2018 Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino

Only a handful of US stores (and none in NC) even have this rare collectible, at $265 to $315.

Vinous says:

The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino is gorgeous, floral and finessed, wafting up with a classic Sangiovese profile blending dried rose and black cherries, complicated by dusty earth, worn leather and hints of cedar spice. This shows a beautiful ripeness of fruit, pure and lifted yet potent, with masses of red wild berries, and inner florals that cascade across a core of zesty acidity. This finishes long and staining with regal tannins and a tart cranberry tinge that lingers on and on. Simply magnificent, the 2018 takes the perfumed character of the vintage and marries perfectly to a core of vividly intense fruit. This is entirely atypical of the vintage and the result of extreme selection that reduced production quantities by 20%.

Decanter says:

The results in the bottle are impressive: cool fragrances of juniper, coriander, pepper and liquorice root leave room for a more subtle violet expression. The palate is decidedly red fruited with pomegranate and sour cherry nuanced by herb flowers, with an underlying stony-mineral crunch. Not lacking in concentration – yet by no means robust – this is graciously weighted. Nor does it have the scratchy bite of a young Biondi Santi Brunello. Instead, tannins are fine-boned and suede-like. Racy acidity is in the driver’s seat bringing focus, linearity and a vibrancy that pops on the finish.

And Dunnuck agrees:

This is a Brunello I’d love to drink over the next 10 years for its accessibility and refined texture, although I imagine it will also have some real potential for cellaring.

A Biondi-Santi Brunello that’s both classic and unusually impressive young for Biondi-Santi.

This is as Blue Chip as they get.