Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino 2016

Out of the gate, the Il Marroneto 2016 Brunello di Montalcino shows exciting purity and red fruit intensity. Compared to the Madonna delle Grazie, this wine has an ever-more lifted quality to the bouquet, whereas the Madonna has a firmer underlying texture that bodes well for longer aging. The character here is fresh, lively, youthful and vibrant. In fact, I would recommend drinking this wine while all those elements are still intact. The bouquet is crazy fun to describe: I get whiffs of black cherry, macchia mediterranea (which is not too different from what we call chaparral in California), peppercorn, dried cranberry and even a whiff of something that reminded me of the delicious rosemary herb mix you stuff inside roast porchetta. The base of the wine is light, almost weightless, but its structure and firmness do eventually catch up on the long finish.

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is highly aromatic with tart cherry fruit, medicinal herbs, dried roses and cedar. The palate is ripe upfront with sweet raspberry, fresh blood orange, and saline minerality with energetic acidity, and fine-grained tannins. The 2016 is vibrant and transparent with classic elegance. Hold for 3-5 years and drink 2025-2036.

Il Marroneto's 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a delicate and heavenly, perfumed beauty. Roses mix with lilac and violets before giving way to a dusting of sweet spice, nuances of plum and white strawberries. It's wonderfully pure, seeming almost weightless at times yet with gorgeous inner sweetness and a complex display of bright red fruits laced with minerals, hints of licorice and building florality. The long and classically structured finish guarantees that no matter how enjoyable this may be today, it will only get better.