The Camigliano 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Gualto shows increased precision and sharper lines compared to the 2017 wines reviewed here. This wine also reveals a more vibrant and intact fruit character with immediate aromas of cherry, wild plum and rose. In all, this production of 3,800 bottles shows a careful, delicate approach that is in line with this classic, slightly cooler vintage. This wine probably offers you the best value among this set of new releases.

Offering ripeness and texture, the Camigliano 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Gualto is a fun and accessible wine. The bouquet is very expressive, even at this young stage. I got a charge out of those shifting aromas of dark fruit, ripe cherry, rosemary essence and a touch of eucalyptus oil that lift from the bouquet. Those balsam herb aromas are well defined, and they always appear with the prettiest intensity in the warmer vintages like 2015. Riserva Gualto shows good structure and enough acidity to keep those fruit flavors fresh and bright. Only 4,000 bottles were made.

The 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Gualto (with 4,000 bottles made) is a firmly textured wine that needs extra bottle time to relax and unwind. This youthful expression is still somewhat firm and stubborn with linear tones of black fruit, spice, smoke and camphor ash. This wine ages in 20-hectoliter botte for 36 months and evidently needs more time to soften and evolve.

Brooding, thick and more opulent, the 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Gualto makes good use of its Riserva designation (which implies an extra year of aging before its commercial release). This wine sports a thicker textural composition backed by a darker and riper quality of fruit. This was a warm and dry vintage, and you taste that sweet ripeness as a result. The Camigliano winemaking team has done an excellent job of pulling out the more nuanced and delicate aromas that Sangiovese can award when treated with care and attention.

The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Gualto represents a return to a more austere and streamlined style. I say this after having written my review for the 2012 special Paesaggio Inatteso expression that is so much plumper and hardier in consistency. This Riserva, however, offers fine and polished aromas of wild berry, cassis and dried raspberry. There are background notes of underbrush, licorice, tar and white chocolate. There is no abruptness or sharpness to the wine, but you will recognize some of that sassy spice and edgy freshness that comes naturally in Sangiovese.