2018 Conti Costanti Brunello di Montalcino Tuscany 750 ml

Collectors revere the mythic Tuscan producer Conti Costanti because they make some of the finest Sangiovese known to man. But when a Conti Costanti wine receives 99 points and #5 Italian Wine of the Year honors from one of the most respected Brunello critics on the planet—well, that’s when it graduates from an object of envy to a must-have. 

Costanti’s absolutely gorgeous 2018 Brunello is no doubt one of the wines of the vintage. Critic Kerin O’Keefe—who wrote the book on Brunello and earned her stripes over a decade as Wine Enthusiast’s Italian-wine expert—named it her #5 Italian Wine of 2022. 

Imagine yourself in Andrea Costanti’s shoes in the early 1980s. Freshly graduated from the University of Siena with a degree in geology, he was contacted one day by Count Emilio Costanti, looking for a successor to take over his winery. The Count had traced the family genealogy to Andrea, the sole living descendant of the Costanti clan, which dates back to the 15th century.

The wines Andrea has made since taking over in 1983 are the standard against which many others get judged—and by which the quality of a vintage is often gauged. He achieves this level of ballet-like grace by maintaining a deep respect for the biodiversity of his family’s land, where roughly 30 acres of vines grow alongside parcels of olive trees. 

Costanti’s Brunellos age 18 months in Slavonian oak barrels, 18 months in French tonneaux, and at least 12 months in bottle, gaining depth and polish. Harnessing that remarkable terroir and expressing it through a meticulous winemaking regimen turned out a captivating Brunello in 2018, no doubt one of the best of the season.