2004 Col d'Orcia Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio al Vento

The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Poggio al Vento tempts the imagination with a whiff of tobacco and foreign spice, giving way to dried strawberries and hints of camphor. It displays a dark radiance, soft and pliant, with a core of fruit that's more black than red. Brisk acidity enlivens nuances of cedar and spice. Adolescent tannins still frame the experience as the 2004 finishes with excellent length and an attractive tinge of sour citrus. This continues to climb to peak maturity but is already quite pleasurable.

Col d'Orcia's Poggio al Vento or 'windy hill' vineyard gets the afternoon sun but ripens slowly, creating a rich wine which is anything but heavy. Fruit expression in the 2004 is clear and purposeful, the tannins beneath have smoothed over time, leaving the red fruit notes fully expressed above a saline undertow. An old school Brunello in the best sense.

Col d'Orcia's 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio al Vento is beautifully perfumed, finessed and nuanced, with plenty of bright red-fleshed fruit flavors. Hints of cedar, smoke, licorice and tobacco develop in the glass, but the 2004 remains quite primary and dense, with little in the way of development relative to so many other wines of the vintage. The 2004 can be enjoyed today with some aeration, but its best drinking almost certainly lies in the future. Richer, dark red cherry compote and plum notes start to open up in the glass, hinting at what is to come.