Dark ruby-red. Deep, complex aromas of dark red cherry, violet, flint, licorice and underbrush. Rich dense and juicy, with multilayered flavors of dark red cherry, tar and licorice. Smooth yet vibrant, this is much more austere and almost brooding in nature than the more open-knit 2011. (Ian D'Agata)

Cerbaiona's 2012 Brunello di Montalcino is a nuanced and delicate wine that offers ample power, intensity and length. What the wine does best is paint a portrait of the grape in its most pure and naked state. It offers crisp outlines with loads of wild berry, blue flower and moist earth on the inside. That balanced ensemble of flavors adds to the long and polished persistence you feel in the mouth. Give this wine another 10 years of aging to best appreciate its slow evolution and budding complexity. (ML)