2010 Brunello di Montalcino La Cerbaiola

Salvioni makes stunning wines that appeal to die-hard Brunello fanatics. The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino La Cerbaiole shows enormous purity, varietal personality and beautifully balanced intensity. The wine hits all of your senses at once. The bouquet offers red cherry, licorice, dried rosemary, ginger and cola. You taste the most elegant, delicate and ethereal notes that can be extracted from Sangiovese. The tannins are super fine and the texture is silky and supple. This is an iconic wine.

Salvioni's 2010 Brunello di Montalcino is deceptively medium in body and almost Burgundian in style at this stage in its life. Rose petal, cherry pit, smoke and tobacco notes abound as this delicate, understated Brunello very gradually reveals its striking beauty. Unlike so many 2010s, the Salvioni Brunello needs at least a few years in bottle, as it is quite shy and reticent today. Still, there is plenty of the classic Salvioni fruit, bouquet and texture in the glass. Once again, the Salvioni family has crafted one of the most exquisite, pure wines in Montalcino. Interestingly, a bottle tasted in my office in New York was far more expressive than the bottle I tasted at the winery. Readers who can find the 2010 should not hesitate, as it is fabulous. I imagine the 2010 will provide 20-25 years of drinking pleasure.

One of the many highlights in this vertical, the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino is exceptionally beautiful. Today, the 2010 comes across as refined and polished, with veins of bright acidity that give the wines its sense of energy, drive and polish. Over the last few months, the 2010 has begun to close in on itself. I can't say that is surprising given how much stuffing there is. Readers lucky enough to own the 2010 are in for a real treat. When all is said and done, the 2010 is profound.