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Castello Banfi's Montalcino Super Tuscan blends Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 18 months in French oak barriques. Powerful yet silky, with cassis, cherry jam, tobacco and coffee over sweet tannins. A cellar red for bistecca and aged pecorino.
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Castello Banfi's Bordeaux blend spends 18 months in small French oak barrels, and it shows: cassis and plum wrapped in tobacco, coffee and cocoa. Oak, dark fruit and leather are its signature, and drinkers like it year after year.
Cassis and dark plum lead. Then comes the signature Castello Banfi builds with 18 months in small French oak barrels: tobacco, coffee and cocoa, lifted by licorice. Oak, tobacco and chocolate are the loudest aromas, with cherry jam and spice behind. The cool, rainy 2018 shows the freshest, most lifted fruit of recent releases.
Coffee
Black cherry
Blackberry
Plum
Tobacco
Leather
Oak
Liquorice
CocoaCabernet Sauvignon frames the structure while Merlot fills the mid-palate, the 2019 blend running roughly 60% Merlot to 40% Cabernet. It is full and powerful, with a thick but silky texture, carried on sweet, fine-grained tannins off limestone and sandstone soils. At 14.5 to 15% alcohol it is generous without heat, the dark fruit edged by leather and earth.
The finish is long and persistent, closing on espresso, dark chocolate and a savoury tobacco-leaf note rather than sweet fruit. Oak still shows on the younger 2019 and wants a few years to fold in.
ExcelsuS is Castello Banfi's flagship Bordeaux blend, a cellar wine for drinkers who want Tuscan power with French-oak polish. It scores 93 to 95 from Parker and Suckling, and drinkers like it year after year. The structured 2018 is approachable now; the exceptional 2019 deserves patience and rewards a decade in the cellar.
ExcelsuS is made only in stronger vintages and bottled in 0.75 and 1.5 litre formats. The UK listings here span the cool-year 2018 and the exceptional, Suckling-94 2019, from about GBP 58.
75cl · 2018: £57.99, 1 UK retailer
75cl · 2019: £75.58, 1 UK retailer
A cellar-built, occasion-grade Super Tuscan: strong on food and ageing, lower on everyday value given its GBP 58-plus price and heavy oak.
Structured Cabernet-Merlot with sweet tannins and fresh acidity; a natural match for red meat, game and aged cheese.
Eighteen months in French oak, dense tannin and proven 10-year-plus ageing (the 1998 is still well liked) make this a genuine cellar wine.
A low-volume flagship Super Tuscan with 90-plus critic scores, made for special occasions and gifting.
Approachable Bordeaux-blend fruit, but heavy oak, firm tannin and a high price make it a step beyond a first Italian red.
At GBP 58 to 76 it sits well above Tuscan-red norms; critic scores of 93 to 95 justify it for collectors, but it is no everyday value.
A premium price and cellar-built structure put ExcelsuS far outside everyday drinking.
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.
The cool, rainy 2018 gave a fresher, more lifted ExcelsuS; the warm, acclaimed 2019 is denser and built for the long haul. Both carry Banfi's 18-month barrique signature.
An outstanding Tuscan vintage; the 2019 is a 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet blend of real concentration and balance, James Suckling 94 and Falstaff 92. Dense and oak-framed, it needs a few years and will reward keeping toward 2040.
A cool, rainy Montalcino season gave a fresher, more aromatic ExcelsuS with lifted dark fruit and slightly softer structure than warm vintages. Robert Parker 93, James Suckling 95. Drinking well now, with room to develop into the mid-2030s.
An outstanding Tuscan vintage; the 2019 is a 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet blend of real concentration and balance, James Suckling 94 and Falstaff 92. Dense and oak-framed, it needs a few years and will reward keeping toward 2040.
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.
ExcelsuS is grown on limestone and sandstone soils at Banfi's Poggio alle Mura estate in Montalcino, and made since 1993. It has drawn critic scores of 93 to 95.
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.
Winery
Montalcino
Wine area
Producer: Castello Banfi, Montalcino. Directions
Banfi caps ExcelsuS at 60 quintals per hectare on its Poggio alle Mura slopes and makes it only in stronger vintages, so volumes stay small and the fruit cost per bottle is high.
ExcelsuS is skipped in weaker years, so the label carries the cost of unmade vintages and trades on a scarcity that underpins its GBP 58 to 76 UK price.
Critic scores of 93 to 95 and a steady following among drinkers let Banfi price ExcelsuS as a flagship, well above its everyday Tuscan range.
UK excise duty on still wine is GBP 2.67 a bottle at 2026 rates, and 20% VAT on a GBP 58 bottle is about GBP 9.67, so roughly GBP 12 of the shelf price is UK tax before any margin.
ExcelsuS is estate-grown and bottled at Montalcino, then imported through Banfi's UK channel, adding shipping, importer and retailer margin on a premium SKU.
Dishes that go with this wine
ExcelsuS has the tannin and body for Tuscany's grilled and braised meats. Bistecca alla fiorentina, brasato, ossobuco and aged pecorino all stand up to its oak and grip.
The Cabernet half gives firm tannin; the protein and fat of a bistecca or a slow braise bind those tannins so the wine tastes rounder, while its 18-month barrique oak echoes the char and browning.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · Brasato al Barolo · Ossobuco alla Milanese · More pairings →
ExcelsuS has the body and grip to cut through fatty lamb, and its dark fruit and licorice lift rosemary, garlic and slow-roast richness without being overwhelmed.
Try with: Agnello Ragu Lucano · Rack of lamb · Lamb shank · More pairings →
The wine's full body matches gamey meat, and its earthy, leather notes bridge to venison and duck rather than fighting them.
Try with: Venison Stew · Roast Pheasant · Duck breast · More pairings →
The salt and crystalline age of a hard pecorino tame the wine's tannin and oak; Castello Banfi themselves recommend ExcelsuS with aged cheeses.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · aged pecorino · mature Parmigiano · More pairings →
The wine's own coffee, cocoa and tobacco, its loudest notes, mirror deeply browned, slow-cooked dishes and meet them note for note.
Try with: Brasato al Barolo · Ossobuco alla Milanese · More pairings →
The 2019's fresh acidity, measured at 4.93 g/l, keeps pace with tomato-and-wine braises and ragu so the wine stays lively rather than turning flat against the acidity of the sauce.
Try with: Agnello Ragu Lucano · Brasato al Barolo · Ossobuco alla Milanese · More pairings →
High chilli heat amplifies the wine's 14.5 to 15% alcohol and barrique tannin, turning it hot and bitter, while delicate raw fish and oysters are flattened by its power and oak.
Skip with: fiery vindaloo · sweet-and-sour pork · sushi · fresh oysters · Pairing guide →
With 18 months in small French oak barrels and firm, sweet tannins, ExcelsuS keeps. The 2018 drinks from 2023 into the mid-2030s. The exceptional 2019 will reward a decade or more, and older vintages like the 1998 are still well liked by drinkers.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Aim for the cooler end on a warm day; warmer end opens up more aromatics.
Eighteen months in French oak, dense tannin and proven 10-year-plus ageing (the 1998 is still well liked) make this a genuine cellar wine.
£52.00 for a 75cl bottle of the 2020, at XtraWine, is the best price we track, and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page several times a week. Last refresh: 6 Nov 2026, 06:20 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic. Drinkers score it 4.2 out of 5 from 666 ratings on Vivino.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, from how this wine is made, UK duty and VAT and the price shops charge for it today. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumAny advice here on keeping this wine is general, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand. Drinking years, where shown, belong to the vintage named beside them.
Confidence · MediumBanfi's premium Bordeaux-blend Super Tuscan, a Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot Toscana IGT from Montalcino.
Concentrated blackcurrant, black cherry and cocoa with firm but polished tannins and a long, oak-framed finish.
A wine built for the cellar, typically rewarding eight to fifteen years; decant young bottles.
Bistecca, rib of beef, venison and rich braises.
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How retailer prices are sourced.
Prices and stock are read from each retailer’s public product page several times a week. Outbound buy links carry rel="nofollow sponsored noopener". The list is sorted by price; we do not accept payment for placement.
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IGT
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