2013 Brunello di Montalcino Lupi e Sirene Riserva

Mid ruby. Sweet fruit nose with the merest suggestion of oak. Plenty of ripe fruit on the palate and with a big layer of grainy tannins. Embracing kind of wine, with fantastic balance that emerges only on the finish. Needs much more bottle age. (WS)

This has impressive freshness, complexity and power. The nose has ripe red cherries and plums with earth and spicy, woody nuances. The palate has clear, fresh red plums and cherries with a rich, powerful and focused surge of ripe red cherries that hold long and fresh. Drink or hold.

The Podere le Ripi 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Lupi e Sirene performs very differently than the annata 2014 Brunello that I tasted at the same sitting. That wine has more primary fruit and you are reminded of faint maceration aromas. This wine, however, opens to a very fine and graceful bouquet that shifts attention to mineral, crushed stone, wild berry, delicate floral notes and aniseed. This wine reaches a much higher level of intensity and elegance. It is also much longer and more powerful in terms of mouthfeel thanks to its tightly knit, silky texture. This riserva sees eight additional months of oak aging compared to the Brunello annata, but what you taste with true clarity is the vintage difference. Some 6,000 bottles were made.