1997 Valdicava, Brunello di Montalcino, Riserva Madonna Piano

This is a wine that has all to come. Loads of blackberry and dried fruits on the nose, with full body, supersilky tannins and a long, long finish. Layered and beautiful, with loads of fruit. Yet it is refined and caressing. So much flavor. This will only get better.--1997 Italian blind retrospective. Drink now through 2015. 1,500 cases made. (James Suckling)

It's nonsense when people say 1997 Brunellos are over. This is a decadent and gorgeous wine with meat and raisin character. It's full and round with so much going on. Velvety and opulent. So much there. Loving it.

The 1997 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano is a sweet, opulent wine packed with generous, super-ripe fruit. It is hard not to admire the wine's youthful personality. Still, warm vintages often mute varietal and vineyard character, as is the case here. Admittedly this big, brawny Madonna del Piano lacks some complexity and delineation, but the wine has also aged admirably and should drink well for another decade or so.

The 1997 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano shows a rustic fringe (especially compared to the super-refined 1999 edition of the same wine) with some aromas of braised meat, pecorino cheese rind, black fruit, smoke and barbecue spice. It’s a wine with thicker bones, chunky parts and more abrupt movements. Having said that, its hearty, hometown-homeboy personality makes it just the kind of wine to pair with grilled meat and crunchy, oven-roasted potatoes with rosemary and olive oil. It’s definitely a wine that brings on your appetite. Drink: 2014-2022.

Full, deep red. Low-toned aromas of raspberry, mocha, game and menthol, with emerging notes of dried rose and spice cake. Pliant, sweet and dense, with surprisingly cool, primary berry flavors and a solid underlying backbone. A juicy, bright Brunello riserva that saturates the palate. Finishes with dusty, tongue-coating tannins and building currant and leather flavors.