2017 Brunello di Montalcino Casanovina Montosoli

This is one of three black-label special selections made by Le Ragnaie. The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino Casanovina Montosoli has a tonic and bright character with dark fruit flavors, blackcurrant and tarry smoke. The wine feels tightly knit and compact, but it takes on more volume and momentum, especially as it hits the palate. In fact, it ends on a long and polished note with some crushed limestone or dusty mineral. Production is limited to 2,900 bottles.

The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino Casanovina Montosoli lifts up with a smoky display of cherries and strawberries, wild herbs and wet stone. It evolves further with time in the glass, adding mineral-laden soil and hints of fresh tobacco. This is a pure, round expression of Montosoli, with a pleasant inner sweetness and staining red fruits, but it then turns more savory and silty toward the close. It tapers off potent and long, with a web of fine tannins that coat the cheeks, as hints of balsamic spice slowly taper off. Give this feisty expression of the 2017 vintage a few years of cellaring to come fully into focus.