2006 Giulio Salvioni Brunello di Montalcino

Also boasting a traditional winemaking approach, I thought that Salvioni's 2006 Brunello di Montalcino has held together much better than the 2006 Brunello we tasted from Cerbaiona. This is a beautiful wine that delivers a more controlled and consistent evolution. It drinks beautifully right now, but the tonic freshness of the fruit implies that it still has a long way to go. The bouquet opens to fine layers of dried fruit, licorice and balsam herb. Background tones include crushed mineral, tar, juniper and cured bresaola. There is enormous integrity here with energy and zesty crispness at the back. The tannins have been curbed and now show their softness and silkiest form. This is a true beauty and is one of the wines that most delighted me in this tasting.

Good bright deep red. High-pitched aromas of blackberry, dark cherry compote, violet and woodsmoke. Dense, sweet and highly concentrated, with lush flavors of dark raspberry and minerals. Extraordinarily seamless wine with an explosive back half displaying great breadth and length, considerable power and a late hint of underbrush. A beauty.

The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino is shaping up to be a modern-day legend. Sweet roses, hard candy, cherries and flowers make a stunning first impression. Based on its breathtaking inner perfume and sweetness this could easily be mistaken for a first-rate Barolo or Barbaresco, but then the tannins hit the palate with the much more friendly personality of Sangiovese. The delineation of aromas and flavors is head-spinning, while the finish is utterly seamless. This is a profound, breathtaking wine from Giulio Salvioni. Wow!