Altesino 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, Tuscany

96 pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The Altesino 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva holds tight to its unique character and power. The classic 2016 vintage produced generous wines that are layered and rich but also coiled tightly at their core. This wine exemplifies this point, adding lots of tart Sangiovese fruit and freshness along the way. It also shows an impressive richness of flavors with dried cherry, licorice, pressed violets, balsam herb and dusty limestone. The caveat with this wine, should you decide to drink it early, is that it needs extra time to open (and a double decanting would also help). This 10,000-bottle production opens beautifully in time.

 

95 pts James Suckling: There’s beautiful purity in this Brunello with cherry and floral aromas, as well as hints of lavender and rosemary flowers. It’s full-bodied with linear tannins that provide form and focus. It’s extremely long and beautiful, yet needs three to four years to show all the goodness it has. Try after 2024 and onwards.

 

95 pts Wine Enthusiast: This polished red opens with inviting aromas of ripe woodland berries, violet, new leather and camphor. Full-bodied and elegant, the smooth palate features fleshy black cherry, raspberry jam, licorice and tobacco alongside velvety, fine-grained tannins. Best after 2024.

 

95 pts Wine Spectator: A beautifully integrated and solidly built Brunello, this is hallmarked by textbook aromas and flavors of cherry, strawberry, iron, sanguine and tobacco. Delivers accents of herbs, earth and almond that emerge as it plays out on the long, detailed finish. Approachable now and should age over the next decade or more. Best from 2024.