2016 Brunello di Montalcino, Riserva, Biondi-Santi, Tuscany, Italy

2016 was one of the best vintages of the past 20 years in Tuscany. This Riserva was managed by Biondi-Santi technical director, Federico Radi under the new ownership of EPI. Dried flowers, restrained dark fruits, tar and balsamic depth are supported by a full body, bracing acidity typical of the estate, and thick, velvety tannins with great extraction on the mid-palate. Austere on the finish, with fierce chalkiness, it will improve with ageing.

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.

Savoury depths of sage, red currants, underbrush, dried roses, worn leather, hints of iodine and cedar smoulder up from the darkly alluring 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. This impresses first with its purity, then with its energy, seamlessly silky and refined, yet almost racy in style, with saline-infused wild berries and nuances of sour citrus that drench the palate, lifted by a flourish of mint. The 2016 finishes with crystalline tannins, creating an almost-crunchy sensation, as tart red fruits and nuances of liquorice slowly taper off. There’s an invigorating feel to the 2016 Riserva that I’ve never witnessed from a bottle of Biondi Santi Brunello, which, coupled with a depth of beautifully pure and delineated fruits, makes it a total pleasure to taste. That said, the 2016 is structured and built for a long and prosperous maturation.

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.

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.

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.

Drink 2028-2060

The 2017 Biondi Santi Brunello has a lightly fragrant oak nose with notes of cream and vanilla and cherry. The weight is beautifully ethereal with a little of that weightless quality that you find in very fine wines. The tannins have a slight grippy dryness but it is not excessive and there is a green sharpness to the cherry flavors that linger on the palate. It has lots of finesse and flow and a fine texture. For this wine the new team from EPI were involved a little with the vineyard but 2018 will be the first vintage they made completely from start to finish. Biondi Santi have not yet released their 2018 Brunello so when it is released it will more accurately reflect their ideas and style but with this 2017 they have already delivered a beauty.

Ruby-garnet in colour. This is very tight and youthful on the nose, with a brilliant purity of bright cherry fruit and tobacco leaf. The palate is similarly taut, and hard to penetrate. There is an underlying ripeness of fruit but the energy from acid and tannins brings harmony. With significant air the nose starts to open up and show layers of flowers, herbs and savoury spices. It remains a little tricky to see how this focused, refined and tightly wound wine evolves into the edgy and characterful wines of the 1970s and 1980s, but there is no doubting its ageing potential and quality.