2021 Brunello di Montalcino La Cerbaiola

The 2021 Brunello di Montalcino is deeply complex and spicy, with a wild bouquet that blends orange shavings, sour cherries, rosemary and nuances of split pine. It possesses an impenetrable core of crunchy red berry fruits and mineral tones, with hints of clove adding a bitter bite under an air of violet inner florals. Youthfully dense yet refined, there is simply so much going on here, as tart cranberry blends with a saturation of fine tannins and inner rose tones swirl throughout. Nearly a minute goes by, and the 2021 can still be sensed through a tinge of licorice and lavender. This is a drop-dead gorgeous and radiant effort for Salvioni, with a bright future in store for patient collectors.

Also tasted from barrel, the 2021 Brunello Di Montalcino La Cerbaiola takes on notes of blood orange, dark berries, and dark earth. Offering a noble structure with good acidity and a more angular feel, it has a good deal of tension up front and a long finish. In January I met with Alessia Salvioni in the original historic cellar that is based in the center of the town of Montalcino, and the estate also has a second cellar in the vineyard where the fruit undergoes fermentation before being transferred to the casks at either facility. They have 20 hectares in total, with only four hectares of vineyards that are all classified as Brunello vineyards, so in the years that they do produce a Rosso di Montalcino, it comes from the same vineyards. In the vineyards, they have two parcels, the original plantings with older vines planted in 1980 and 1985, and the second parcel originally planted in 1990, with replanting taking place in 2000 and 2017, all at 447 meters elevation. Harvest occurs when they feel the grapes have achieved full ripeness, which tends to be on the later side. Fermentation occurs in temperature-controlled stainless steel with vigorous pumpover. In the cellar, they take a pure approach using 20-hectoliter Garbellotto Slavonian oak casks.