Neri's 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto is silky, supple and open-knit. It has also aged the best of the three 2004 Brunellos. Dark cherry jam, spice, herbs, earthiness, black pepper, licorice, menthol and sweet spices are nicely pushed forward. I would prefer to drink the 2004 over the next few years, as it will not be a long-lived wine.

This is spicy and very, very rich with light raisin and hints of vanilla bean character. It’s full and velvety textured with a long and flavorful finish. Structured and refined. Drink now or hold.

No doubt, Casanova di Neri shows some of its best work in this decade, starting with the super voluptuous 2001 vintage and ending with the superbly fine and powerful 2010 edition. The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto is closer to the 2001 expression in style and personality. This wine shows deep richness and plumpness with black fruit nuances that segue to exotic spice, bitter chocolate and cured tobacco. Those lingering balsam notes of rosemary and medicinal herb remind you of the Montalcino territory. Smoke, tar, licorice and crushed flint underline the evolved nature of this balanced Tuscan red. If you have a bottle in your cellar, you could drink it now or hold off longer.

Very powerful and rich, with blackberry, licorice and light toasty oak. This has pure fruit. Turns exotic and decadent. Big and full-bodied, with dense, powerful tannins, but velvety and beautiful. Layered and gorgeous. Best from 2011 through 2018. 1,950 cases made. (James Suckling)

The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto is deep and powerful in its smoke, tar, spices, scorched earth and plums. The wine has shut down quite a bit since I last tasted it a few months ago, and the refined silky tannins that were present a while back have turned decidedly virile. Still, the wine’s pedigree is impossible to miss, and the only thing this needs is time, probably lots of it. Pretty scents of soy, smoke and incense inform the long, elegant finish. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2024. (Antonio Galloni)

A darkly alluring blend of plum sauce, crushed black cherries, sage, balsamic spice and hints of mint makes the 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto impossible to ignore. Harmonious to the core, it sweeps across the palate with ease, silky and serene, with ripe red and blue fruits swirling along a steady stream of fresh acidity. A tinge of sour citrus and spice echoes throughout as sweet tannins collect toward the close, finishing with incredible length and balance. The Cerretalto is drop-dead gorgeous and impossibly young. Any collector with 2004 in their cellar should be smiling from ear to ear.

Bright, full ruby-red, one of the darker 2004 Brunellos I've tasted to date. Precise aromas of cassis, licorice, bitter chocolate and nutty oak, with a suggestion of black pepper. More tangy and juicy on entry than the Tenuta Nuova and the normale, then rather imploded in the mouth, but with some mineral and floral topnotes that I don't find today in the other wines. The most graceful and most varietally expressive of this trio, but still muscular and quite unevolved, with a powerful spine of acidity. The tannins coat the front teeth but this wine has the building sweetness to support them. This, too, will require patience and may ultimately merit an even higher score.