Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2016

Wow, here is a vintage I've been anxiously waiting to try. The 2016 growing season was one of the best in recent memory in Montalcino, and if we look back in time, this vintage marks the year Biondi-Santi was sold to a French group. The prestigious 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva proves a mighty collector's bottle that will undoubtedly gain in complexity and depth with careful bottle age. The wine offers wild nuances of forest berry and tart cherry, and there are herbal side notes as well as floral tones of dried violet and lilac. The tannins are soft, powdery and feel like they melt away on the palate.

Aromas of strawberries, flowers, fresh mushroom, forest flower, sandalwood, and hints of balsamic. Full-bodied and tight on the finish. This is a linear and fine-tannined red. Available in March 2023. Needs another five years or so to show its full potential. New classic. Better after 2026.

The 2016 Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva is layered and unfolds in the glass with incense, baking spice, ripe red cherry, and cedar. It has more concentration and length through the mid-palate and offers an impeccable balance of structure, ripeness, and tension. It is expressive on the nose, but it is even more impactful at this stage with its intensity through the palate, with nearly electric energy of wild raspberry, rose petal, tea leaf, and orange zest. Allow for cellaring another 3-4 years. Drink 2026-2046.

The last vintage harvested and vinified by the Biondi Santi family, the 2016 Riserva was subsequently blended by technical director Federico Radi under the new ownership of EPI. It is seamless but difficult to deconstruct in its youth. Eventually, the dark and earthy personality is revealed, doling out liquorice root, moss, wet soil and heather. The tannins are compact and tightly stitched but with such a suave texture of fine chalk. These yield just enough to allow inner fruit sweetness to shine through. Think red cherry and hints of tarragon; then a blood orange tang which melds effortlessly into a bright beam of racy acidity.