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Artisan Wine · Montalcino, Tuscany · One Family, Three Labels
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600 Cases Made · Never Meant For Export
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Andrea Cortonesi · Castelnuovo dell'Abate
| Vinous 96 |
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Jeb Dunnuck 96 |
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Tasting Bestseller |
Only 17 Bottles Left - Last Call
Andrea Never Meant
For You To Have This One.
Six hundred cases, no export plan, and one critic who could not keep it to himself. Voliero is the Brunello Uccelliera made for its own table, and it was the runaway bestseller of our Tuscany tasting.
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Voliero Brunello 2019 · Uccelliera Brunello 2019 · Uccelliera Rosso 2023
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A Personal Note
Dear Artisans,
My favourite thing about Voliero is that Andrea Cortonesi never intended for you to drink it.
He made it for himself. A few small parcels high on the hill, six hundred cases, no importer, no export plan, no particular interest in your opinion. Then in 2010 Antonio Galloni turned up at the estate, was poured some, and flipped his lid — the winery’s own phrase, not mine.
You cannot un-flip a critic’s lid.
The wine found an audience abroad more or less immediately, and Andrea has spent the fifteen years since dutifully making his private Brunello for a public that was never supposed to know about it. There are worse problems.
Now the part that actually matters, and the reason I keep pushing these on people. Uccelliera was part of Ciacci Piccolomini until 1986, when Andrea bought his piece of it from his friends and former employers. There is an American version of that story where a man buys the company he works for. The Tuscan version ends with better wine and, I assume, some very carefully worded conversations at Christmas.
What he bought was a specific patch of ground. Uccelliera’s vines sit at around 150 metres on the warm southeastern shoulder of Castelnuovo dell’Abate, right beside Pianrosso — the cru that made Ciacci’s name and the bottle most people reach for when they want to explain what southern Montalcino tastes like.
That adjacency is not trivia. It is the whole reason these wines feel the way they do. The silky, velvety mouthfeel people associate with Pianrosso, and the sappy freshness underneath it that keeps a big Brunello from turning into a warm bath, is the corner of the hill talking rather than one winery’s technique. Uccelliera drinks like the wine from next door because it is the wine from next door.
Voliero then takes the same hands, the same stubbornly minimal winemaking, and moves 200 metres straight up. Same DNA, thinner air. You keep the texture and you gain lift, precision, and a menthol snap the warmer site simply cannot produce. Vinous called it silky and enveloping yet lifted and full of energy, and then, in an actual published tasting note, wrote the word Wow.
"Wow" really undersells this. One sip and you'll see. Only 17 bottles left
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One · The Secret Label
Voliero Brunello di Montalcino 2019
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100% Sangiovese · 200 Metres Above Uccelliera · 30 Months In Slavonian Oak
Two high-altitude sites, Castelnuovo dell’Abate and Sant’Angelo in Colle, on clay, off vines fifteen to twenty-five years old. Cold soak at ten to twelve degrees, spontaneous fermentation in steel for three weeks, then thirty months in large Slavonian and French casks of twenty to fifty hectolitres. Nothing clever. Nothing added. Andrea calls it the classic blend of Montalcino Brunello — a modest way of saying he built the version he personally wanted to drink.
Crushed cherries, mint leaf, clove and dusty roses. Silky through the middle, saline and spicy at the close, with tart cranberry fading out over edgy tannin. Roughly six hundred cases exist. It outsold everything else at our Tuscany tasting, which is what happens when you put a secret in front of people.
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96
Vinous
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95
Ian D'Agata
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94
Jeb Dunnuck
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93
Suckling
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93
Wine Advocate
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93
Wine Enth.
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All Six Reviews · Word For Word
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Vinous · Eric Guido
96 Points
"A mentholated freshness introduces the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino, as a vibrant wave of crushed cherries, mint leaf, clove and dusty roses make up its absolutely gorgeous bouquet. This is silky and enveloping yet lifted and full of energy, with crunchy red berry fruits that leave a crackle of primary concentration toward the close. It finishes pretty saline and spicy in character, leaving edgy tannins to mingle with a residual bump of acidity that maintains a wonderfully fresh sensation as tart cranberry notes fade. This is one of the most exciting young renditions of Voliero I have ever tasted. It captivates with its precision and spry personality while holding depths of complexity in reserve. Wow." Dec 2023 · Drink 2025-2040
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Ian D'Agata · Terroir Sense
95 Points
"Medium bright deep red. Expressive aromas of red cherry, tobacco, mocha and underbrush are lifted by notes of tar and licorice. Sweeter and pliant on entry, with a risingly tannic texture to the dark plum, red cherry and smoky underbrush flavours. Quite concentrated and powerful, with bright acidity focusing the flavours on the long back end. Drinking window: 2032-2045."
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Jeb Dunnuck
94 Points
"A medium red/garnet hue, the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino is sunny and expressive with ripe cherries, blood orange, cypress pine, and incense notes. Medium to full-bodied, it floats across the palate with ripe tannins, even-keeled fresh acidity, and a chalky texture through the finish. It’s a very appealing wine that will improve if given another year or two." Audrey Frick, Feb 2024
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James Suckling
93 Points
"Aromas of dried fruits, figs and tobacco leaves with an underlying nutty note. Refreshing acidity. Medium to full-bodied. Savory yet succulent finish. Better after 2026." Sep 2023
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Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
93 Points
"The Voliero 2019 Brunello di Montalcino has ripe cherry fruit and blackberry, with soft and ripe layering throughout. This wine shows the rich and plump side of 2019, a vintage that offers more concentration than average. Dark fruit flavors cede to spice, earth and toasted chestnut husk. This wine shows solid, chalky tannins." Monica Larner, Dec 2023
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Wine Enthusiast
93 Points
"The nose features savory aromas of earth, tar, gunpowder, balsamic, herbs, leather and black cherry. Sweet strawberries and cherries on the palate are light and bright, while flexible tannins provide structure to an overall umami feel." Danielle Callegari, 2025
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Elsewhere $80.00
Our Price · Save $10
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$69.97 |
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Two · The Flagship, Next Door To Pianrosso
Uccelliera Brunello di Montalcino 2019
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Castelnuovo dell'Abate · 150 Metres · Beside Ciacci's Pianrosso
This is the powerful one. Where Voliero gets altitude and lift, the home estate gets warmth, and the flavour profile goes exactly where you would expect it to go from a hillside that faces the sun — chocolate, leather, and amarena, the sour cherry every southern Montalcino drinker knows on sight. Licorice, anise, cedar, espresso and dark soil, full-bodied, with the creamy mid-palate that this corner of the hill hands out and almost nowhere else does.
Nine major critics have reviewed the 2019 and not one of them put it below 93. Five of them are at 95 or better, including two 96s. Vinous, having praised it thoroughly, signed off with three words: bury it deep.
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96
Jeb Dunnuck
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96
R. Vecchione
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95
Wine Advocate
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95
Kerin O'Keefe
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95
Vinous
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Every Review At 95 And Above
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Jeb Dunnuck
96 Points
"A ripe red color, the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino is expressive of its place, with warming notes of licorice, black cherries, anise, cedar, and dark soil lifting from the glass. As it opens, it becomes purer in its fruit profile, shining through beautifully. Full-bodied, with ripe tannins and a savory slanting profile, notes of espresso and mocha float across the palate. It’s a fantastic Brunello with a warming richness that will be best enjoyed over the next 15 years." Audrey Frick, Feb 2024
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Raffaele Vecchione
96 Points
"Fresh and vibrant on the nose, it shows notes of cherries, currants, raspberries, tangerine peel and pink grapefruit. Medium-full body, decidedly elegant and refined tannins and a finish of great personality that enlivens the graceful and performing sip. Best since 2026."
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Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
95 Points
"The Uccelliera 2019 Brunello di Montalcino offers ripe fruit, a note of cooked blackberry and pomegranate juice. Along with oak spice and dried bay leaf, there is a spot of creaminess on the mid-palate that recalls cheese rind or aged chevre with a crust of black pepper and thyme. The wine returns to dried cherry with a medicinal or herbal twist. There’s a lot going on. It is elegant now but poised to improve." Monica Larner, Dec 2023
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Kerin O’Keefe
95 Points
"Aromas of scorched earth and truffle mingle with blue flower, leather and pipe tobacco on the bold 2019 Brunello from Uccelliera. It’s full-bodied and concentrated but also has great energy, delivering fleshy raspberry, black cherry extract, dried mint and licorice before a nutty close. Tightly wound, close-grained tannins provide firm support while bright acidity keeps it vibrant and balanced."
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Vinous · Eric Guido
95 Points
"Brooding yet intense, the 2019 Brunello di Montalcino bursts from the glass with a wave of autumnal spices, crushed cherries, cedar shavings and steeped plums lifted by pine hints. This is deeply textural, elegant and refined, with a dense wave of ripe wild berry fruits, all guided by vibrant acidity. It finishes grippy and extended with a black hole of tension. Bury the 2019 deep in the cellar." Dec 2023
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Elsewhere $110.00
Our Price · Save $30
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$79.97 |
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Three · The One We Cannot Keep In Stock
Uccelliera Rosso di Montalcino 2023
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Young Brunello Vines · 10 Months In Oak · 5 Months In Bottle
Same vineyards, same hands, younger vines, and a fraction of the price. This comes off Andrea’s Brunello parcels, spends ten months in cask and five more in bottle — and arrives tasting like a Brunello somebody already did the waiting for. Violets, blood orange, red cherry, black pepper, and velvety tannins over crisp acid.
2023 was a hard year in Montalcino. Peronospora took a quarter of the crop, and the consolation prize was lower alcohol and unusual freshness. At $34.97 it is the bottle I would put on a Tuesday table without a second thought, and it will happily hold for the next eight to ten years if you can leave it alone. Nobody leaves it alone. That is why we keep running out.
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94
James Suckling
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92
Vinous
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92
Jeb Dunnuck
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All Three Reviews · Word For Word
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James Suckling
94 Points
"An intense and perfumed wine full of violets, blood oranges, red cherries and pepper. The attack is soft, with a medium body, velvety tannins, crisp acidity and a savory finish. Juicy and delicious. Drink or hold." Dec 2024
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Vinous · Eric Guido
92 Points
"The 2023 Rosso di Montalcino is remarkably pretty, captivating with an exotic burst of wildflowers, blood orange and stone dust before giving way to crushed black cherries. This is soft and round yet shows its minerality up front, with a salty tinge emphasizing its ripe wild berry fruit. It finishes with outstanding length. This is a total pleasure to taste. Yields in 2023 were down by 25% due to the peronospora outbreak, however the season also blessed this bottling with lower alcohol levels and outstanding freshness." Nov 2024
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Jeb Dunnuck
92 Points
"The ruby red 2023 Rosso di Montalcino is fruity with aromas of mixed berries, sweet herbs, and fresh flowers. It’s medium-bodied, with good structure and a ripe feel, although it retains good freshness. This lovely wine casts a wide net and can be enjoyed throughout a meal. Drink over the coming 8-10 years."
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Elsewhere $40.00
Our Price
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$34.97 |
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How To Choose, If You Insist On Choosing
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Voliero, if you like your Brunello lifted. Two hundred metres of extra altitude buys you menthol, precision and a spry, nervy energy. It is the most exciting of the three right now and the hardest to find anywhere. |
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Uccelliera, if you like it powerful. Warmth, chocolate, leather and sour cherry from the ground beside Pianrosso, with tannins built for the long haul. Two 96s, and the cellar is where it wants to go. |
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The Rosso, if you want to drink something tonight. Thirty-four ninety-seven for the same vineyards and the same philosophy, ready now, and good for another decade. This is the one our customers buy repeatedly and quietly. |
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All three, if you want to understand Montalcino. One winemaker, one southeastern corner of the hill, three altitudes and three price points — open them in a row and the geography explains itself better than any of us could. |
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The Bottom Line
He tried to keep one of these
to himself. It did not work.
A man buys a corner of Ciacci Piccolomini from his own bosses, plants himself next to Pianrosso, and forty years later has three wines that all taste like that piece of ground and nothing else. The flagship at $79.97, the secret one at $69.97, and the Rosso at $34.97 that drinks like something twice the money. Take whichever suits your week. Take all three and you have the hill.
Cin cin,
— James Tran
Artisan Wine & Spirits · Mountain View, CA
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Call 650-917-8080, text 650-880-3553, email sales@artisan.wine, or chat with us
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