Brunello di Montalcino

Cranberry, red and black cherry, underbrush, red soil, burnt orange rind, slight raisin.

Pirate Rum. Opened three bottles. Same importer. Sad sad sad.

Vintage 2011 | true to type | from magnum

2016 was a vintage of elegance in Montalcino, and that quality is richly on display in this beautiful wine from Altesino. Deep ruby with a broadly structured nose featuring cherry, leather, violet, blackberry, black tea, plum and a hint of clove from well-measured use of oak, this is a lovely wine in every way. Already approachable, it will develop even more tertiary qualities like forest floor and mushroom with more time. Top notch Sangiovese with a great future ahead.

It’s gone.

Half bottle. Forest berries. Blueberry. Brown sugar. Mineral.

Dark fruit profile, lacked depth and punch for me.

Half bottle. Tad corked. Hard to assess.

Fragrant, fresh (!), and balanced. Bags of cherries and cherry syrup on the nose, with dry, stony-gravelly notes. Pure intense dark cherry fruit and dark minerals in the mouth. Concentrated yet with terrific acidity and youthful but soft tannins. This will improve for at least 5 more years but is really nice now.

Past its peak. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing interesting, either.