Conti Costanti, Brunello di Montalcino 2016

With a history stretching back to the mid-16th century, Conti Costanti is one of the founding estates of the Brunello di Montalcino denomination, run by Andrea Costanti since 1983. He follows up his gorgeously seductive 2015 with a stunningly refined and gracious 2016. Savoury earthy notes are accompanied by nuanced dried florals, citrus peel and pure red berries. It reaches profound depths on the palate where compact, ripe and dusty tannins promise a long cellaring life. It's so seamlessly put together that it's almost a shame to try teasing it apart.

There’s a sensuality to Costanti's 2016 Brunello di Montalcino. It’s something about the way it draws you in and warms the soul. Its bouquet straddles both the light and dark sides of Sangiovese, rising up with alluring flowery perfumes, cedar dust and crushed cherry, yet then swaying toward rich brown spices and clove. The textures are velvety-smooth and elegant, ushering in a dense core of fleshy red berry fruits, which leave a coating of crystalline minerals and fine tannins in their wake. Though structured and aching for a stay in the cellar, you can’t help but pour another glass of this simply spellbinding Brunello. While in need of three to five years in the cellar for optimal enjoyment, the 2016 is absolutely worth checking in on today.

The Conti Costanti 2016 Brunello di Montalcino shows warm fruit layering with cherry, wild raspberry and plum. You might also notice some touches of sweetness with candied orange skin and lavender honey. At the back of it all, you get tilled earth and a touch of black olive. This wine reveals good complexity to the bouquet and follows up with a streamlined, mid-weight mouthfeel. I found this vintage to be shorter compared to the 2015 edition tasted earlier in the year. Production is 35,000 bottles.