Fattoria dei Barbi Brunello di Montalcino Italy 2018 (14.50% ABV) – 90.3
BB | Ruby to pink. Refined, clean, mineral, herbal nose, with small red fruits, sweet tobacco, and dried roses. Medium- to full-bodied, well-balanced palate, with sweet fruit, refined, noble tannins, and a long, lively, mineral finish. 93
MP | The nose is simple and straightforward, with some red and black fruit and a touch of spicy oak. On the palate, the fruit reveals a slightly green edge and the tannins are dusty and brittle. This would have been better in a flight of Rosso rather than Brunello. 87
AJ | Deep, dark red-black. No longer opaque, but one of the most deeply colored wines in the tasting. Ample plum fruits here, and these are more primary and less evolved than for many of the wines. Spicy, round, and exuberant, with a generous palate promised. That's what you get: big, bustling, buxom Brunello, packed with energetic, bear-cub-like fruit, rolling and wrestling its way through your mouth. Super-fun... but it lingers and lasts in the mouth, too, and then you get a sense of what may be on offer with time. Grand generosity here. 91