Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Rennina 2016 Gaja Pieve St. Res.

The Pieve Santa Restituta 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Rennina offers intensity and beautifully concentrated fruit. The bouquet reveals layers of wild cherry, rose, blue flower and candied orange peel. However, if you are expecting a more subdued Rennina, that's not what you get in this classic 2016 vintage. The wine is buzzing with energy and vitality, with a lifted and an especially brilliant set of aromas. You might also detect a hint of fresh peppercorn or coriander seed that gives the wine a veil of the exotic.

Some much shaved black truffles to the blackberry, walnut and chocolate undertones. It's full-bodied and layered with chewy yet soft tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Smoke, mahogany and wet-earth undertones. Needs three or four years to soften and come together.

A top note of mint graces the cherry, plum and tar flavors in this tightly packed red, which feels balanced overall, despite the strapping tannins, with a lingering, sanguine- and iron-tinged finish.

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Rennina is a dark and youthfully understated beauty. A gorgeous display of tobacco and savory herbs gives way to tart cherries, currants, brown spice and earth tones, gaining further richness the longer it spends in the glass. It's seamless, elegant and silky in feel, with layers of ripe red fruit offset by dried citrus, as notes of black tea, licorice, hints of olive and saturating minerals settle in. There's so much going on here; yet beneath its polished elegance, a layer of fine tannins penetrates deeply, making for a dry and structured finale.