2018 Brunello di Montalcino

I encountered some crumbly or dried-out corks on my two samples of this wine. The Talenti 2018 Brunello di Montalcino (with the black label) is fine and elegant with perfumed notes of dried fruit, blue flower, earth and balsam herb. The balance of the wine is very nice, and you'll appreciate the delicate tannic structure and the lean to medium-bodied texture. Some 25,000 bottles were released. Fruit is selected from across eight hectares of vines on rocky, galestro soils.

Brambled raspberry and plum fruits, crushed roses, mandarin peel, salted cracker, soy and umami flavours and textures. First time on the Place this March, 60% aged in barrel (500l) and the rest in Sloveian oak barrels (250hl), then four months in bottle before release. From a site that stretches from 250m-400m in altitude, with winemaker Riccardo Talenti.

The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino is darkly alluring with a mix of crushed plums, brown spice, shaved cedar and a dusting of cocoa. Its textures are like pure silk verging on velvet with a suave mix of ripe cherries and currants underscored by saline-minerals, as a burst of citrus adds contrast toward the close. A web of fine tannin lingers through the finale, creating a gentle structural tug, offsetting balsam herbs and hints of mocha, as blue- and purple-toned inner florals slowly fade. There’s simply so much going on here, and as I’ve followed the 2018 over the last few months, it seems to grow in both depth and richness each time I taste it. Well done.