino since 1352, runs this family property. Stefano and Fattoria Dei Barbi have also been key contributors in helping Montalcino develop into the current attraction to the outside world.
The Fattoria has always been a careful custodian of tradition, but also attentive to innovation and a pioneer in every sphere of winemaking. It was the first firm in Montalcino to export bottled wine to France (1817), the first to sell Brunello by mail order (1832), the first to export it to America (1962), England (1969) and Japan (1975). In the 1960s the estate was a pioneer in using organic fertilizers, in the 1990s it created the first “artificial nose” for analyzing wine, and in 2000 was one of the first to use carbon dioxide for cold fermentation of red wines.
The 66 hectares of the farm have an average density of about 5,000 vines and produce on the average less than 1.5 kg of grapes per vine; thus each vine produces only a little more than one bottle of wine. The philosophy of the Colombini family and the Fattoria dei Barbi has always been to know and study the most innovative technology and then wed it to the best tradition, so as to improve everything they produce without ever changing its distinguishing characteristics.
Ancestors of the estate have also been known to be the first family who started mail order wine delivery in Tuscany! So ahead of their times!
Tasting Notes & Reviews
Vintage 2020
"Fattoria dei Barbi is a historic estate with family winemaking roots that span all the way back to 1352, as impossible as that may sound. The 2020 Brunello di Montalcino reflects an authentic identity for Sangiovese with sour cherry, blue flower, grilled herb and toasted spice. The wine has fine tannins, a snappy style and a hint of bitterness that should subside with more years in the cellar. This is a big production of 150,000 bottles." 94/100, Monica Larner, Robert Parker, Nov 2024
Vintage 2019
"Offering a clean and bright fruit profile, the Fattoria dei Barbi 2019 Brunello di Montalcino shows plum, dark cherry and blackberry. The fruit presented in this vintage is fresh, velvety, nicely contoured and still tastes quite primary in nature. This bodes well for the wine's future bottle evolution. The tannins are slightly chalky but supported by rich texture. This is from a widely distributed production of 160,000 bottles that will hit the market in January 2024. Great job here." 95/100, Monica Larner, Robert Parker, Dec, 2023
Vintage 2017
"Lightly dried fruit with citrus and cherry character. Medium body with fresh acidity and a linear and bright finish. Lively and delicious for the vintage. Drink now or hold." 93/100 James Suckling, Nov 2021
"The Fattoria dei Barbi 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is quite rich and velvety in appearance and in sensation. The wine carries extra fruit weight that is linked to the warm and dry conditions of the vintage, and that richer core is a sounding board for ripe and plummy fruit aromas. I can smell the oak barrels too, and although they don't impart obvious spice or toast, they add soft, earthy contours to this full-bodied Brunello. This ample 158,000-bottle release offers an accessible personality overall." 92/100, Monica Larner, Robert Parker, Feb 2022
Vintage 2016
"The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a delicate and graceful wine. It shows the precision, linearity and power of the vintage for sure, but it also delivers floral tones, bright raspberry, toasted almond and a playful touch of medicinal herb that shape a careful and contemplative bouquet. Those bright aromatic nuances are followed by silky tannins and softly finessed fruit flavors. With an ample 160,000 bottles made, this is a solid go-to Brunello, especially if you are looking for a bottle with a relatively accessible drinking window." 94+/100, Monica Larner, Robert Parker, Dec 2020
"Dark and minerally intense from start to finish, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino displays crushed stone and ashen earth tones before blossoming further with notes of black cherry, cedar box and sage. The textures are creamy, with cooling acids that lift the expression while also maintaining an energetic feel, as tart wild berries and spices give way to a coating of fine tannins. This is full of character, yet youthfully poised and tense, but it’s like a bomb waiting to explode. Fattoria dei Barbi really overdelivers in 2016, but it will be a number of years before this is truly ready to drink." 94/100, Eric Guido, Vinous, Nov 2020
The Estate
How often do we come across families which can trace history and lineage back for over 7 centuries? Colombini family that runs Fattoria dei Barbi is one such family. The second oldest estate in Montalcino, it's pioneer non pareil. The estate extends over 306 hectares (around 757 acres) at Montalcino and Scansano. Stefano Cinelli Colombini, heir of the ancient Sienese line that has been present in Montalcino since 1352, runs this family property. Stefano and Fattoria Dei Barbi have also been key contributors in helping Montalcino develop into the current attraction to the outside world.
The Fattoria has always been a careful custodian of tradition, but also attentive to innovation and a pioneer in every sphere of winemaking. It was the first firm in Montalcino to export bottled wine to France (1817), the first to sell Brunello by mail order (1832), the first to export it to America (1962), England (1969) and Japan (1975). In the 1960s the estate was a pioneer in using organic fertilizers, in the 1990s it created the first “artificial nose” for analyzing wine, and in 2000 was one of the first to use carbon dioxide for cold fermentation of red wines.
The 66 hectares of the farm have an average density of about 5,000 vines and produce on the average less than 1.5 kg of grapes per vine; thus each vine produces only a little more than one bottle of wine. The philosophy of the Colombini family and the Fattoria dei Barbi has always been to know and study the most innovative technology and then wed it to the best tradition, so as to improve everything they produce without ever changing its distinguishing characteristics.
Ancestors of the estate have also been known to be the first family who started mail order wine delivery in Tuscany! So ahead of their times!