By Cortonesi
La Manella Brunello di Montalcino 2019

Tasting Notes
A rich ruby red with orange reflections. The nose is deep and complex with notes of dark fruit on the first wave, followed by soft spices, toasted almond, tilled earth, and grilled herbs. The nose follows through to the palate, accented by a playful touch of sweet cherry on the close.

Viticulture
The grapes for this wine come from the heart of Montalcino, on 20 acres of family-owned vines situated both on a 1,000-foot hill on the north side of the city (near the Montosoli Zone) and on the southeast side (in the East Zone). One of the coolest growing areas in the appellation, at a moderate 1,150 feet above sea level. The soil on the north side is rocky clay, with excellent sun exposure and many stones, while the soil on the south side is clay with sandy soil of good drainage. 2019 was a near-perfect harvest and a historic vintage, marked by Sangiovese's true acidity and freshness. It offers the same great structure as hallmark vintages like 2016 and 2010.

Vinification
After careful selection of the hand-picked grapes, fermentation with maceration takes place for 20 days in stainless steel vats at controlled temperatures between 78.8 and 86 degrees F. The wine then spends 36 months in 3,000-liter Slavonian oak casks. The combination of the Cortonesi family's great passion for winemaking, high altitude, soil diversity, and traditional winemaking practices gives La Mannella Brunello di Montalcino great finesse, elegance, and immense aging potential.

Family
Brunello di Montalcino of Tuscany has been called "the king of wines," and this "king" is what Cortonesi specializes in. The Cortonesis established La Mannella in the '70s, covering 138 acres in one of the most storied areas of the Montalcino region. Only 19 of those acres are dedicated to producing world-class Brunello. They began selling their wine commercially in 1985. And today, the wines are in the more-than-capable hands of Tommaso Cortonesi, a third-generation winemaker. The first vintage of Cortonesi's Brunello came in 1990, which took advantage of the rocky, well-drained soils of the vineyard site, ensuring a long-aging wine. Modern technological advances, too, go a long way in producing outstanding wine.

Wine Details
Producer: Cortonesi
Region: DOCG Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany
Grapes: 100% Sangiovese
Alcohol: 14.50%
Total Acidity: 6 g/L
Residual Sugar: 0 g/L
pH: 3.4
[Information provided by Quintessential Wines]

Wine: La Mannella di Cortonesi Brunello di Montalcino La Mannella 2019
Score/Rating: 95
Suggested Drinking Window: Best from 2027 through 2043
Review Date: 06/30/2024
Reviewed By: Bruce Sanderson
Tasting Notes: Offering black currant, blackberry, floral, mineral and underbrush flavors, this red shows some muscle, ending with a terrific aftertaste of ripe fruit, mineral and vegetal accents. This feels balanced overall, but needs some time for the dense tannins to integrate fully. Best from 2027 through 2043.

Wine: Cortonesi, La Mannella, Brunello di Montalcino, Tuscany, Italy 2019
Score/Rating: 95
Suggested Drinking Window: 2025 - 2037
Review Date: 11/13/2023
Reviewed By: Michaela Morris
Tasting Notes: To the north of Montalcino, La Mannella is situated in one of the coolest corners of the zone. Plots [...], where the soil alternates from yellow to red, then brown clay and finally river stones. Tight and flinty to begin with, it then reveals a gorgeous purity of lilac and orange florals. Precise and well-sculpted, the palate presents a black cherry backdrop framed by powdered, textured tannins which creep up and build to quite an assertive grasp while remaining polished and elegant. Lovely spaciousness and freshness here.

Wine: Cortonesi 2019 La Mannella Sangiovese (Brunello di Montalcino)
Score/Rating: 94
Review Date: 09/01/2024
Reviewed By: Danielle Callegari
Tasting Notes: The nose has an abundance of earthy, savory aromas, including old leather, damp soil, mushrooms and balsamic, with just barely sweet undertones of dark chocolate and black cherry. The palate continues to balance dark fruit with that nearly smoky savoriness, while tannins add complexity without disrupting a silken sensation in the mouth.

Wine: 2019 Cortonesi Brunello di Montalcino La Mannella
Score/Rating: 94
Suggested Drinking Window: 2025 - 2038
Review Date: 12/14/2023
Reviewed By: Monica Larner
Tasting Notes: The Cortonesi 2019 Brunello di Montalcino La Mannella is broader and richer and showing more dark fruit and less mineral compared to the Poggiarelli. This wine offers a jammy berry quality with sweet raspberry and wild strawberry. There is mild tobacco with clean earth and a hint of something balsamic like rosemary sprig. The mouthfeel shows fine but drying tannins that you feel far after the fruit has faded from the palate. La Mannella is a more horizontal and fleshed-out wine compared to its sibling.

Wine: Cortonesi Brunello di Montalcino La Mannella 2019
Score/Rating: 94
Suggested Drinking Window: After 2026
Review Date: 09/15/2023
Reviewed By: James Suckling
Tasting Notes: Pretty sweet-berry and cherry aromas with hints of cedar and crushed stones. Medium body, fine tannins and a fresh finish. Tight and refined. Give it two or three years to open. Best after 2026.

Wine: Cortonesi 2019 Brunello di Montalcino La Mannella
Score/Rating: 93+
Suggested Drinking Window: 2026 - 2034
Review Date: 12/2023
Reviewed By: Eric Guido
Tasting Notes: The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino La Mannella is simply stunning, enticing with a whiff of cooling smoke that gives way to mentholated herbs, blackberries and blood orange. It caresses the palate with silken textures as a polished wave of ripe red and black fruits slowly saturates the senses, leaving a coating of fine tannins in its wake. La Mannella tapers off long and structured, with a licorice tinge, as minty herbal tones add lift, and residual acidity keeps the mouth watering for more. The balance within is spell-binding, yet even so, the 2019 will require patience to come fully into focus.

Wine: 2019 Cortonesi Brunello Di Montalcino La Mannella
Score/Rating: 90
Suggested Drinking Window: 2024 - 2028
Review Date: 02/28/2024
Reviewed By: Audrey Frick
Tasting Notes: Ripe and inviting, the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino La Mannella displays a ruby color and opens in the glass to notes of raspberries, a touch of blue fruit, candied flowers, menthol, and sweet herbs. Medium to full-bodied, it is easygoing and open on the palate, with supple tannins, a rounded mid-palate, a soft cushion of fruit, and mineral undercurrents. It’s a very elegant and graceful wine with a pliant texture, and although it’s very well made, I think it’s in its prime window for drinking over the mid- and near-term. Drink 2024-2028.

Wine: Cortonesi La Mannella 2019 Brunello di Montalcino
Score/Rating: 90
Suggested Drinking Window: Drink 2027-2034
Review Date: 12/2023
Reviewed By: Kerin O'Keefe
Tasting Notes: Leather, botanical herb, oak and lavender aromas waft out of the glass on the 2019 La Mannella from Cortonese. Firm and full-bodied, the palate is rather austere, suggesting bitter orange, pomegranate, coconut and roasted coffee bean alongside astringent tannins that grip the finish. Drink 2027-2034.

Wine: Cortonesi, La Mannella 2019 Brunello di Montalcino
Score/Rating: 17.5/20
Suggested Drinking Window: 2026 - 2036
Review Date: 11/14/2023
Reviewed By: Walter Speller
Tasting Notes: Lustrous ruby with orange tinges. Compact and still a little closed on the nose with the faintest hint of oak. With aeration stony notes emerge. Same embryonic impression on the palate with a thick layer of fantastic, gravelly tannins. Finely balanced and right now with a gripping structure - but this needs more time. It will be worth the wait.