2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva

The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva has gained significantly in richness and volume since the last time I tasted it. Sage, black cherries and camphor give way to crushed stone, mineral tones and dusty rose. This soothes the palate with silky, delicate textures, as ripe mineral-tinged red berries and savory spices cascade across a core of brisk acidity. It’s a well-muscled dancer of a wine, tapering off incredibly long and graceful with hints of violet and rose over a coating of fine tannin. The 2015 currently shows the textbook ethereal weightlessness of a classic young Poggio di Sotto Brunello, but it will require some time to reveal all of its charms. That said, a slight score upgrade is in order here.

The 2015 Brunello Riserva is austere upon opening and requires air to fully express its potential this early. It is perfumed and translucent, with raspberry fruit, leather, black licorice, and rose petal. The palate is structured with drying tannins and mouthwatering acidity, noted by violets, dried herbs and crisp cherry fruit. The warmth of the 2015 vintage is present, though it remains refreshing, tension-driven, and persistent. The 2015 Riserva was aged in large Slavonian barrels for 52 months, and only 1300 bottles were produced. It is a wonderful and immensely pleasurable wine that will be a joy to revisit if the unlikely opportunity should ever arrive. 2021-2051 Founded by Piero Palmucci in 1989, Poggio di Sotto in Castelnuovo dell’Abate now has 20 hectares under vine. The vineyards are between 200 and 450 meters in elevation, with predominantly southwest exposure. The estate has been under the management of Colle Massari Wine Estates, led by winemaker Luca Marrone, since 2011. Farming and viticulture are entirely organic across the Colle Massari Wine Estates, which include Gratamacco, and as of the 2016 vintage, San Giorgio, also in Montalcino. Luca continues to maintain and uphold the philosophy of their late consultant Giulio Gambelli, who famously championed classic expressions of Sangiovese with translucency and high complexity. Only large 70hl Slavonian oak casks are utilized for slow fermentations as well as aging, without temperature control, and long maceration times for slow and low extraction.

Poggio Di Sotto's 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is undeniably elegant and feminine, impressing with an alluring bouquet which mixes spiced black cherry with hints of sage, mint, dried roses and white smoke. It enters the palate soft, lifted and youthfully understated, cascading bright red fruits laced with minerals across a core of stimulating acids as nuanced tannins slowly build. An air of red currant, licorice and inner florals linger, as the 2015 Riserva flexes its structural muscle throughout the cheek-puckering finale. This will require quite a bit of cellaring to fill out and settle down, yet is sure to be worth the wait. I followed the 2015 Riserva over the course of four days and it never declined.