The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino is rich, sensual and inviting. Wonderfully open-knit and polished, the 2011 Brunello di Montalcino is one of the most intriguing wines of the year. High-toned aromatics, with a touch of volatile acidity, give the wine much of its unique personality. Macerated cherries, licorice, hard candy new leather and mint are all pushed forward. Readers should expect a somewhat eccentric Brunello. I have seen Brunellos with elevated volatile acidity develop into spectacular wines with years in bottle, but readers should know what they are getting into.

The 2011 vintage represents the first growing season farmed by its current owner, Claudio Tipa, and the ColleMassari team. The previous owner, Piero Palmucci, started the season by dropping fruit, and this helped push ripening forward. However, this vintage is remember for the hard work required to bring clean fruit into the winery. "Each cluster took about five minutes to trim and clean," says winemaker Luca Marrone: "This was one of the most expensive vintages ever because of all the cutting required." The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino has a sweet theme that comes from hot weather and sirocco winds that blew hot like a hair dryer throughout the summer. The vines were left with ripening fruit and no leaves, and some of the berries dried on the vine. The grapes were completely destemmed to avoid bitterness. (Since 2014, the winery has been working with whole berries.) This wine shows surprising freshness, nonetheless, and it is in terrific form today. There is a tannic pinch at the end, but the wine remains ample and generous in terms of mouthfeel. It's not overripe per se, but it is quite broad.

The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino is darkly alluring with dusty dried flowers and earth tones that add a signature of early maturity as sweet spices and crushed blackberries find lift through a whiff of mentholated herbs. This is round and soothing on the palate, with ripe red and black fruits that swirl across a stream of juicy acidity as hints of tart cranberry add tension toward the close. The 2011 finishes long and staining, with fully resolved tannins yet still fresh, leaving cocoa and lavender notes to fade slowly. Time is not on the side of the 2011, yet it’s showing beautifully today. The purchase of Poggio Di Sotto was taking place around the same time as harvest, and as a result, the fruit was picked over a week later than intended. As a result, the new owners did the best they could, making a berry-by-berry selection. Yet, in the end, this is not representative of the approach at Poggio di Sotto.

This is more meaty than the 2014 Rosso just tasted. Lifted, spicy and with aromas of sweet decay and undergrowth though there’s still red fruit and a lively note of orange. Beautifully scented. Fabulous intensity and yet with a lightness of touch that gives energy and freshness. Very long. Gorgeous, succulent and worth every penny. (JH)

Beautifully open-knit nose with coffee, cigar smoke, blackberry and milk chocolate – this is as grand and stately as a palazzo with the structure to match. Manages to be accessible while still foursquare in structure. (RH)