Poggio Landi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2019

Poggio Landi farms organically around Montalcino in southern Tuscany, where Sangiovese ripens fully in a warm, dry climate moderated by sea breezes from the coast. The hill's galestro and clay soils are poor and stony, draining well and limiting vigour, which concentrates the fruit and lends the wine its firm tannic frame. Brunello is a clone of Sangiovese long selected here for thicker skins and deeper colour, and the Riserva designation requires extended ageing before release. This wine spends 48 months in French oak barrels, where slow, controlled oxygen exchange through the wood softens the tannins, builds savoury complexity and adds spice and a fine grain of oak. The colour is garnet at the rim. The nose layers dark cherry and plum over leather, tobacco, dried herbs and earth. The palate is full and structured, the tannins firm but polished by the long ageing, with bright acidity carrying a long savoury finish. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees and decant an hour ahead. It is a classic match for roast and braised red meats and aged hard cheese.