Uccelliera is one of the most consistently celebrated small estates in Montalcino, producing Brunello di Montalcino from approximately 7 hectares of organically farmed vineyards in the Castelnuovo dell’Abate subzone of the southern Montalcino, run by Andrea Cortonesi with an attention to quality and an absence of compromise that has made the domaine one of the most sought-after addresses in the appellation over the past two decades. The Costabate is Uccelliera’s single-vineyard Riserva-level expression, produced from a specific parcel of old-vine Sangiovese whose calcareous clay and galestro soils at the optimal elevation and exposition for Montalcino’s southern zone provide the combination of natural ripeness and structural depth that the finest single-vineyard Brunello requires. The wine is produced in very small quantities, aged for an extended period in Slavonian oak botti and released only when it has the structural integration and aromatic complexity that the single-vineyard designation demands.

The 2013 Brunello di Montalcino vintage, initially dismissed by some critics who found the standard-release wines somewhat austere relative to the generous 2010 and 2012 vintages, has since undergone a significant critical reassessment as the wines in the cellar have revealed their true character: wines of exceptional freshness, mineral precision and age-worthiness that are consistently described by those who have followed their development as among the finest classical-style Brunellos produced in the past twenty years. In the magnum format, the 2013 Costabate will have developed particularly beautifully, with the slower pace of development in the larger vessel allowing the wine’s tertiary complexity to emerge in full without the rush that the smaller bottle format sometimes creates. At twelve years from harvest in the magnum format, this is a wine of extraordinary ageing potential still in the early stages of its full development.

Uccelliera Costabate in magnum from the 2013 vintage represents one of the most significant and age-worthy Brunello acquisitions in this catalogue: a wine from one of Montalcino’s most respected and consistently celebrated small estates, in the single-vineyard expression from a now-celebrated underrated vintage, in the larger format. For Brunello collectors who seek the deepest and most individual expressions of the appellation, this is exceptional.

Deep ruby with a complex and evolving nose of dried cherry, iron, tobacco, leather, dried violet, anise, cedar, truffle and the mineral depth of old-vine Castelnuovo Sangiovese on galestro and calcareous clay. Full-bodied with firm but increasingly refined tannins, excellent natural acidity and a very long, savoury, mineral finish of great classical Brunello authority. Best from 2026 through 2055.