This wine pours from the bottle with luscious, dark intensity. The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Gemini offers a much more robust and grounded textured when compared to the 2013 Brunello Annata. You can taste the elevated summer temperatures in this vintage, and you can see it in the thick concentration and dark appearance of the wine. Indeed, there is a bit of sweet stickiness on the finish, thanks to all that ripe fruit and dark cherry richness.

The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Gemini is dark and woodsy in the glass, showcasing fruit first, with crushed plum, ripe black cherry and balsamic spice, as grounding notes of dusty minerals, animal musk and dried florals develop late. Soft, creamy, enveloping textures leave behind a mix of sweet and savory cherry, minerals and inner herbal tones. The finish is long, and heroically structured, as it's grippy tannins clench the senses, letting only a hint of tart red fruits, minerals and a tug of zesty acids through. This may be a big, dark and austere wine today, but I believe the best is yet to come.