2019 Giulio Salvioni (Cerbaiola) Brunello di Montalcino

A jeweled red color, the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino La Cerbaiola is wonderfully detailed on the nose with aromas of ripe cherries, cedar, dried roses, fresh leather, and mint. It carries beautifully onto the palate, with a medium to full-bodied frame and ripe tannins woven together with warming spice and fresh acidity. Everything you hope for, with lovely purity and fantastic length, this superb offering from Salvioni is complete and a benchmark wine for the vintage. Drink 2027-2050. 9900 bottles produced. In January I met with Alessia Salvioni in the original historic cellar that is based in the center of the town of Montalcino, and the estate also has a second cellar in the vineyard where the fruit undergoes fermentation before being transferred to the casks at either facility. They have 20 hectares in total, with only four hectares of vineyards that are all classified as Brunello vineyards, so in the years that they do produce a Rosso di Montalcino, it comes from the same vineyards. In the vineyards, they have two parcels, the original plantings with older vines planted in 1980 and 1985, and the second parcel originally planted in 1990, with replanting taking place in 2000 and 2017, all at 447 meters elevation. Harvest occurs when they feel the grapes have achieved full ripeness, which tends to be on the later side. Fermentation occurs in temperature-controlled stainless steel with vigorous pumpover. In the cellar, they take a pure approach using 20-hectoliter Garbellotto Slavonian oak casks.