2015 Brunello di Montalcino

A cold winter with snow. ‘The growing season was very hot until Ferraogosto [15 August] when some rain fell. Then the heat returned.’ Harvest started on 19 September. Deep ruby and still quite youthful looking. Firm balsamic nose with an undertow of rich, dark fruit and complex spice notes but fully integrated into the oak. Still quite compact and with saline, minerally notes. Generous fruit with the perfect dose of ripe acidity. A thick layer of gravelly tannins that are a tiny bit astringent but buffered by the plentiful fruit. Very long. (WS)

Tasting the delicious 2015 Cupano Brunello di Montalcino next to the bigger and darker Riserva is a real treat. Here I find an exotically spiced and perfumed blend of strawberry and cherry with hints of plum and white smoke. There are depths of silky textures and ripe fruits to be found along with hints of cinnamon, clove and sweet florals which amass toward the close. Its tannins are round, creating something of a creamy feel even through the finish, where sweet herbs and hints of citrus linger. This has the structure for short-term cellaring, yet it is already so easy to like.

Tasted blind. Mid ruby. Alluring nose of ripe sour-cherry fruit with top notes of sweet oak. Gentle, soft tangy fruit of great length and with great tannic grip on the finish. (WS)