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Castello Banfi's Montalcino Super Tuscan blends Cabernet and Merlot with Sangiovese and Syrah, then a year in barrique. Expect blackberry, plum and tobacco over soft, broad tannins. A polished, grilled-meat red that drinks well now.
Castello Banfi vinifies each variety separately before blending and ageing the wine a year in barrique. The result, echoed across nearly 14,000 Vivino reviews, leads with blackberry and plum, then oak-driven tobacco and vanilla, over a soft, broad tannin texture.
Blackberry and plum jam lead, the dark-fruit core that more than 500 Vivino reviewers name first. A year in barrique layers tobacco, vanilla and a graphite edge over the fruit, lifted by violet. Liquorice and a hint of black olive mark it out as a Montalcino blend rather than a straight Bordeaux red.
Violet
Black cherry
Blackberry
Plum
Tobacco
Leather
Black pepper
Liquorice
VanillaFull-bodied and, as Banfi intends, pleasantly soft: the tannins are broad and ripe rather than gripping, shaped by the hot 2022 season. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot carry blackcurrant and plum, while a quarter-share of Sangiovese keeps acidity and a savoury, cherry-skin grip underneath. Oak spice and a walnut note run through the middle.
Savoury and medium-long, with oak spice and tobacco trailing the dark fruit. Firm enough for char, soft enough to enjoy on release.
An accessible, internationally-styled Super Tuscan that over-delivers for the money: Vivino's crowd rates it around 3.9 across nearly 14,000 ratings, and the 2022 a little higher. Drink it over the next several years alongside grilled red meat.
UK merchants list the 2022 vintage at roughly 25 to 31 pounds, a fair shelf price for a Montalcino Super Tuscan from a producer with a strong Wine Spectator record on older vintages.
A six-axis read on this Cabernet and Merlot-led Tuscan red with a Sangiovese spine, from everyday drinking to special-occasion pours.
Broad but soft tannins, dark fruit and a Sangiovese acid spine make it a natural with grilled and roasted red meat.
A polished Super Tuscan from a famous Montalcino estate, dressed and priced for a dinner-party red.
An approachable, fruit-forward, oak-polished blend with recognisable Cabernet and Merlot character and no austere edges.
At GBP 25 to 31 it sits above the Toscana IGT average, but estate fruit, a four-grape blend and Banfi's critical pedigree justify the premium.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
A compact view of what the Toscana denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
Compare tracked offers from verified retailers at a glance. Stock is shown only where the retailer exposes it. Logos, sale pricing, and the strongest offer are surfaced first.
A scorching, drought-hit 2022 cut yields across Montalcino, with rain at the end of July rescuing the crop. Harvest came in a week or more early, and the surviving fruit was dense and concentrated, lending the wine ripe alcohol and broad tannins.
A hot, drought-hit 2022 in Montalcino, rescued by late-July rain, gave low yields of dense, concentrated fruit picked early. The wine shows ripe, broad tannins and slightly elevated alcohol, and is good for medium-term drinking through the late 2020s.
A hot, drought-hit 2022 in Montalcino, rescued by late-July rain, gave low yields of dense, concentrated fruit picked early. The wine shows ripe, broad tannins and slightly elevated alcohol, and is good for medium-term drinking through the late 2020s.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Estate fruit from Banfi's 2,830-hectare Montalcino property, four varieties vinified separately, and a year of barrique ageing sit behind the price. Its Toscana IGT status, rather than Brunello DOCG, keeps it well below the estate's flagship reds.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Toscana is in the IGT tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Toscana falls within Tuscany , covering Arezzo · Firenze · Grosseto · Livorno · Lucca · Massa Carrara · Pisa · Pistoia · Prato · Siena.
Banfi grows the Cabernet, Merlot, Sangiovese and Syrah on its own land between the Orcia and Ombrone rivers, costlier than buying in negoce fruit.
Each grape is fermented and aged 6 to 8 months apart before blending and a further 6 to 8 months in oak, tying up cellar space and barrels.
Drought concentrated the fruit but lowered volume across the 2022 harvest, raising the cost per bottle.
Wine Spectator scored the 2021 vintage 95 points; that reputation supports the 25 to 31 pound UK shelf price.
A shorter ageing requirement and the IGT tier keep it far below Banfi's Brunello, which sells from around 36 pounds.
UK excise duty of about 2.67 pounds a bottle at 2026 still-wine rates plus 20 percent VAT add roughly 7 pounds to the near-28 pound price.
Dishes that complement this wine
Firm tannins and dark fruit call for fat and char. Tuscan grilled beef, lamb ragu, ossobuco and aged pecorino all give the wine something to cut through.
Broad, ripe tannins bind to the fat and char of a rare-grilled steak while the dark fruit stands up to smoke. This is the wine's home-turf pairing in Tuscany.
Try with: Bistecca alla Fiorentina · grilled T-bone · charred ribeye · More pairings →
Cabernet and Merlot tannin slices through fatty, sweet lamb, and the savoury Sangiovese edge picks up rosemary and roast-pan notes.
Try with: Rack of lamb · lamb shank · leg of lamb · More pairings →
A full body and soft tannin match the weight of roasted red meat and its trimmings, the oak spice playing off the caramelised crust.
Try with: Sunday roast beef · roast lamb with mint sauce · beef wellington · More pairings →
The Sangiovese share keeps acidity high enough to cut slow-cooked, tomato-rich ragù and the marrow richness of ossobuco, refreshing each forkful.
Try with: Agnello Ragu Lucano · Ossobuco alla Milanese · More pairings →
Oak-given sweetness and dark fruit balance the salt and crystalline bite of well-aged pecorino, while tannin keeps the finish clean.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · aged pecorino · More pairings →
Skip lean white fish, oysters and raw greens: the firm tannin and oak overwhelm delicate, briny or bitter flavours and can turn the wine metallic.
Skip with: oysters · sushi · sole · bitter leaf salad · Pairing guide →
This is a medium-term wine rather than a decades-long Brunello. The concentrated 2022 drinks well now and should reward keeping into the late 2020s.
Peak around 2026. Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Only a year of barrique and bottle ageing before release; the concentrated 2022 will hold five to seven years but is not a long-haul wine.
£25.49 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 28 Jul 2026, 17:47 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumA Bordeaux-leaning Super Tuscan from Banfi, blending Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese and Syrah as a Toscana IGT.
Ripe blackcurrant and plum with cocoa and sweet spice from oak ageing, in a smooth, medium to full body.
Grilled red meat, lamb, roast game and mature cheese.
Drinks well on release and holds for several years; the oak and structure benefit from a little bottle age.
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