2004 Giulio Salvioni (Cerbaiola) Brunello di Montalcino

Salvioni's 2004 Brunello di Montalcino is just as dazzling as it has always been. Rich, layered and wonderfully expressive, the 2004 remains one of the very best wines I have tasted at this small, family-run estate in the center of town. Cedar, smoke, tobacco and a host of dark stone fruit notes develop in the glass, but above all else, the 2004 is a wine of striking texture and breed.

Good full, deep red. Sexy nose offers bitter cherry, raspberry, rose petal and a whiff of marzipan. Juicy, sweet and enticing, with lovely elegance and energy to the flavors of red fruits and candied rose. Firm but harmonious tannins frame the palate-coating flavors without introducing any hardness. This suave Brunello really reverberates on the rising finish.

Salvioni's 2004 Brunello di Montalcino is made in a style that brilliantly reconciles a modern approach in the vineyards (tiny yields, full phenolic ripeness) with a traditional approach to winemaking (long macerations, cask aging). An explosive, super-ripe wine, this Brunello flows from the glass with mesmerizing richness and stunning balance. The gorgeous red fruit carries through all the way to the finish, where flowers, tobacco and spices add further complexity. In many ways, Salvioni's Brunello di Montalcino is the region's equivalent to Giacomo Conterno's Barolo Cascina Francia, a wine with which it shares many attributes. Simply put, this is a gem from Giulio Salvioni, and it is not to missed!