The 2008 Rosso di Montalcino is a beautiful, sexy red laced with sweet cherries, flowers, spices and licorice. Firm yet well-integrated tannins frame an expressive core of fruit as this mid-weight, gracious wine opens up in the glass. The Biondi-Santi Rosso isn’t inexpensive, but it does provide plenty of insight into the wines of the estate that first put Montalcino on the map. Biondi-Santi uses their youngest vines for the Rosso. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2020. Biond-Santi remains a beacon for traditionally made Rosso and Brunello. At 90 years of age, Franco Biondi-Santi insisted on leading my tasting of wines from cask and bottle. The years go by for all of us, but I haven’t seen any decrease in Biondi-Santi’s enthusiasm and passion. The Biondi-Santi wines are more approachable young than they used to be, but little else appears to have changed. Biondi-Santi harvests on the early side. The wines see long macerations on the skins – in steel for the straight Brunello (also known as the Annata) and oak for the Riserva – and are then aged in large oak casks. Importer: Vision Wine & Spirits, Secaucus, NJ; tel. (201) 210-0400