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.

The Val di Suga 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Vigna del Lago draws its fruit from a low-lying vineyard site (at 300 meters in elevation) next to a big water reservoir. The heat of the summer sun permeates these vines, and you can feel that intensity in the wine's medium-dark appearance and its ripe fruit flavors. This release of 8,000 bottles offers an attractive level of ripeness and balanced dark fruit.

The 2015 Val di Suga Brunello di Montalcino is spicy and intense, leading off with dried cherries, cedar spice box, savory herbs and dusty rose. Silky, almost creamy textures flood the palate with ripe red and black fruits, contrasting saline minerals with cooling acids, as fine tannins slowly settle upon the senses. The finish is long and structured, mixing youthful tension with pretty inner florals, yet the best is yet to come with medium-term cellaring.

Val di Suga owns vineyard plots in three different sectors of the Montalcino zone and vinifies the fruit seperatley to produce three single-site wines. Vigna Spuntali lies southwest of the town, just 25 miles from the Tyrrhenian Sea, where sandy soils and long, sunny days produced a boldly ripe wine saturated with fleshy cherry and plum flavors. The wine aged for two years in a 300-liter French oak barrels that enhanced the richness with notes of toasted almond and dark spice. It's powerful wine destined for the cellar.

Poggio al Ganchio strethes along Montalcino's southeastern side, the vines rooted in galestro-rich soils at elevations reaching nearly 1,500 feed. Aged in large French oak vats for 30 months, this wine is the most understated of Val di Suga's three single-site bottlings in 2013, hemmed in by powerful, meaty tannins and pronounced mineral tones. Flavors of cherry and red currant emerge with exposure to air, accented by note of white pepper, fennel and blood orange. Hold on to this for at least five years, and sever it with braised pork shoulder.

Vigna del Lago sits on Montalcino's northern slope, where the influence of the Apennines create the cooler and wetter micro climate that yielded a graceful, high-toned wine in 2013. Scents of rose petals and soft herbs lead into vibrant red-cherry flavors cooled by brisk acidity. Approachable now for its delicate aromas and vibrant flavors, it has the freshness and structure to age well.

Wet-earth, oyster-shell and dark-berry aromas follow through to a full body, chewy tannins and a flavorful finish. Needs a year or two to soften. Try after 2022.

Purity of cherries and watermelon comes through here with some fresh, floral character to the aromas. Medium to full body. Round and fruit-laden tannins follow through to a flavorful finish with lovely fruit. Better after 2021.

Full, deep red. Aromas of blueberry, red cherry cola, violet, coffee and smoke, complicated by balsamic undertones. An absolutely beautiful wine that is already sweet, pliant and accessible, but with a solid, polished spine nicely framing the musky red fruit, mocha, and licorice flavors and ensuring a long life ahead. Clearly deeper than the regular and Vigna al Lago 2015 Brunellos, this finishes long and suave. Made with grapes picked in a vineyard in the southeastern sector of Montalcino. This 2015 is excellent.

Good medium red. Fresh, almost tight aromas of red cherry, sweet spices and peppermint oil, complicated by blood orange and marzipan nuances. Rich and round, with minty acidity leaving a penetrating quality and an impression of greater verticality than some other recent vintages of this wine. Clearly refined, nicely sweet and pure on the long, multifaceted finish. One reason behind this wine’s success in 2015 is that while the Spuntali area is usually fairly dry, it actually rained in 2015 (somewhat paradoxically, given the 2015 growing season weather characteristics - warm and dry - I thought

Earth, leather, almond, macerated cherry and sanguine flavors mark this taut, dry style. The tannins have energy, but border on being astringent, leaving a dusty feel on the savory aftertaste. Best from 2024 through 2042. 830 cases made, 200 cases imported.

Ripe, featuring sweet plum, cherry, balsamic and iron notes, this is powerful and expressive. Dense tannins underlie the fruit on the lingering aftertaste. Best from 2023 through 2040. 750 cases made, 150 cases imported.