Brunello di Montalcino, Cupano 2012

The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino of Cupano is the total package, strutting its modern leanings yet doing so with impeccable style. Sugar-dusted black cherries, plums, allspice and hints of ginger cookie form a sweetly seductive bouquet. On the palate, this takes a more serious turn, silky and energetic, yet savory, with mineral-tinged red berries and balsamic nuances that give way to tobacco toward the close. The 2012 leaves a gentle coating of rounded tannins that today have taken a backseat to its brilliant fruit, as it slowly fades with rosy inner florals and a hint of hard candies. The Cupano style, which includes refinement in 228-liter French oak, about 25% new, really complemented the character of 2012. In the end, readers looking to understand how proper oak management can succeed in Montalcino owes it to themselves to find a mature bottle such as this.