2016 Canalicchio di Sopra, Brunello di Montalcino, Riserva

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is dark, floral and exotic, even sultry at times, presenting a bouquet of black currant, animal musk and savory, crushed ashen stone. The textures are silky yet dense, showing mineral-webbed woodland berries and balsamic spices. The tannic heft mounts toward the close, penetrating deeply, but with brisk acids to balance. The 2016 is animalistic in nature, yet crystalline and fresh, tapering off structured and incredibly long, leaving licorice and balsam herbs to linger. In 2016, Francesco Ripaccioli decided to use fruit from both the Vigna Vecchia and Mercatale vineyards in the Riserva, which is typically the richer and bolder expression of Brunello at Canalicchio di Sopra, but in 2016, it's totally classic in every possible way. What a glorious wine!

Canalicchio di Sopra is faithful to the concept of Riserva, and there is always a marked, but proportional, stylistic difference between this wine (which is aged for 36 months in Slavonian casks) and the annata release. This is exact how it should be. Riserva is an extension of annata, not an exaggeration of it. From a classic vintage, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is a special and highly collectible bottle. It shows depth and profound fruit with bright cherry, plum and crushed flower. It also manages greater concentration and density while maintaining its graceful personality. You'll need to add quite a few years of age to this wine. Production is a mere 4,133 bottles.

Deep, lustrous garnet. Complex nose that has already evolved considerably. Tannins are retreating, though they are still there in abundance. An ambitious wine but a very clean, fresh one. (JR)