Biondi Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2011

Beautifully balanced, this opens with alluring scents of wild berry, rose, baking spice and whiffs of chopped herb. Seamlessly combining ripe fruit and the firm's trademark finesse, the bright elegantly structured palate delivers juicy wild cherry, crushed raspberry, white pepper and a hint of black tea framed in polished tannins and fresh acidity. It's already tempting but the best is yet to come. Drink 2021–2031.

A warm summer yielded this rich and opulent 2011 Riserva. Only fruit from the estate’s oldest vines (some up to 80 years of age) makes it into this bottling, and that old-vine concentration shows in the wine’s dense flavors: notes of black cherry and umeboshi plum layered with iodine, basil and smoke. The tightly packed flavors need time to unfold, so it’s best to decant this several hours before serving. (4/2018)

Biondi Santi decided to keep both the 2013 Brunello and 2012 Riserva an additional year in bottle before release. Therefore, the current releases are the 2012 Brunello and the 2011 Riserva. The latter is only made in exceptional years, produced from the estate's BBS11 (Brunello Biondi Santi, vine 11) clone, a selection Franco Biondi Santi started in 1970. These vines are at least 25 years old. The wine is fermented in wood and aged in Slavonian oak casks. The warm vintage gives this wine a precocious character and a charming richness of fruit. Aromas of exotic black tea, new furniture polish and macerated cherries make way for ethereal nuances of lavender, orange blossom and rosehip. Acidity lends buoyancy, and the authoritative tannins are finely sculpted.. All the elements are in balance, and while it will surely last a couple of decades, it is almost impossible to resist now. (MM) (2/2018)

Dark red. Musky nuances give way to brighter red fruit, licorice and herbal aromas. Rich and dense, with flavors of red cherry and minerals lifted by hints of orange peel and bergamot, not to mention noteworthy but harmonious acidity. Finishes long with youthfully chewy tannins and lingering hints of violet. This strikes me as a slightly readier to drink version of Brunello Riserva from Biondi-Santi, but as always, it improves greatly with aeration so decant at least six hours ahead for maximum enjoyment. (ID) 94+ (3/2017)

A supple, harmonious red, showing some softening, with cherry, leather and wild herb flavors well-integrated into the lacy structure. Reveals a lingering essence of sweet fruit, black tea and graphite on the finish. Best from 2019 through 2032.

The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva makes a bold and more articulate statement (compared to the 2012 Annata wine released at the same time). That extra year of aging has contributed to more powerful aromas of dark fruit, balsam herb and spice. There is extra fiber and texture here overall. This Riserva shows a higher degree of density and a tighter embroidery with dark fruit, spice and tobacco. Both 2011 and 2012 are warm vintages, and the wines produced do not boast the same level of bright acidity that you normally get from this estate. But, if there's one thing the wines of Biondi-Santi have demonstrated over the years, it is that they get better with time. Set this bottle aside in your cellar.

Aromas of plums and light caramel and hazelnuts. Full body, a solid core of fruit and chewy tannins. A little dusty now. Need a couple of years to soften. Try in 2018. (11/2016)