The superb 1999 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is an inky, silky wine with the smoothness of a polished river stone. It has integrated seamlessly since the dawn of the new millennium to present a balanced web of dark fruit, licorice, lead pencil and cola. The palate is full and generous with enough pulp to grip to the palate and drive its momentum forward in terms of length and flavor. Open the bottle up to four hours before serving. You can drink it now, or hold it ten year or more. Drink: 2014-2028.

The 1999 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, made from the estate’s oldest vines, offers deeply expressive layers of sweet cherry fruit along with mineral, tobacco and licorice nuances that gradually appear as it sits the glass. Soft and ample on the palate, yet supported by notable structure, this big, full-bodied Brunello will offer rewarding drinking for at least another decade. A great effort. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2016. A Marc de Grazia Selection, various American importers, including Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300, Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; tel. (773) 334-6700, and Estate Wines, Ltd., San Rafael, CA; tel. (415) 492-9411

Wonderfully toasted up front, with baked, but not cooked, fruit aromas. There’s also plenty of coffee, earth and leather to the bouquet. Initial live-wire flavors settle to reveal marzipan and dried stone fruits, while the sly finish is so complex that the wine ultimately registers as a different breed. Drinking this is like navigating a maze. A Marc de Grazia Selection, various importers. ——M.S.(7/1/2005)—— 94