The 2015 vintage is a historical year for Brunello di Montalcino that nobody should miss. The wines show impressive precision of vivid fruit, fine tannins and freshness in acidity despite their ripeness and richness which makes them some of the most exciting releases since 2010.

Winemakers in Montalcino were never better prepared to produce outstanding wines in a year like 2015 with their exactness in their vineyards and cellars from fine-tuned canopy management and crop thinning to optical sorting and soft fermentations. So many wine producers in Montalcino made excellent wines in 2015.

A small handful of the wines I tasted are a little bit closed at this early stage, and these will benefit from more cellar ageing. However, the majority of the samples tasted showed softly textured, generous and accessible characteristics that make them beautiful to drink straight out of the gate or with very little aging required. Bottles from the versatile 2015 vintage can go into your cellar for safekeeping or onto your dinner table for near- to medium-term consumption. The choice is yours, and that’s one of the top selling points of 2015 Brunello reds.

Gaja Pieve Santa Restituta – One of Angelo Gaja’s two Tuscan properties, on the site of an old church, Santa Restituta, that dates back to the 4th century. As is the family’s style, theirs is a fusion of modern and traditional winemaking. They also own land on the Buonconvento Northern side of Montalcino and some prestigious lands in the South, a stone’s throw from Sesti. The Northern sites normally go into the Brunello di Montalcino with Sugarille and Rennina located around the winery on the Southern side of the town being bottled individually as Crus. These three Brunellos, from one of the finest names in Italian wine, are impeccably crafted and full of character, polished finesse and age ability.

Gaja Pieve Santa Restituta Brunello di Montalcino 2015, 14 Abv.

The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino normale is a riper and more expressive creation, quite darkly fruited but ultimately much less introverted than the bigger Brunello Crus of Rennina and Sugarille. Packed full of dark wild cherries, black plums, sweet cherry tobacco, cherry cola, liquorice, botanical spices and menthol nuances all wrapped around a substantial frame of sweet polished tannins. Ideally this wine needs another few years in bottle, but it is always difficult to resist this wine’s inviting sense of opulence, poise and harmony on release. Another fantastic release for the Gaja fine wine empire.

(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)