Altesino, Brunello di Montalcino Montosoli, 2010

The Brunello that started single-vineyard Brunello. Altesino's 1975 Montosoli was, by most accounts, the first single-vineyard bottling in Brunello di Montalcino — a radical idea at the time that has since become house style across the region. The Montosoli cru itself, a hill in the northern reaches of Montalcino, is now widely regarded as a Grand Cru-equivalent site: cooler northern-zone climate (the vineyard's main exposures are south to southeast-southwest), dramatic concentration, an aromatic freshness that sets it apart. Under the Gnudi Angelini family (Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini, who also owns Caparzo), the estate has continued in traditional fashion — long élevage in large neutral Slavonian oak, no flash, no shortcuts. The 2010 is a benchmark classical Brunello vintage that, fifteen years on, is just stepping into its drinking window with another two decades of life ahead. Sour cherry, dried rose, balsamic herb, tea leaf, mineral chew.