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Absolutely stunning aromas of nectarine, orange peel, sweet black cherry, plum, flower, licorice and mushroom. Full body with layers of ultra-fine tannins and hints of tangy acidity. Such beautiful length and beauty to this wine. It's powerful and structured but shows a gorgeous finesse and length. Truly wondrous. So long and refined. The texture is phenomenal. Better in 2016.James Suckling | 99 JSEffusive aromas of incense, green olive, sweet strawberry and cherry, licorice and leather mark this structured version. The tannins are on the beefy side, but this finishes long, with enough fruit and spice for balance. Best from 2018 through 2032. 5,500 cases made, 1,000 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 96 WSThe 2010 Brunello di Montalcino is one of the very best wines I have tasted here in recent years. Dark red cherries, mint, game, smoke, tobacco and licorice are all deeply expressive in a mid-weight, very classic feeling Brunello long on class and personality. Big yet silky tannins frame the dramatic, intense finish. The Valdicava wines are always big, but the 2010 is a bit pulled back, and striking.Vinous Media | 94 VMThe gamy 2010 Brunello di Montalcino does a great job of presenting intensity and elegance all in the same delicious package. That's not easy to do and the excellent 2010 fruit plays a big role in achieving this goal. The wine offers a long succession of aromas that span from ripe fruit, to smoked meat, to grilled herb and soft spice. Delicate tones of licorice, cola and anise seed add life and energy. The list goes on. The wine's mouthfeel is best characterized by softness and structure, a two-fold approach that gives high hopes for the long aging potential of this wine. Valdicava's Brunello will appeal to those who love earthy and leathery notes in their Brunello.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93 RP

Extremely perfumed and pretty with dried berry, orange peel and fruit tea on the nose. Full-bodied, extremely tight and refined with superb tannin quality that shows polish, finesse and beauty. It goes on for minutes on the palate. One for the cellar. Best wine ever from here. Needs three or four years to come together.James Suckling | 99 JSThe 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Rennina is beautifully balanced and elegant. The wine is successfully streamlined and focused on the nuanced characteristics of the otherwise warm and sunny 2015 vintage. Rennina is often considered to be the more lithe and graceful of Gaja’s two Brunellos (the other being Sugarille that is also reviewed here). The bouquet opens to pretty berry nuances, blue flower, lavender, grilled herb and powdery licorice. Despite the more delicate approach, Rennina delivers ample power in the mouth with fresh acidity and tight tannins. I’d suggest opening this bottle at the 10-year mark. Production is 11,000 bottles.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 96 RPThe 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Rennina is dark and powerful in the glass, slowly opening with a display of crushed stone, cedar, mint, and a dusting of cumin, as its dark red fruits begin to unfurl in a captivating display. On the palate, silky textures offset tart cherry and blackberry fruits, balanced by a core of rounded tannins and lifting acidity, as hints of licorice and sweet herbal tones develope. The finish is medium in length and poised, showing fine-grain tannins beneath a sheen of polished red and black fruits, with hints of lavender lingering on. The 2015 Rennina is a classy wine that’s just begging for a few years in the cellar to fully blossom.Vinous Media | 95 VMAromatic, evoking wild herb and balsamic notes of juniper, thyme and pine, along with flavors of black cherry, plum and iron. Firmly structured and fresh, offering a long, complex aftertaste. Unfolds pleasantly and maintains balance. Best from 2023 through 2043. 550 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 95 WSRennina hails from three of the Gaja estate’s original vineyards acquired in 1994. It is aromatically forward with black cherry fruit, sweet chewing tobacco, and sage. On the palate, it is generous and approachable upfront, with kirsch and vanilla, then follows through with amaro, a grippy structure, and a long finish. It is a detailed wine that will mature with grace, though it is pleasurable in its youth as well. Enjoy 2022-2035.Jeb Dunnuck | 95 JDShowing the heat of the vintage, this has subdued aromas suggesting mature black-skinned berry marinated in spirits along with whiffs of dried herb, scorched earth, coconut and balsamic whiffs of camphor. The full-bodied palate is rather shy on fruit richness, featuring dried black cherry, French oak, vanilla and licorice alongside the warmth of evident alcohol. Close-grained tannins leave a firm, mouthdrying finish. Give the tannins a few years to unwind then drink sooner rather than later to capture the remaining fruit.Wine Enthusiast | 90 WE

Stunning, showing black cherry, blackberry, plum, leather, earth and iron aromas and flavors that work in tandem with the supple texture and dense structure. This has a good feel, between its level of ripe fruit and firm tannins, to age well. Excellent length. Best from 2026 through 2045. 1,220 cases made, 75 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 98 WSThis is very tight and linear and long. It shows so much black truffle, dark cherry and wet earth character with some bark. Full-bodied yet tight and polished with firm tannins that persistently drive the length of the palate. Great aging potential here. Try after 2023.James Suckling | 97 JSThe Castello Banfi 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio alle Mura pours from the bottle with an inky dark appearance and rich color concentration. The full-bodied Brunello takes the Banfi philosophy (based on research and mapping to understand the unique qualities of each growing site in this sprawling property on the southern side of the appellation) to heart. The fruit selected here aspires to extract, richness and all the other qualities associated with your quintessential Sangiovese Riserva. Careful work in the winery has helped to chisel out blackberry, spice, cherry, leather and baked clay. Ample doses of cola, licorice and tar appear on the very long and powerful finish in this 14,638-bottle release.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPThe deep, rich 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Poggio alle Mura wafts up with an air of crushed ashen stone and hints of graphite before giving way to black cherry, minty herbs and hints of shaved cedar. This is elegant yet savory in character, with velvety textures ushering in mineral-tinged black fruits and exotic spices. The finish is remarkably long and structured, yet the tannins are refined, and hints of sour citrus combine with a twang of tart red currants under an air of tobacco. This is an imposing and powerful Riserva Poggio alle Mura that’s just begging for a long stay in the cellar.Vinous Media | 93+ VMAromas of underbrush, toasted nut, violet and eucalyptus mingle with a whiff of tobacco. The tobacco note follows through to the full-bodied, velvety palate, along with prune, dried cherry and licorice. Taut, fine-grained tannins provide support. Drink 2024–2031. Wine Enthusiast | 93 WE

The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino La Cerbaiola grows in intensity in the glass, with delicate aromas that are especially floral and light in character. Instead of blackberry or blackcurrant, this elegant wine delivers cassis and cranberry. Instead of overt spice, you get licorice, balsam herb and camphor ash. The Salvioni house style is ethereal and light, and although that extra vintage ripeness and concentration does register on the palate, farming and winemaking at this estate puts an emphasis on acidity over power or structure. These choices were particularly important in 2017.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 95 RPRoses upon roses, wild strawberries, dusty cedar spice box, mint leaf and a hint of wet stone open the stage for the 2017 Brunello di Montalcino from Salvioni. This is beauty personified in wine, and it’s completely atypical for the harshly warm and dry vintage conditions. It fleshes out across the palate like fine silk, concentrated and poised, yet without a hard edge in sight, as cherries and plums give way to mounting minerality and sweet tannins toward the close. The 2017 boasts a crystalline structure and dramatic inner floral perfumes, as hints of cranberry and clove taper off. While this may not show the impeccable grace of the most classic vintages, it’s a darling all the same and has medium-term cellaring potential.Vinous Media | 94 VMWhen I visited Alessia Salvioni at the end of August 2017, she said the challenge for the imminent harvest would be avoiding dried grapes. The grapes were brought in on 12 September, approximately 10 days earlier than average. Aromas of sun-kissed cherries and blackberry speak to the warmth but there’s no sign of over-ripeness. Pepper, sage and cedar add fragrant intrigue, while the palate is surprisingly lean and sinewy, demonstrating Sangiovese’s lightness. Very direct in its delivery, its gritty tannins will need a bit of time but I don’t see this as one of Salvioni’s most long-lived vintages. Drinking Window: 2023 - 2029Decanter | 92 DEC

This wine kisses the sky with fruit from bush-trained vines planted in 2012 at the highest point of the appellation (above 600 meters in elevation). This is a wine to watch in the future, especially as these vines grow older. The Le Ragnaie 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Passo del Lume Spento has a fine and direct bouquet with vibrant red fruit, cranberry, pressed rose and rosemary blossom. Fruit and floral components run very strong, and you don’t get as much of the earthiness that we find in the other wines. Instead, it feels mineral and salty. Crunchy fruit and powdery tannins fuel a very long and polished finish with a contained 13.5% alcohol content. This wine is fluid and more of a shape-shifter. Only 4,400 bottles were made.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPTo close out the single vineyard wines, the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino Passo Del Lume Spento takes a youthful red/garnet-tinged color and, as with the rest of the wines of this vintage from Le Ragnaie, has a signature stamp of incredible perfume lifting from the glass out of the gate, with notes fresh Mediterranean herbs, ripe cherries, anise, and crushed rose petals. Ripe citrus-toned fruit fills the palate of this medium-bodied Brunello, which has great mouthwatering acidity that floats through the sides of the palate, angular tannins, and a mineral-toned finish. It’s packed with tension, though, and is deserving of another year or two of cellaring before drinking 2025-2045.Jeb Dunnuck | 97 JDThe 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Passo del Lume Spento opens with a mentholated freshness, as crushed stone and minty herbs complicate dusty dried strawberries. This is juicy in character and wickedly fresh, showing its minerality up front as a tart wave of wild berries descends upon the palate. It finishes with cheek-puckering tension, potent and primary, along with a coating of fine-grained tannins, all balanced by a bump of residual acidity. This is a spice bomb, yet it has the energy to balance. The Passo del Lume Spento hails from bush-trained vines planted in 2012 at 621 meters.Vinous Media | 94 VMCampinoti’s highest altitude single-vineyard bottling comes from a one-hectare plot planted in 2011 at a lofty 621 metres. The third release as a Brunello, it hits its stride with the 2019 vintage. While still reserved in aromas, this sings with inner mouth perfumes of white blossom and rose against a backdrop of sour red cherry and pomegranate. The mouth-cleansing tannins are linear, and brisk acidity whisks the wine across the palate. Slender but not bony, this has sufficient flesh to harmonise the structure. Really quite thrilling in its sinewy, chiselled personality.Decanter | 94 DEC

This wine is a star of the vintage. It is made with fruit from vines planted in 1968 in ancient soils rich in quartz at a very high 600 meters in elevation. The Le Ragnaie 2019 Brunello di Montalcino Ragnaie V. V. (the initials stand for “vecchie vigne,” or "old vines") reveals a soulful personality with a very elegant set of aromas and compelling complexity. There is heritage rose, lilac and something earthy like tarragon or marjoram. Underripe cherry and redcurrant are found at the core; however, that ethereal herbal note continues to the palate where it meets a chalky mineral tone. Powdery tannins stick to the side of your mouth for a very long time. Only 4,400 bottles were made.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPA similar medium red color, the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino Ragnaie V.V. is another showstopper, with stunning floral and layered aromas of licorice, ripe red cherries, blood orange, and clove. Mouthwatering and structured, this is a noble wine, and while it’s medium-bodied. It’s not for the faint of heart. With ripe, angular tannins that frame this wine, it propels through the palate with notes of saline and vibrant acidity. Long and tension-packed, it demands several years of proper cellaring and feels as though it will improve over the coming two decades at a glacial pace. Drink 2027-2047.Jeb Dunnuck | 98 JDOwner Riccardo Campinoti reports that the 2019 harvest was slightly early by the estate’s standards: he picked his 50-plus-year-old vines on 4 October, giving the must a long maceration of 45-50 days. After seven months in bottle, it demonstrates the same precision and minerality that were evident in cask. Currently somewhat stern, it’s intriguing in its reticence. Through iron and warm stone nuances, black raspberry pokes through. This will never be a big, rich wine, yet as the dense layers unfold and those chalky tannins relax their grip, its enveloping nature will provide much pleasure.Decanter | 96 DECThe 2019 Brunello di Montalcino VV is youthfully coy in the glass, lifting up with a nuanced blend of dried roses, licorice and clove, excited by hints of spiced oranges. This is cool-toned and saline in character, with silken textures contrasted by crisp red fruits and salty mineral tones that saturate the senses. The 2019 finishes long, primary and with crunchy tannins, yet there are depths of complexity here just waiting to unfold. This is quite forbidding today, yet in five to ten years, I expect a magical experience.Vinous Media | 95+ VM