Baricci

2019 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Montosoli DOCG Nello

This Riserva takes its name from Nello Baricci, the founder of the estate and founding member #1 of the Brunello producers’ association. It is one of those absurdly good pieces of wine trivia that sounds made up until you realize just how deep this family’s roots in Montalcino actually run. Nello was also among the first growers to settle on Montosoli and really bet on the quality of this hill. His grandsons Federico and Francesco now make this wine in his honour, but crucially, they don’t make it every year. Nello only appears when the vintage and the health of the grapes are good enough for them to go into their best vineyard and start cherry-picking the best fruit from within it. So we have a Montosoli selection within a Montosoli estate, a genuine little cru within the cru situation, and Baricci describes it as the only example of its kind made on the hill. Tiny production, obviously.

The wine opens on black cherry and blackberry, then starts wandering into chocolate and this scrubby Mediterranean herbal character that keeps all that dark fruit from getting too plush. The palate is broad and velvety, but what I really like is that the acidity is still humming underneath all that weight. The tannins feel ripe and properly folded into the wine rather than standing around announcing themselves, and the finish goes on for ages.