2019 Brunello di Montalcino, Poggio di Sotto, Tuscany, Italy

Dusty roses, worn leather, dried strawberries and arid earth form a classic bouquet as the dynamic 2019 Brunello di Montalcino blossoms in the glass. This is feminine yet deep and textural, with ripe plums and black cherries motivated by brisk acidity. Violet inner florals and licorice hints form toward the close. The 2019 leaves a salty mineral staining to mingle with fine-grained tannins and spice, as it finishes with incredible length, yet still so fresh. This is incredibly youthful and inward today, but the potential is off the charts. I expect the 2019 to put on some weight and blossom over the next five to ten years. Glorious.

Drink 2027 - 2042

Sweet cherry and flower aromas with some orange peel and lilac character. Medium-bodied with pretty depth and focus. Ripe, fine tannins and an attractive finish. Subtle richness and class. From organically grown grapes. Give this three or four years to come around. Best after 2025.

I was able to taste the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino three times for this report, and it’s one of the great wines of the vintage. It takes on a bit more muscular style for the Poggio di Sotto estate, but it retains the DNA of the estate at large with its outstanding clarity. It’s medium ruby-colored and reveals notes of pure cherry, anise, wildflowers, wet stone, and tea leaf. Structured and long on the palate, it has ripe, chiseled tannins, a balanced spine of acidity, and notes of salted orange through the finish, with a long-lasting perfume. Its transparency, balanced with its complexity, makes this one of the most intriguing wines, and if stored properly, it will only improve with time in the cellar.

Drink 2027 - 2047

Although this wine was very shy initially, the Poggio di Sotto 2019 Brunello di Montalcino eventually hits all the high notes of Sangiovese. This is a wine of enormous inner tension, showing a punchy, lifted personality with aromas of cherry skin and blackberry. You get brandied cherry, strawberry glazed pie with the gelatin, underbrush, blue flower, forget-me-nots, balsam herb, mint and licorice. A few hours later, the wine had developed into a classic beauty with slender lines, firm structure and a sparkle of brilliant acidity. The oak is integrated to the point of invisibility, the tannins are elegant and fine and the acidity is that proverbial cherry on top. Ultimately, I liked this village bottling more than the 2018 Riserva.

This is a set of impeccable wines. It must be said, however, that they started off very closed, and it took me a long while, with multiple tastings, to coax out the adjectives and descriptors you read here. I encountered the same thing with the wines of San Giorgio, which is under the same ownership. With this in mind, I definitely recommend more bottle age for Poggio di Sotto's new releases. It would be a shame to open these wines without giving them five more years at a minimum.

Drink 2030 - 2055

Mid ruby. Very subdued nose that only shows hints of minerals. Elegant palate that is still firmly closed yet suave and finely balanced with gritty, yet fine, tannins. Very long, focused and exciting.

Drink 2026 - 2038

Poggio di Sotto is the top wine from Castelnuovo dell'Abate, facing Abbazia di Sant'Antimo on one side and the end of Orcia valley on the other. Selected yeast for the fermentation were introduced recently from the 2018 vintage) otherwise the winemaking is very classic, with long maceration and long Slavonian-oak ageing: ‘We assume the French oak is too intrusive, giving too much tannin to Brunello,’ said managing director, Leonardo Berti. This 2019 shines for its vibrancy of fruit ranging from peach skin to strawberry, with balsamic depth and a minty whiff. Dense and velvety with refreshing acidity and a chalky finish, this is youthful, chewy and long.

Drink 2024 - 2034