The Renieri 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a plush, fruit-forward and accessible wine that captures the purity and elegance of the vintage. The best take-away, however, is the fresh, ready and bright state of this wine that makes it almost ready to enjoy straight out of the gate. This Brunello from a nine-hectare plot with limestone clay soils offers bold cherry and blackberry with delicate spice, smoke and blue flower. The wine is marked by balanced acidity, and there is some tannic tightness that should further relax by the time this wine hits the market at the start of 2021. This is a go-to bottle (in a 50,000 bottle release) if you want a first and memorable taste of the classic 2016 vintage.

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a sweetly spiced and fruit-forward expression of the vintage, yet it manages to color within the lines of refinement. Mulled apples and strawberries with a balsamic tinge give way to mentholated herbal tones. It’s soft with a wonderful mix of inner sweetness, pure red berry fruits and minerals, yet it lacks momentum toward the close. Rounded tannins linger along with hints of plum, tobacco and dark inner florals. With the exception of a lull on the mid-palate, the 2016 Renieri is really quite pleasurable, yet it’s better to enjoy this sooner rather than later.

Mid ruby. Dark brooding peppery cherry fruit nose that is slow to open up. A suggestion of tar and oak. Sweet, tangy cherry fruit with tannins that cling to the fruit. Slightly simple but definitely long and well-balanced. (WS)