2016 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Casaccia

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna La Casaccia opens slowly, youthfully coy and restrained. Swirling unlocks dusty red currants, exotic spice, cocoa and a minty freshness that keeps the glass in constant motion. It flows across the palate with textures of pure silk, still lifted as it always was, but now with more bassy notes of balsam herbs and dark black cherries. Its minerality comes through the finish, caking the palate with chalky concentration as dark chocolate complicates a saturation of primary red fruits. This is a wine for the ages.

Lustrous mid ruby. Leafy cherry hints but otherwise quite closed on the nose, yet with a clear sense of purity. Dense, yet elegant and with tangy acidity shooting through the mouth-filling fruit. Firm noble tannins add depth and contour. Real cru pedigree. (WS)

This is a newish single-vineyard wine (it's the second vintage) created by Francesco Ripaccioli and the team at Canalicchio di Sopra at the conclusion of an ambitious estate-wide mapping project. The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino La Casaccia draws its fruit from a two-hectare site planted in 1990 with clay soils and rich in mineral components. A precious 4,133 bottles were made. What I like most is the tightness of the fruit, which you chip away at slowly as the wine softens and yields in the glass. Each layer brings you forest fruit, sour cherry, almond, lilac and candied orange peel. On a second swirl, you might get black olive, bay leaf and scorched earth. There are subtle mineral notes, but what La Casaccia ultimately offers is that uniquely compact and extremely polished quality of fruit.