San Filippo Brunello di Montalcino Le Lucere 2021

The color is ruby red with reflexes verging on garnet. The perfume is intense, fine and elegant, with notes of cherries preserved in alcohol, enriched with spices redolent of cinnamon and cloves. On the palate it explodes in all its fineness and elegance thanks to the dense and silky tannins. Excellent body that renders the flavor harmonious and persistent. Excellent nose-mouth correspondence. A perfumed and enchanting wine that seduces you with its pure aromas of plums, peaches, cedar, sandalwood and roses. Medium-bodied with ultra-fine tannins that caress your palate and give a long and beautiful finish. Extremely silky and polished. Crunchy. A great wine that's a benchmark for the vintage. One of the best ever. Very drinkable now, but better after 2028. Packed with ripe black cherry, blackberry and pomegranate flavors, this red adds grace notes of iron, sweet spices and eucalyptus while firming up on the finish. There's plenty of fruit, and the tannins are refined, if assertive on the finish today. I tried San Filippo's wines blind with a couple dozen other Brunello and the family resemblance was unmistakable - that concentration juxtaposed with freshness, as well as a lively spiciness. This single-vineyard bottling dials all that up a notch with additional intensity and complexity. It leads with mint, crushed allspice, clove, sandalwood and cinnamon. Underneath the dense, youthful, almost candied dark cherry fruit, a juiciness surges. The structure here is also distinct, with tight, crisp tannins holding everything solidly in place. Balsamic green herbs suffuse the finish. Plenty here for ageing.