The 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino Giovanni Neri boasts a darker red/purple hue and is completely different, offering aromas of dark mineral earth, polished leather, sappy herbs, black cherry compote, dark chocolate, and menthol. Fleshy and full, it saturates the palate with lush, ripe tannins and a more pronounced saltiness, giving the wine a mouthwatering feel and a long-lasting finish, with notes of blood orange lasting on the back palate. It deserves time in the cellar before drinking over the coming 20 years.
98 points, Audrey Frick, Jeb Dunnuck (Jan 2025)
A solid red with mushroom, bark, blackberry and black-truffle character. Full and layered with open tannins and a long, persistent finish. Creamy and polished. From a single vineyard with vines averaging 50 years old. Best from 2026.
98 points, James Suckling (Sep 2024)
The Casanova di Neri 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Giovanni Neri is a lifted and punchy wine with great vertical delivery of aromas. It ferments with 10% to 15% whole-cluster fruit. Giovanni and Gianlorenzo Neri noticed brown stems and perfumed aromas, and these qualities gave them the inspiration to use the stems. Cherry and red fruit aromas are followed by pepper, wild spice, sweet earth and dusty pencil shaving. There are hints of saddle leather on the one hand and pressed rosemary herb on the other. At the very end, there is a hint of something that tastes like a crunchy breakfast bacon strip. I do love the intensity and the energy of this wine. Only 8,600 bottles were created. Fruit comes from a seven-hectare parcel in the Sesti area (along the dirt road that goes from Castelnuovo dell'Abate to Sant'Angelo in Colle) that was purchased in 2017. The vines were planted in the 1970s. The wine ages in tonneaux for 30 months, and the tannins are beautifully integrated.
97 points, Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (Nov 2024)