2004 Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Cru Cerretalto

(96 Points) The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Cerretalto is deep and powerful in its smoke, tar, spices, scorched earth and plums. The wine has shut down quite a bit since I last tasted it a few months ago, and the refined silky tannins that were present a while back have turned decidedly virile. Still, the wine’s pedigree is impossible to miss, and the only thing this needs is time, probably lots of it. Pretty scents of soy, smoke and incense inform the long, elegant finish. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2024.

Proprietor Giacomo Neri makes some of the richest, most textured Brunellos readers will come across. The house style favors a lush expression of fruit with a softness that makes the wines very appealing upon release. In recent years the wines have become more elegant, with less of the excessive heaviness that characterized prior vintages. Based on what I tasted from barrel, future vintages hold quite a bit of promise as well. This year, readers – especially those on a budget (who isn’t on a budget these days?) should focus on the 2005 Brunello di Montalcino (sometimes also known as the ‘white label’), which is an overachiever because it includes fruit from the Cerretalto vineyard, the source of the estate’s top wine, which was not bottled in 2005. Wine Advocate # 188, Apr 2010