Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino – True To Form

It’s BACK! After a disappointing 2020 vintage that we could not recommend, the 2021 Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino DOCG from Costco excels. Check out our full review below.

100% Sangiovese from Montalcino, Italy. The wine was aged for at least 2 years in oak barrels.

As we mentioned above, we were not fans of the 2020 vintage of this normally very reliable wine from Costco, especially when it’s priced at $19.99 to $22.99, depending on your region. (We paid $22.99 this year and last.) It continue to be imported by Ethica Wines.

Our check of the neck tag using the traceability tool at the Consorzio del vino Brunello di Montalcino website shows that it is still made by the same producer. This is also evidenced by the name on the label (Gianni Maccari) and the same bottled by code on the back label.

It’s also interesting to note that number of bottles produced has varied drastically each vintage. In 2015 (when the wine was made by Fattoria dei Barbi) only 14,638 bottles were produced. In 2016 under the current producer (Gianni Maccari) the production went up to 72,000 bottles. The 2017 and 2018 were both at 120,000. The 2019 dropped back down to 21,856 and then the 2020 back up to 84,000. The 2021 clocks in at a healthy 144,000, which makes sense given 2021 was supposed to be a very good vintage in Montalcino.

From the bottle:

Light ruby red in color, Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino delivers notes of ripe raspberries and blackberries on the nose. On the palate, those same flavors are balanced by smooth tannins and a lingering mineral finish.

14% Alcohol

What a difference a vintage makes! The 2021 Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino DOCG opens with pleasing, even a bit savory aroma of black cherry, blackberry, a little blood orange, some licorice and herbal notes, and a little leather, cedar and tobacco. It’s a great, harmonious start. It’s also quite nice right from the get-go which is a difference versus prior years that needed a lot of air to be at their best.

The wine tastes smooth, balanced and delicious. It features juicy fruit and all the secondary notes from the nose combine nicely in the mouth. This tastes very true to form — this is no bargain basement Brunello! Full-bodied and with great depth and balance, this has much more complexity than the 2020.

It ends dry, very long and mouthwatering on the dusty finish. It also has some lingering oaky spice in its youth and was just as good on day 2. This is really excellent and bodes well for future too. We put it at the high end of our 9 Taste Rating at 92-93 points.

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Here’s our review of the disappointing 2020 vintage:

The 2020 Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino DOCG begins with a pretty subdued nose but it does greatly improve with air. When it opens up you’ll find aromas of black cherry, blackberry, licorice, some light herbal notes plus a little leather.

Tasting the wine was a real disappointment, at least when first popped and poured, as it was just lacking the same depth as previous vintages. It does get a whole lot better with air however, just like the nose, but it never really develops enough to make it worth the price tag. It has some of the same notes as previous vintages, it’s just not quite as good.

It ends long and dry was definitely at its best on day 2.

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Here’s our review of the slightly better 2019 vintage:

Just like the previous vintage, the 2019 Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino DOCG seems quite young at this point and the nose greatly improves with air. When it opens up you’ll find aromas of black cherry, blackberry, licorice, some herbal notes, a little leather, cedar and tobacco.

The wine tastes smooth, balanced and delicious. It features juicy fruit and all the secondary notes from the nose combine nicely in the mouth. Once again this still tastes very true to form — this is no bargain basement Brunello!

It ends quite long and dry on the dusty finish and was at its best on day 2.

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Here’s our review of the also better 2018 vintage:

The nose on the 2018 Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino DOCG improves mightily with air – it still seems quite young at this point. When it opens up you’ll find aromas of black cherry, blackberry, licorice, some herbal notes, a little leather, cedar and tobacco. And while it’s similar to the 2017, it’s not quite as complex.

The wine tastes smooth, balanced and delicious. It features juicy fruit and all the secondary notes from the nose combine nicely in the mouth. Again, it’s pretty similar to the 2017 just not quite as complex. Even so, this still tastes very true to form — this is no bargain basement Brunello!

It ends quite long and dry on the dusty finish. I can’t quite get to a 10 Taste Rating this time around but it does get better with air. In fact, it is at its best on day 2 where some of the savory notes from the 2017 finally reveal themselves.

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Here’s our review of the even better 2017 vintage:

The 2017 Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino DOCG opens with aromas of black cherry, blackberry and licorice plus some earthy herbal notes and a little leather, cedar and tobacco. It’s a multi-faceted and attractive bouquet very similar to the last vintage.

The wine tastes smooth, balanced and delicious. It features juicy fruit with all the secondary notes from the nose combining harmoniously in the mouth. This is super savory. It does definitely benefit from some air though so be sure to give it plenty of time to breathe.

It ends with a very long and dry on the savory, dusty finish. Highly Recommended!

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And here’s our review of the 2016 vintage chronicling the big changes to this wine:

Costco reveals a new price for their Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino DOCG and Reverse Wine Snob reveals the new producer!

100% Sangiovese from Montalcino, Italy. The wine was aged for at least 2 years in oak barrels.

Big changes this year for the Kirkland Signature Brunello from Costco! The first thing you’ll notice is that the price has dropped significantly, from $26.99 for the 2015 all the way down to $19.99.

It is also quickly apparent that the importer has changed going from Misa Imports to Ethica Wines. We were immediately curious if that meant the producer had changed as well – past vintages were made by the by the highly respected Fattoria dei Barbi. Luckily with Brunello, there’s an easy way to find out.

Plugging the government seal from the top of the bottle into the traceability tool (near the bottom of the page) at the Consorzio del vino Brunello di Montalcino website shows that the producer has indeed changed:

The producer is now listed as “Stel-Fin SRL”. A web search doesn’t turn up much. Dunn & Bradstreet lists a Stelfin in Montalcino as a real estate office. Luckily we don’t have to go to far in our usual sleuthing to find out more about this wine as there is a name right on the front label, “Gianni Maccari”.

And it turns out it’s a name getting a lot of buzz these days. Gianni, the winemaker for Ridolfi winery, is referred to as a “rising star of Montalcino” by Decanter and the “The once and future king of Brunello” by Jeremy Parzen of DoBianchi.

While I was initially disappointed to see that Fattoria dei Barbi was no longer the producer, this is sounding rather exciting.

It’s also interesting to note that number of bottles produced has increased dramatically from 14,638 bottles for the 2015 all the way up to 72,000 for the 2016. This is no doubt good for availability, but will the quality suffer? Let’s check it out.

From the bottle:

Light ruby red in color this wine delivers notes of ripe raspberries and blackberries on the nose. On the palate, those same flavors are balanced by smooth tannins, and a lingering mineral finish.

14.5% Alcohol

The 2016 Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino DOCG opens with aromas of black cherry, blackberry and licorice plus some earthy herbal notes and a little leather, cedar and tobacco. It’s a multi-faceted and attractive bouquet.

The wine tastes smooth, balanced and delicious. It features similar flavors to the nose that combine quite seamlessly in the mouth. It may be a different producer but once again this tastes very true to form — this is no bargain basement Brunello! It does definitely benefit from some air though so be sure to give it plenty of time to breathe.

It ends with a very long, dry and dusty finish. Highly Recommended!

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And finally here’s our review of the previous (2015) vintage made by Fattoria Barbi:

100% Sangiovese from Montalcino, Italy. The wine was aged in oak barrels for 3 years.

The Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino is available exclusively at Costco for $26.99 (Saturday Splurge). It is imported by Misa Imports. 14,638 bottles produced.

From the bottle:

Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino DOCG is made with 100% Sangiovese grapes from vineyards located in the Southeastern part of Montalcino. The 2015 vintage was harvested in late September at the perfect level of maturation. The wine aged in oak barrels for three years and was bottled four months before the release. The result is an outstanding wine with aromas of red berries, wild herbs and sour cherry. The taste is well-balanced and fresh, with soft tannins and hints of candied fruits. The finish is very long, warm and slightly spicy.

14% Alcohol

We’ve long recommended this budget Brunello as a Saturday Splurge selection although when we first started reviewing it we noted that there was no indication of the producer on the bottle. (Not unusual with the Kirkland Signature wines although they do seem to be becoming a bit more transparent).

When we reviewed the 2014 vintage last year; however, it dawned on us that since this is an Italian wine, there’s a simple way to find out just who makes it – the government seal on the top of the bottle.

Once again plugging the code from the seal into the traceability tool (near the bottom of the page) at the Consorzio del vino Brunello di Montalcino website gives the following result:

Just like last year the Kirkland Signature Brunello is made by the highly respected Fattoria dei Barbi, whose own base level Brunello sells for closer to $50. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that this Kirkland wine is the same as any of Fattoria dei Barbi’s other wines, but it is a very good sign that it is made by such a high quality winery.

The 2015 Kirkland Signature Brunello di Montalcino DOCG opens with a very pleasing, savory aroma of black cherry, licorice and spice plus a little graphite and cedar. The wine tastes smooth and balanced with more spice and lovely candied cherry notes. It might be just a bit lighter bodied than typical but it works quite well and tastes very true to form. This one is really delicious after it has some time to open up with similar flavors to the nose along with touches of balsamic and anise. It ends with a very long, dry, spicy and dusty finish.

This isn’t necessarily a bottle that I would plan on cellaring for a large number of years as I might with other more expensive Brunello — ironically, a few years ago we tucked away some Brunello from Fattoria dei Barbi as birth year wines for our kids to open in 20-30 years. Nevertheless, this Costco version is a very good representation of Brunello that is drinking great right now (and probably for at least the next 5-10 years) so feel free to go ahead and enjoy!

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2021 Review Summary