Country: Italy Varietal: 100% Sangiovese Vintage: 2016 Colour: Red Style: Dry Producer: Banfi  Description: This is a terrific wine and one of the new releases from Montalcino that I happily include on a short list of top recommendations. The Argiano 2015 Brunello di Montalcino shows a very lively bouquet that is already singing despite the young age of this new release. The wine opens to a dark ruby color with garnet highlights. The bouquet shows a large span of wild berry, earth, licorice spice and medicinal herb aromas. This vintage also reveals a pretty floral character with dried rose potpourri and lavender buds. After fermentation, the wine is aged slowly for 30 months in large oak botte (including 10-, 30- and 50-hectoliter capacity), thus restricting oxygen and gently slowing its evolution. However, the 2015 vintage is naturally expressive and exuberant, and that's the main takeaway here. Some 100,000 bottles were filled in May 2019, and the wine hits the market in February 2020. Tasting Notes Established in 1581 Argiano is one of the most historic and quite rightly one of the finest estates in Brunello di Montalcino They own 50 hectares of vines including some of the very best parcels to the south east of the village and produce complex elegant and sophisticated wines Food Matches: Red Meat / Beef / Lamb / Venison