Crushed gravel and dried earth on the nose with intense layers of mushrooms, dried oysters and potpourri. Dried flowers and grapefruit peel. It's full-bodied with refined tannins and a long, elegant finish. Quite tight. Juicy and savory at the end.

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna del Lago blends ripe black cherries with woodland herbs and cedar spice box. It’s silky in texture, coasting dense red and hints of black fruits across a medium-bodied frame. This is youthfully poised and inward, yet with nuanced tannins.

It reveals fresh and floral aromatics, with bright red fruit, rose petal, dried thyme, and dusty earth. The palate is crisp and refreshing, with ripe raspberry, candied strawberry, and tea leaf. Its structure is medium-bodied and driven by its energetic acidity, with fine grained tannin. This is the most restrained and high toned of the lineup now, but it will be long-lived and is great for those who enjoy a brighter, more lifted style with tension.

Aromas of black-skinned berry, charred earth and new leather lift out of the glass. The concentrated medium-bodied palate offers dried black cherry, tobacco, star anise and orange zest alongside austere fine-grained tannins and firm acidity.

This starts out with pronounced iron and graphite aromas and flavors, wrapped around a beam of black cherry and black currant fruit. Earth, tobacco and wild herb accents get swept up in the dense, dusty tannins on the finish.

Savory and bright, this has delicate, pretty aromas recalling woodland berry, forest floor and cedar. On the already accessible palate, lithe tannins accompany red cherry, coffee bean and white pepper before a drying finish. Tangy acidity keeps it fresh.

Its juicy dark-cherry flavors are laced with notes of licorice and dried herbs, the fruit gliding over smooth, polished tannins.

An elegant wine with high-toned red-berry flavors and racy acidity. The tannins are bright and chalky, and the wine finishes with plenty of energy, promising a long life ahead.

Tarry undertones lend ballast to the juicy red-and-black-cherry flavors, brightened by a hint of orange peel. The wine finishes on lingering spice notes.

Dusty notes with crushed gravel and dried tea leaves are a prelude to aromas of fresh button mushrooms and hints of fennel. Savory mushrooms and olives, followed by firm, fine-grained tannins. Structured and full-bodied.

Aromatics of menthol and medicinal herbs, brushed leather, and black cherry. The palate is dark fruited without weight, marked with dried blackberry, black tea, dried herbs, and classically balanced structure.

Aromas of iron, blood and cherry lead off in this smooth and vibrant red, with a well of dark fruit—black cherry and blackberry—settling in on the palate. Offers a dusting of dark chocolaty tannins on the finish.

The 2015 Poggio a Granchio Brunello is aromatic with dried red fruits, violets, dusty sun-baked earth, and saddle leather. It offers gushy, dark cherry fruit upfront, licorice and mineral earth on the palate, and a fine-grained structure and balanced acidity that bring a weightless feel in the warmth of the vintage. Generous now, it will also be welcome to rest in the cellar for the next 2-5 years. Drink 2024-2036.

The 2015 Brunello is lifted with aromatics of candied cherry, raspberry fruit leather, vanilla, and sweet baking spices. As one would expect with the warmth of the 2015 vintage, the palate is rounder and more generous than the racier 2016. The palate is ripe with fresh cherry, tea leaf, and pleasant orange peel bitterness. It will provide welcome enjoyment over the next 15 years. Drink 2022-2036.

The 2015 Vigna del Lago is lifted with ripe red cherry fruit, clove, and dried roses. The palate has the most lift of the Vigna wines in this vintage, with tart red fruits, orange zest, and tomato leaf. It offers elegant and fine tannins, with vibrant acidity for the vintage. Drink 2025-2035.

The 2015 Vigna Spuntali Brunello di Montalcino is more introverted on first opening, with notes of black plum, licorice, dried Mediterranean herb, and sun-baked earth. On the palate, it offers a tart dried fruit character, with a building tannin structure that finishes with tomato leaf, and bitter herbs. The most rustic and burly of the wines in the lineup of the 2015 Val di Suga vintage, it will benefit from allowing some time in cellar to see how this matures and its tarriness develops. Drink 2026-2036.

The Val di Suga 2018 Rosso di Montalcino is a vibrant and fun red to pull out for your next veal or vegetarian lasagna. The wine is teeming with bright berry fruit with wild raspberry and cherry. Showing balanced acidity and a snappy, lean-bodied style, this is textbook Rosso. There is a note of candied cherry and sweet spice on the close. This vintage marks significant improvements since I last visited this wine. Some 60,000 bottles were produced and you get good value.

This is a very well balanced Brunello with sharp and classic lines. The Val di Suga 2015 Brunello di Montalcino offers attractive energy and brightness that is transmitted through the cherry fruit and wild berry aromas at its core. That primary fruit is surrounded by light spice, grilled herb and potting soil. There is a nice purity and linearity to this wine that reminds you of the natural depth and complexity of Sangiovese when given a little time to age. (Brunello is always released five years after the harvest.) This is an ample 120,000-bottle release.

Val di Suga makes three single-vineyard expressions of Sangiovese, and this is one of them. The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Poggio al Granchio comes from a sun-kissed 18-hectare plot located at the southeastern side of the appellation that also sees very cool nights, thanks to the soft breezes and diurnal shifts that come off the nearby Monte Amiata. You can see a sketch of this vineyard in the little drawing on the front label. Compared to the other wines in this series, this wine is distinguished by a thickly textured mouthfeel and warm aromas of dark plum and blackberry...

One of three single-vineyard expressions, the Val di Suga 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Spuntali is the most representative of the estate philosophy and the Sangiovese grape. This classic Brunello shows the thick lines and ripe fruit that this vintage is known for, but it also offers mineral notes or crushed stone and iron ore that add contours and framing to the fruit. There is an almost saline or salty note on the close that you don't get with the other wines in this series. Some 12,000 examples of this lovely cru were bottled in early April 2019.