Fattoria La Gerla La Gerla Brunello di Montalcino 2020 750ml

Very pretty ripe and dried fruit with blackberries and sweet cherries. It’s full-bodied with depth of fruit and creamy, polished tannins. Extremely compact and long. Pure fruit at the end. A gorgeous wine. Drinkable now, but better after 2022.

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino displays depths of rich blackberry and cherry sauce with mentholated herbal tones adding lift, while notes of cedar and clove develop in the glass. Its textures are like pure silk, draped slowly across the palate, showing admirable density and weight, balanced by bright acids and minerals. This is so tightly wound up in its youthful state, yet it’s packed full of potential with a core of dark primary fruit that isn’t quite ready to reveal its charms. A web of fine tannin makes itself known only at the very end, as the 2016 slowly tapers off to hints of tobacco. The 2016 will take some time for this to come fully into focus, but it will be well worth the wait. (Eric Guido)

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is highly aromatic with black cherry, anise, dried herbs. Full-bodied and with vibrant acidity, the palate has crisp black fruit and red plum, and moves into more savory herbal tones of amaro and grippy tannin, with some austerity in its youth. Drink 2025–2040. (Jeb Dunnuck)

Underbrush, rose, leather and dark spice aromas lift out of the glass along with a whiff of camphor. The linear, elegantly structured palate doles out juicy Marasca cherry, orange zest, star anise and crushed mint alongside tightly wound but refined tannins and bright acidity. It’s still young and nervous so give it time to fully develop. Drink 2026–2036. (Kerin O’Keefe)

In the bottle with the white label, the La Gerla 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is a softly textured expression with dark berry fruit, dried cherry and toasted spice. All the typical Brunello elements are there, yet this vintages manages a softer approach with balance and silky tannins. As the wine opens in the glass, there is a moment of blue flower or iris. This vintage offers pleasure and accessibility.

The nose has a cool, floral salinity, thanks to aromas of earth, herbs and tangy, just barely ripe fruit. The palate warms with citrus and cherries and berries which are ripe, but still tart, while structured tannins and linear acid add a sense of authority.

Elegant, tight and streamlined, the La Gerla 2016 Brunello di Montalcino opens to a savory and slightly spicy bouquet. More than fruit, the first tones you get focus on tar, smoke, licorice and mixed herbs. This wine offers a very Mediterranean personality with elegant mineral notes that come out in a second wave. The wine goes through a relatively quick fermentation with about 15 days of skin contact followed by 36 months in large Slavonian oak casks. With more time in the glass, it opens to blue flower, lilac, dried berry and crème de cassis. Production is 40,000 bottles.

Pouring a deep and youthful red color, the 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino is boisterous and fruity on the nose, with notes of grenadine, candied violets, pine, and hints of blue fruits shining through. Medium to full-bodied, it has good focus through the palate, with mouthwatering freshness in its notes of salty earth, also revealing ripe, angular tannins and good length. A very appealing Brunello with wonderful, refreshing structure, it may be even better than I'm giving credit it for from this early tasting. It's going to drink well over the coming 12-15 years.

This crisp red displays cherry, strawberry, iron and leafy, vegetal notes. Tightens up with solid yet refined tannins on the finish. With a few minutes of air, this comes together nicely, echoing the fruit on the finish, with a light dusting of tannins. Drink now through 2042. 2,500 cases made, 1,500 cases imported.

This red is round, with juicy cherry, plum and spice flavors. Shows hints of chocolate and loam, remaining harmonious and fresh through the long finish. Best from 2023 through 2040. 3,000 cases made, 750 cases imported. (Bruce Sanderson)