Wine Enthusiast 97
Editor's Choice
"This delicious, bold red offers inviting aromas of fragrant blue flowers, spiced plum, forest floor and pipe tobacco. Full and enveloping in feel, it delivers a great depth of juicy black cherry, black raspberry, licorice and baking spice flavors framed in velvety tannins. Drink 2025–2032."

Wine Advocate 93
"Generous, layered and rich, the Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona 2017 Brunello di Montalcino shows the generous fruit and deep layering that identifies this vintage. It also delivers a powerful 15% alcohol. This edition (with 69,000 bottles made) shows a bright note of sweet cherry that features strongly both on the bouquet and the palate. The wine shows lots of soft fruit with almond, spice and wild rose. From a hot and dry vintage, this Brunello is probably best suited to a near or medium-term drinking window."

James Suckling 93
"Aromas of cedar, berry, mushroom and burnt orange follow through to a full body with medium, chewy tannins and a fluid, flavorful finish. Not overdone. Drink after 2023."

The Wine
A great-value Brunello di Montalcino as a compliment to their legendary, single-vineyard bottlings from the Pianrosso site. Fermentation takes place in a combination of stainless steel and cement vats. Wine is then aged for 2.5 years in 20-75 hectoliter Slavonian oak barrels, followed by approximately 1 year in bottle before release.

The Estate
Ciacci Piccolomini is one of the most sought-after producers in all of Italy. This ancient estate has 35 hectares of superior holdings in the prized Castelnuovo dellAbate zone, including the Pianrosso vineyard (meaning red field, a reference to the iron rich soils) and the Fonte vineyard, which produces grapes for the Rosso di Montalcino.

Plantings of Syrah, Cabernet, and Merlot are to the south, where the Orcia river provides a milder microclimate. The non-traditional wines are as exciting as the Brunello and Rosso: Ateo, which means atheist, is a statement against the restrictive laws that govern winemaking in Italy; the wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. 100 Syrah Fabius is one of the greatest expressions of that variety in Italy and Parker once called it the finest Italian Syrah I have tasted. The estate is a member of the EU Lotta Integrata movement, which promotes reduced use of chemicals and organic viticulture; at Ciacci, fertilization is organic, and pruning and harvest are done by hand.

Vineyard Management: The guidelines of organic agriculture are followed and the full range of wines will be certified organic by 2020. Only sulfur- and copper-based products are used. The area is sheltered by Mount Amiata and enjoys excellent air circulation. Only organic fertilizers are used (there is a cattle farm nearby for manure). The soil between the rows of vines is tilled and no herbicides are used. Minimum dosages of SO2 is used in the wines.

Farming Practice:Practicing Organic