2017 - Brunello di Montalcino, Lisini

This 2018 Lisini Brunello di Montalcino is a beautiful wine. It has clear, transparent and attractive flavors of ripe, rich cherry, cherry coulis, and macerated strawberries. The oak is also very subtle giving a background of Christmas spice. When the wine opens there is a beautiful rainbow of aromas and flavors with smoke, ash, tobacco and wild strawberry notes that come and go. On the palate the tannins are very refined but still make their presence felt, as they are upright and firm. This wine has some concentration and delightful strawberries warmed-in-the-sun and crunchy green herb flavors that beautifully reflect the vintage.

The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is wild and spunky, presenting a mix of sweet rose and raspberry contrasted by savory herbs, hints of sawdust and white pepper. There are depths of tart red berries, spices and minerals on the palate, drenching the senses in primary concentration, yet zesty acids maintain notable balance. A coating of fine tannins lingers through the long, structured finale, along with echoes of violet, blueberry skins and licorice. There is simply so much going on in this glass, but it has the balance to improve through medium-term cellaring.

The Lisini 2017 Brunello di Montalcino (with 30,000 bottles made) has some of the baked blackberry aromas and cherry liqueur that are characteristics of this dry and hot growing season. The wine opens to a darkly saturated appearance, and it follows up with tarry smoke, licorice root, crushed stone and potting soil. The wine's personality reflects autumnal flavors of forest floor and balsam herb.