A red with dark cherry, plum and hints of milk chocolate on the nose and palate. It's full-bodied with layers of fruit and velvety tannins. Flavorful, if a bit tight at the finish. Serious Brunello. Drink after 2024.

The Fanti 2016 Brunello di Montalcino comes roaring out with terrific intensity and balance. This vintage certainly marks a landmark for the Fanti family as I don't remember a new release as confident and impactful as this. The wine is round and smooth, with layers of dark fruit, cherry and spice. These various aromas blend nicely, showing the right contrasts where necessary. This is a classic expression of the vintage with some of the extra texture and power (a shorter aging is done in a combination of barrique and botte, with the rest in bottle) that defines this estate located in the Castelnuovo dell'Abata area. Production is 45,000 bottles.

The 2016 Brunello has aromatics of clove, orange zest, ripe cherry fruit and sweet floral aromatics. Subtle elegance characterizes the palate of the wine, with notes of black tea and cherry pit. Drink 2022-2036

Though light on its feet, this red evokes plenty of cherry, wild thyme, eucalyptus and tar flavors. A vibrant acidity drives the finish, while mature tannins mesh nicely, echoing the cherry theme. Best from 2023 through 2042. 3,750 cases made, 1,250 cases imported.

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is sweetly spiced, hauntingly floral and seductive from the first tilt of the glass. A dusting of confectioners' sugar gives way to bright cherries, candied orange, mint leaf and lavender to form an extroverted yet delectable display. It's seamless and silky in the mouth, with a subtle twang of citrus and vibrant acids that energize the expression, ushering in ripe red hints of herbal-tinged black berries. Rounded tannins come forward through the close under an air of licorice and violets. The 2016 is already so easy to like for its primary intensity, yet it should really be cellared for three to five years for maximum effect. It's a great value for age-worthy Brunello that overdelivers.

Balsamic aromas of camphor and cedar mingle with new leather and forest floor on this full-bodied red. Firmly structured, the youthfully austere palate offers licorice, tobacco and cassis framed in tightly wound, fine-grained tannins.