Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 2017

Let us start with a fact. The 2016 was rated by the Consorzio del Brunello as a 5-star vintage. The maximum. This means that the wineries that decided to produce a Riserva that year, as in this case, had the reasonable certainty of obtaining a great wine, capable of ageing for a long time and giving great satisfaction for years to those who had a bottle in their cellar. The one proposed here is Villa Poggio Salvi's Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG, the result of painstaking research dedicated to obtaining a wine of even greater structure than the vintage Brunello di Montalcino. Sangiovese grosso in purity, the grapes used in this case come from vineyards between 20 and 35 years old, with a magnificent south-westerly exposure. We are over 300 metres above sea level, where the climate is hot but slightly mitigated by beneficial currents coming directly from the sea. Harvested between the end of September and the first days of October, by hand in boxes, the grapes are quickly delivered to the cellar to begin processing. It begins with a pre-maceration phase lasting 8 days, followed by fermentation, at a controlled temperature, in temperature-controlled steel tanks. After racking, the wine is then passed into Slavonian oak casks of 30, 60 and 100 hectolitres for the very slow maturation process that ends after no less than 40 months. This is followed by bottling and a further period of ageing in steel for at least 6 months. Intense ruby red in colour with garnet reflections, this Brunello di Montalcino amazes for the breadth and complexity of its bouquet, where notes of ripe fruit, almost under spirits, and tertiary aromas in slow but continuous evolution, such as liquorice, cocoa and coffee, can be perceived. In the mouth, however, it is pleasantly savoury and full, characterised by a distinct freshness. Pleasant notes of red fruit, soft tannins well present and pleasant acidity suggest that this is a wine capable of maturing (and well) for a very long time. Even 40 years or more. Will we have the patience to wait? Hardly!