The Poggio Nardone 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is spicy and smoky with lots of black fruit and oak intensity. This is one of the biggest wines in this report if you were to judge on aromatic intensity alone. Those smoky tones turn to tar, smoke and licorice, and the wine shows rich concentration and soft fruit weight to the palate. All that power (and tight tannins) is backed by a relatively moderate 14% alcohol. Only 2,000 bottles were made.

This wine is thick, rich and velvety. The Poggio Nardone 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is shaped in equal measure by the ripe and generous fruit of the vintage on the one hand and oak-driven layers of spice, smoke and cured tobacco on the other. Those barrel tones are evident and could be reined back a notch but only because the brightness of the fruit is so pretty inside. The same can be said for the oak tannins that need a few more years to unwind. A very few 2,000 bottles were produced.

The 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva (with 5,000 bottles made) opens to a pretty, dark appearance that makes a great first impression in the glass. This cool-vintage expression shows harmony and balance with black fruit aromas that are followed by tar, licorice and camphor smoke. Balsamic or medicinal aromas are underlined, and the intensity of the primary fruit takes a back seat role as a result.

With only 1,000 bottles produced, the 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is a precious wine that might prove difficult to locate. This is a dark and syrupy expression with black fruit aromas of blackberry preserves and prune. You definitely taste the warmth and sunshine in this hot-vintage Sangiovese. The bouquet is intense and rich, but the wine is not as long-lived in terms of mouthfeel. This is a wine of immediate power and volume.

Boasting thick structure and evident density, the 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva by Poggio Nardone is a full-bodied expression of Sangiovese. There are some ripe aromas with raspberry jam and cherry confit that are characteristic of the vintage. Spice, leather and black truffle aromas play supporting roles. The wine is thickly layered in terms of mouthfeel, but there is some lingering bitterness as well that needs to dissipate. This wine ages in large oak casks for four years.