Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2016 Casanova di Neri

The Casanova di Neri 2016 Brunello di Montalcino (or the so-called "white label" Brunello) takes a minute or two to open, and like all these new releases from the Neri family, you're best off opening your bottle five hours before serving them. This classic expression displays raspberry, tar, hazelnut, dried fig, asphalt and some crushed chalk. The wine is streamlined and compact in terms of mouthfeel, giving us an accessible Brunello from a benchmark Montalcino estate.

Tile and balsamic aromas with red plums and cherries. Full-bodied with a pretty center palate and ripe, rich fruit. It’s a little timid now, but shows violets, bark and black cherries at the finish. Drink in 2023.

Shows fine depth, with cherry, black currant and wild herb flavors, accented by iron, earth, leather and tobacco notes. Muscular, despite a slim frame, with a long, savory aftertaste. Best from 2024 through 2045.

Casanova di Neri's 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a wine of pleasurable contrasts but also massive structure. Ripe dark fruits and autumnal spices offset savory herbs and hints of animal musk. It enters the mouth silky, cooling and lifted, with a noticeable inner sweetness to its polished cherry/berry flavors, but it then sways more toward inner earth, minerals and grippy tannins. The 2016 urges you to take another sip, as there’s so much upfront appeal; yet each time you do, it reminds you once again that it’s a painfully young Brunello in need of cellaring. That said, the potential here is incredibly high.