Castellare's I Sodi di San Niccolò is the single most overlooked high-end wine in Tuscany today. The 2016 picks up where the 2015 left off. A rush of inky dark fruit, lavender, spice, licorice, gravel, blueberry and menthol builds as the 2016 shows off its exceptional balance and pedigree. Readers will have to be patient, as the 2016 needs a few years in bottle to fully come together. Even so, the 2016 has been nothing less than spectacular on the two occasions I have tasted it so far. In a word: monumental.

The Castellare di Castellina 2016 I Sodi di S. Niccolò is 85% Sangioveto (otherwise known as Sangiovese) and 15% Malvasia Nera. I tasted number 9,949 out of 29,230 bottles filled in January 2020. This is a true beauty and a wine that makes a lasting impact. I came back to my opened bottle some 24 hours later, and the wine tasted even better. It shows enormous purity and focus, with specific aromas that remind you of its Tuscan origins. Those aromas are very Mediterranean in character with rosemary and crushed lavender, followed by wild cherry, dried raspberry and cassis. The tannins are elegant and finely integrated, and the wine leaves nothing but long, polished sensations behind. This is one of the best vintages of I Sodi di S. Niccolò I have encountered in 20 years.

The initial impression is the charred, sweet oaky aromas, then aeration quickly reveals black cherry, plum, leather, tobacco, wild herb and iron flavors. There is a certain austerity here too, accentuated by the dense, dusty tannins, yet this is complex, balanced and long, with an acetic feel to the lingering finish. Be patient. Sangioveto and Malvasia Nera. Better than previously reviewed. Best from 2023 through 2048. BS

Deep garnet. Intense, Sangiovese cocktail – presumably informed by the vintage. More dramatic than the 2017, but arguably less typically Tuscan. (JR)