Pieve Santa Restituta (Gaja), Brunello di Montalcino 2021

Displaying a bright red hue, the 2021 Brunello Di Montalcino Pieve Santa Restituta is pure and detailed on the nose, with cherry cordial, floral perfume, sweet herbs, and baked earth. The palate is medium-bodied and refined, with a silky texture, fine tannins, and a finish that floats with fabulous length and a gentle warmth. It has a wide window for enjoyment and should drink beautifully for 15 years or more. Drink 2026-2041.

The 2021 Brunello di Montalcino wafts up with heavenly perfumes as geraniums, bergamot and rose petals mix with lavender and exotic spice. It is lifted and sleek with cool-toned acidity and tart red and blue fruits flowing beneath an air of violet inner florals. The finish has saturating tension, mixing fine-grained tannins with graphite mineral tones and citrus, while hints of sour cherry pinch at the cheeks.

Packaged with a gold label, the Pieve Santa Restituta 2021 Brunello di Montalcino marks the return of a wine I personally have not seen in years. In truth, this wine has been produced since 2005, the year the Gaja family acquired a vineyard in the Torrenieri area in the northern part of the appellation where clay-rich soils with high water retention create powerful wines with softer acidity. Fruit from that vineyard was blended with grapes from the Rennina and Sugarille vineyards. However, this wine has recently seen the inclusion of fruit from two new plots, Bolsignano and Villa a Tolli, that bring acidity freshness and mineral tension. The wine presents a medium- to full-bodied texture with notes of dried fruit, cassis, tarry smoke and savory leather. It is lean on the mid-palate yet long and polished. Tight-edged tannins suggest the need for additional bottle aging, a profile consistent with a traditionally structured Brunello. This is a release of 90,000 bottles.