2016 Canalicchio di Sopra Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, Tuscany

Canalicchio di Sopra is faithful to the concept of Riserva, and there is always a marked, but proportional, stylistic difference between this wine (which is aged for 36 months in Slavonian casks) and the annata release. This is exact how it should be. Riserva is an extension of annata, not an exaggeration of it. From a classic vintage, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is a special and highly collectible bottle. It shows depth and profound fruit with bright cherry, plum and crushed flower. It also manages greater concentration and density while maintaining its graceful personality. You'll need to add quite a few years of age to this wine. Production is a mere 4,133 bottles.

97+ points Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate

Ripe black-skinned fruit, violet, truffle and new leather are just some of the aromas you'll find on this gorgeous red. Delicious and full-bodied, the smooth, elegantly structured palate features juicy Morello cherry, crushed raspberry, licorice and tobacco accompanied by a velvety backbone of taut, fine-grained tannins. Fresh acidity keeps it balanced. Drink 2024–2036. 

97 points Kerin O’Keefe, Wine Enthusiast

Lovely sweet black cherries and blackberries on the nose with lots of flowers. Full-bodied with fine, dusty tannins that are polished and beautiful. It’s very poised and pretty now, but will deliver so much more with bottle age. Goes on and on. Drink after 2024.

97 points James Suckling

Canalicchio di Sopra is one of Montalcino’s great family estates, founded by Primo Pacenti in 1962 and now run by the third generation of the Ripaccioli family. The estate was among the original members of the Brunello di Montalcino Consorzio, and its reputation has been built on traditional Sangiovese, meticulous vineyard work and an increasingly precise understanding of its individual sites. The Riserva is only produced when the vintage and parcels justify it, and 2016 gave them exceptional material to work with.

The estate’s key vineyards lie in Canalicchio and on the celebrated Montosoli hill north of Montalcino, where clay, marl and mineral rich soils give Sangiovese perfume, structure and remarkable ageing ability. 2016 is one of the landmark modern vintages for Brunello, with a long, even season delivering beautifully ripe fruit, vibrant acidity and formidable tannin quality. A decade on, the Riserva is beginning to loosen its tie, but there is a great deal still waiting in the cellar.

Deep garnet ruby, with Morello cherry, wild raspberry and dried redcurrant opening into violet and dried flowers. Blood orange, anise and fennel follow, then tobacco, black tea, leather and forest floor. The palate is deep and beautifully composed, with mature red fruit carried by fresh acidity and fine, increasingly silky tannins. Cherry, citrus peel and liquorice gradually move towards tea leaf, earthy spice and tobacco, lingering through an exceptionally long, mineral finish.

Porcini pappardelle with brown butter, sage and Parmigiano has the earthy richness to meet its developing tertiary character. Duck with lentils and chestnuts, slow roasted lamb, truffled polenta or aged Pecorino Toscano would be equally persuasive. It deserves proper glasses, a long lunch and enough time in the decanter to show where ten years of evolution has taken it.

Cellaring: Beautiful now with a long decant, but nowhere near finished. Drink through 2048+.