2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva

A powerful, explosive wine, Renieri's 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is endowed with striking depth. Dark red cherry, plum, smoke, licorice and menthol notes abound. Racy, resonant and expressive, the Riserva is quite beautiful today. The new oak is a bit evident at this stage, so I would prefer to give the wine another few years in the cellar.

Tasted blind. Dark ruby with orange tinges. Camphor and shoe polish and brooding rich fruit. Sweet, concentrated and long, but the fruit is quite ripe and lacks a little in depth. It does have power as well as acidity though. Just slightly charred. (WS)

The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is a magnificent wine that will appeal to those who love the softer and richer side of Brunello. Proprietor Marco Bacci shows a unique talent for interpreting the Sangiovese grape and his deft work comes through clearly in this excellent vintage. This is a powerful, penetrating but elegant wine with dark cherry and blackberry softened by spice, cinnamon and licorice. The wine is tight and focused in terms of mouthfeel, but it also exhibits an expansive and generous personality. It is very young now and requires at least five years of cellar aging before it will really start to flex its muscles. Mar 2016, www.robertparker.com