Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, Canalicchio di Sopra 2016

Dark and inward, the 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva, a blend of the Montosoli and Vigna Vecchia Mercantale vineyards, lifts from the glass with an earthy blend of ashen stones and flowery undergrowth, giving way to balsam herbs and dried red fruits. Its velvety textures sweep across the palate, delivering ripe red and black fruits. A stern core of minerality adds a salty sensation, and fine-grain tannins slowly saturate. This finishes long and staining, still quite structured, leaving a pleasantly chewy sensation with licorice flavors. It will be many years before the 2016 is in a giving stage, but today, it is enjoyable on its potential alone. (Drink between 2026-2040)

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. 2025-2050

Aged for an extra year in bottle (rather than barrel) before release, the 2016 Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva is a selection of the estate’s top parcels and is energetic, chiseled, and pure all the way through. A focused red with incredible richness of concentration, a compact structure, and pristinely pure fruit that, it’s incredibly youthful and is long on the palate. I love this style of Riserva. Drink 2025-2045.I met with Francesco Ripaccioli for this report both at his family estate on the north side of Montalcino, as well as here in New York to taste older vintages of Canalicchio di Sopra in January 2024. He, along with his brother and sister, represent the third generation of the estate. Canalicchio is divided between two areas of Montalcino, the first parcel purchased by his grandfather, Primo Pacenti, after World War II, and the second in Montosoli, where they have six hectares of vine that his father purchased in 1958. Today the combined land spans 60 hectares, 19 of which are dedicated to the vineyards, and for their wines, they both combine the terroirs of the two regions as well as make unique expressions for each of the two locations. The rest of the land is committed to biodiversity and to an Agriturismo also on the north side of the Montalcino hill. Their wines show a lot of complexity, with age-worthy potential across all categories, as readers will find in my notes on the library vintages. The (unofficial) sub-zone of Canalicchio is characterized by a particular type of calcareous clay, with a high pH of 8.2, which contributes to a very elegant texture that you can find in the wines coming from the Cassacchia Vineyard. In Montosoli, there is more dry soil with galestro and schist, although it has the same pH. The Montosoli side tends to contribute more structure and salinity to the resulting wines. In the cellar, they ferment the wines separately and produce these three expressions of Brunello as well as Rosso di Montalcino. (Drink between 2025-2045)

Deep, lustrous garnet. Complex nose that has already evolved considerably. Tannins are retreating, though they are still there in abundance. An ambitious wine but a very clean, fresh one. 2025-2035