Brunello di Montalcino 2017 75cl

The ladies of Le Potazzine make a terrific bottle of Brunello, and their high-elevation vineyards are especially important in maintaining freshness in a scorching-hot vintage such as this. The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino offers a pretty succession of wild berry, cherry and plum aromas, along with light spice, crushed flowers and perfumed potting soil. This wine is also distinguished by a touch of bay leaf and maybe a warmer note of cured tobacco as well. This is an impressive effort (with 16,000 bottles released).

An exotic mix of sweet smoke and cloves gives way to dusty black cherries and a twang of sour citrus as the 2017 Brunello di Montalcino unfolds in the glass. Further time reveals hints of animal musk and flowery undergrowth. This enters the palate with pure elegance, delicate and silky in feel, yet also delivering a core of salty minerals that adds unexpected depths to the vivid display of tart wild berries and inner spice. The 2017 finishes with incredible persistence but also poise, structured yet primary, exactly as it should be at this young stage. Keep your hands off for at least a few years, because the best is yet to come. The higher elevations and no-nonsense winemaking at Le Potazzine really aided in creating one of the most balanced and, frankly, interesting wines of the vintage.

Blackberry, black-cherry and mushroom aromas. The palate is full-bodied with slightly chewy tannins, but it remains polished and lively. Berry, earth and bark in the finish. Give this a couple of years to open up. Try after 2023.