The Villa Poggio Salvi 2017 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva opens to a dark color and deep richness with ripe fruit, baked plum, sweet tobacco and lots of oak-related sweetness. This wine sees extended aging in Slavonian oak botti for 40 months. What the wine is missing, however, is complexity. This vintage shows an easy approach with lots of richness and density, but it is lacking in depth. There is some tannic astringency too. I had the honor of tasting bottle number 1 of 6,000 released.

With only 2,666 bottles produced, the Villa Poggio Salvi 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva shows the classic lines of the vintage with sharp and detailed fruit followed by crushed stone, grilled herb, licorice root and ferrous earth. The tannins are slightly dry, but they fit into the very polished impression this wine makes on the palate. This is a happy direction for Villa Poggio Salvi.