A very fine-tannined red with dark-berry, rose-hip, bark and cedar character. It’s medium-bodied with firm tannins that are polished and juicy. Hints of ash and spice to it all. Shows class and structure. Best after 2026.

The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino (with the black label) reveals sweet fruit, candied cherry and hints of dried apricot or nectarine. Those ripe fruit flavors give this wine an accessible and easy personality with simple lines. The wine ferments in stainless steel and ages in large Slavonian oak for 30 months. Production is 60,000 bottles.

The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino opens to dark fruit and savory aromas of Christmas spice and Spanish cedar. The wine has an almost exotic quality, and this seems to come from both the oak and probably the heat of the vintage. Plump cherry and ripe blackberry fold into earthy notes, balsam herb and licorice root. This hot-vintage Brunello offers intensity and softness, but the finish ultimately shows moderate length. This is an accessible, near-term Brunello with some drying tannins.

Showing a medium-dark appearance and good concentration, the 2015 Brunello di Montalcino opens to thick layers of prune, blackberry and black currant. This is a ripe, soft and fruit-forward Brunello that mirrors the warm weather that distinguishes this vintage. The tannins are soft, and the wine follows through with dense and succulent fruit. Its complexity is underplayed, and the wine offers measured intensity that is well suited to near or medium-term drinking with stewed meat. Some 55,000 bottles were made.

Villa Poggio Salvi's 2014 Brunello di Montalcino shows more density and intensity than its peers, but it also exhibits what I would describe as a more horizontal approach, as opposed to a vertical or uplifting delivery of aromas. That's not to say it is flat, however, it is definitely less nuanced. This is a characteristic common to many Brunellos made in 2014. This vintage is considered weaker compared to the cool 2013 or the warm 2015 vintages that remain on the bookends of 2014. Some 36,000 bottles were made.