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Ridolfi's classic Brunello: 100% Sangiovese from the cooler north-east slope of Montalcino, three years in big Slavonian casks. Cherry, violet and tobacco over firm, salty tannins. Four vintages, 2016 to 2019, from £46 a bottle in the UK.
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Ridolfi's sheet lists dark berries, cherry, violet and sweet spice. On Vivino, drinkers mention red fruit most (381 mentions), then leather and forest floor (301), then the tobacco and vanilla that come from three years in big oak casks (248).
Ridolfi's own sheet lists dark berries, cherry, violet and sweet spice with a balsamic edge. Drinkers on Vivino mention red fruit most (cherry and raspberry, 381 mentions), then leather and forest floor (301). Corney & Barrow's taster found tobacco leaf and bitter chocolate in the 2019, and Wine Enthusiast found anise, fennel and sage in the 2018.
Violet
Blackberry
Cherry
Raspberry
Tobacco
Forest Floor
Leather
Liquorice
CocoaFull-bodied but not heavy: 14% alcohol, or 14.5% in the riper 2019. The acidity is fresh and the tannins are firm and, in the producer's own word, salty. Up to 60 days on the skins in steel tanks and three years in big old casks give grip without any new-oak sweetness. The 2017 and 2018 are softer and rounder; the 2016 and 2019 are tighter and built to keep.
Long and savoury, with tar and dried herbs in Corney & Barrow's notes and a peppery, citrus edge that WineNews picked out in the 2019. The tannins hold on after the fruit fades.
This is the estate's classic Brunello, the most affordable of its four, from 13.5 hectares (about 19 football pitches) on the cooler north-east slope. Drink the 2017 and 2018 now to 2031 with red meat; cellar the 2016 and 2019 to the mid 2030s. Drinkers rate it 4.2 on Vivino across 6,835 ratings and praise its purity of fruit; the one recurring tip is to give it half an hour in a decanter.
Corney & Barrow imports Ridolfi exclusively and lists the 2017, 2018 and 2019 at £46.14 to £62.85 a bottle; the 2017 and 2019 prices are per bottle in a case of six. Field & Fawcett in York has the 2016 at £59.85. Buy the 2018 to drink now and the 2019 to keep.
High for food and cellar, low for everyday: this is a £46 to £63 red that wants a proper meal and a decanter. Value holds up because critics score it 92 to 94 points while the price sits below the average for the Brunellos listed on this site.
Fresh Sangiovese acidity and firm, salty tannins were made for red meat, game and hard cheese, the three pairings on Ridolfi's own sheet.
Three years in cask before release, 14 to 14.5% alcohol and firm tannins: Corney & Barrow's window for the 2019 runs to 2036.
Brunello di Montalcino carries the name, and Ridolfi carries Tre Bicchieri and Gambero Rosso's Emerging Winery 2021 award.
At £46 to £63 a bottle it sits below the average price of the Brunellos listed on this site, with 92 to 94 point scores from Wine Enthusiast, Decanter and James Suckling.
A firm, 14% red that wants a decanter and a proper meal; the softer 2018 is the friendliest place to start.
At £46 or more a bottle, and best after half an hour of air, this is a weekend wine rather than a Tuesday one.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
A compact view of what the Brunello di Montalcino denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
The Consorzio del Brunello rated 2016 and 2019 five stars and 2017 and 2018 four. Ridolfi's sheets show 14% alcohol for 2016 to 2018 and 14.5% for the riper 2019. The estate sits on the north-east slope, which Gambero Rosso calls the cooler side of the hill.
Five stars from the Consorzio del Brunello, its top mark. Ridolfi picked between late September and early October and gave the wine 40 days on the skins; at 14.5% it is the ripest of the four and the firmest. Corney & Barrow's window runs 2026 to 2036, and Wine Review Online says it can age for two decades.
Four stars in the official vintage rating. Jancis Robinson's team called 2018 a challenging Brunello year to enjoy young, yet Ridolfi's scored well: Wine Enthusiast 94, Decanter 94, James Suckling 93. Corney & Barrow finds tar, roses and a herbal edge, and gives a 2023 to 2031 window, so this is the lighter, ready-now vintage.
Four stars in the official vintage rating. This is the ripe, open one. Vinous found crushed raspberry, cherry sauce, tobacco and tomato leaf and called it soft and pure (89 points). Corney & Barrow notes an easy sweetness of fruit with tar and dried herbs on the finish. Drink now to 2031, and expect less grip than the 2016 or 2019.
Five stars from the Consorzio and the critics' favourite: a Decanter World Wine Awards Gold at 95 points, and Wine Enthusiast (92) found menthol, forest floor, tobacco and a salty mineral note. On Vivino the 2016 sits among the top 1% of all wines, with 789 ratings at 4.2. Drinking now and good to the mid 2030s.
Five stars from the Consorzio del Brunello, its top mark. Ridolfi picked between late September and early October and gave the wine 40 days on the skins; at 14.5% it is the ripest of the four and the firmest. Corney & Barrow's window runs 2026 to 2036, and Wine Review Online says it can age for two decades.
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.
Gambero Rosso named Ridolfi its Emerging Winery of 2021 and gave the 2015 Brunello Tre Bicchieri. Wine Enthusiast scored the 2018 94 and the 2019 93, Decanter gave the 2018 94, and the 2016 won Gold with 95 points at the Decanter World Wine Awards. WineNews in Italy tagged the 2019 a Best Buy.
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.
Brunello di Montalcino is in the DOCG tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Brunello di Montalcino falls within Tuscany, covering Comune di Montalcino, Toscana.
Wine route
Half a day to a full day · 4 stops
Open the drive
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Montalcino
Made at Ridolfi, Montalcino. Directions
Wine route in the zone: Brunello and Rosso loop.
Ridolfi keeps this Brunello 36 months in large Slavonian oak casks and at least 12 months in bottle, so the 2019 only reached shops in 2024. Money tied up for four years is built into every bottle's price.
13.5 hectares of Brunello vines (about 19 football pitches), picked by hand in small crates, with three green harvests a season and organic farming. WineNews puts the 2019 at 62,000 bottles.
Corney & Barrow sells Ridolfi as one of its exclusive wines, so few UK shops compete on price. Its 2018 is £49.95 a bottle; the 2017 and 2019 are £46.14 and £62.85 per bottle in a six-bottle case.
Gambero Rosso's Emerging Winery 2021 and Tre Bicchieri for the 2015, plus 94 points from Wine Enthusiast and Decanter for the 2018, keep Ridolfi in demand among Brunello buyers.
Duty on a 75cl bottle at 14% is about £3.21 (£3.33 at 14.5% for the 2019), and VAT is 20% of the shelf price: about £8.33 on the £49.95 2018. Around £11.50 of that bottle is tax.
Ridolfi makes four Brunellos. This is the one it makes most of, aged in big old casks rather than the small new barrels used for the Donna Rebecca. A Riserva must age at least a year longer by law, so this annata is the estate's everyday Brunello.
Dishes that go with this wine
Ridolfi's own sheet says juicy red meat, game and hard cheese. The firm, salty tannins want protein and fat: a Fiorentina steak, a Sunday roast or a venison stew. Keep it away from chilli heat, which makes 14% alcohol taste hot.
Ridolfi's tannins are firm and, in the estate's own word, salty. Beef protein and fat grab those tannins and soften them, so the wine turns silky and the meat tastes sweeter. The producer's own sheet puts juicy red meat first.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · Brasato al Barolo · Ragu alla bolognese · Ribeye steak · More pairings →
Sangiovese keeps its fresh acidity even at 14%, and that acidity cuts through roast fat, gravy and crisp potatoes. The cherry and tobacco notes sit naturally beside roast beef or lamb. Corney & Barrow's note on the 2018 calls it succulent, which is what a roast needs.
Try with: Sunday Roast Beef · Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce · Leg of lamb · More pairings →
Vivino drinkers log 301 mentions of leather and forest floor in this wine. Porcini and truffle share that earthy smell, so the plate and the glass echo each other. Three years in big casks add a savoury depth that a mushroom risotto matches without any meat.
Try with: Porcini mushroom risotto · Tagliatelle al tartufo di Acqualagna · Truffle risotto · More pairings →
Ridolfi lists game on its own sheet. Venison and pheasant have deep, slightly sweet flesh that stands up to a full-bodied Brunello. The dried-herb and tar notes Corney & Barrow found in the 2017 suit a slow game stew.
Try with: Venison Stew · Roast Pheasant · Roast Duck · More pairings →
Hard cheese is the third pairing on Ridolfi's sheet. Salt in aged pecorino softens the firm tannins, and the cheese's fat rounds the wine out. Keep to hard, aged cheeses; soft or blue cheeses fight the tannin.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · Cheese board
Chilli makes 14% alcohol taste hot and bitter, and it strips the cherry fruit away. Sweet sauces make a dry Brunello taste sour by comparison. Save this bottle for savoury food.
Skip with: Crispy chilli beef · Szechuan beef · Sweet and sour pork · Pairing guide →
Yes, on the evidence. Corney & Barrow's window for the 2019 runs to 2036, and Wine Review Online says it can age for another two decades. The 2016, a five-star year, sits among the top 1% of wines on Vivino and is drinking now with years still ahead of it.
Peak around 2031. Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Three years in cask before release, 14 to 14.5% alcohol and firm tannins: Corney & Barrow's window for the 2019 runs to 2036.
£46.14 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: 13 Sep 2026, 01:40 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 · MediumIt is 100% Sangiovese, as every Brunello di Montalcino must be. Ridolfi grows it on the north-east slope of the Montalcino hill at 300 metres, on clay soils with marine fossils, and picks by hand in late September or early October.
About four years. The estate keeps it 36 months in large Slavonian oak casks, then at least 12 months in bottle, so the 2019 reached shops in 2024. Brunello rules demand two years in wood and four years in total before sale; Ridolfi gives it three in wood.
For keeping, the 2019 or the 2016: the Consorzio del Brunello gave both five stars, its top mark. For drinking now, the 2018 is the lightest and the 2017 is ripe and open. In the UK the 2017 is £46.14, the 2018 £49.95 and the 2019 £62.85 a bottle at Corney & Barrow; Field & Fawcett has the 2016 at £59.85.
Ten to fifteen years from the vintage is a safe guide. Corney & Barrow gives the 2019 a window of 2026 to 2036 and the 2017 and 2018 a window to 2031. Wine Review Online says the 2019 can age for another two decades. Give any of them half an hour in a decanter first.
The Ridolfi estate at Mercatali, on the north side of Montalcino, owned since 2011 by Giuseppe Valter Peretti. Gianni Maccari has run the winemaking since 2014 after 14 years at Poggio di Sotto. Gambero Rosso named Ridolfi its Emerging Winery for 2021 and gave the 2015 Brunello Tre Bicchieri.
Ridolfi says its vineyards are farmed to organic principles and lists an organic certification on its website. Corney & Barrow, the UK importer, labels the wine vegan. Check the label of the vintage you buy, because certification wording can change from year to year.
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