The Fanti 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Le Macchiarelle shows additional fruit weight and concentration. This underlines the wine's identity as a Riserva (which sees an additional year of aging before its commercial release). Along with that textural richness, blackberry and dried plum, the wine offers layers of spice, smoke and tar (and a powerful 15% alcohol). Production is limited to 6,000 bottles.

The Fanti 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Le Macchiarelle stands apart from the estate's other two releases from 2016. This wine shows a heavier center of gravity for sure, with aromas of honey, ripe cherry, blackberry confit and even a touch of dried apricot. Those thicker aromas set in after the more fleeting aromas of crushed limestone and smoke lift and eventually disappear. As a result, I found these results slightly monotone compared to the buoyant and bright 2016s. This is a wine to enjoy in the medium term next to a roast game hen. Production is 8,000 bottles.

Dark and saturated in appearance, the 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Le Macchiarelle delivers amped-up power and density compared to Fanti's other new releases from the cooler and more balanced 2013 vintage. This wine is packed tight with black cherry and ripe blackberry, all followed by sweet cinnamon and baking spice. The wine is less vertical in terms of its delivery, but it is long, velvety and broad instead. There is a less pleasing note of sourness that I encountered in many other Brunellos from the hot 2012 growing season.

The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Le Macchiarelle is aged in oak for 36 months. Only 2,400 bottles are made. The wine opens to a darkly saturated color and a velvety appearance. There are ripe tones of dried cherry and blackberry confit that are a direct reminder of the heat experienced during this growing season. This wine is thickly layered and succulent in terms of mouthfeel. The oak tannins are still a bit strong and require a few more years to integrate.

The 2009 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna Le Macchiarelle exhibits a dark garnet color and generous aromas of ripe fruit, prune, dried plum and blackcurrant. The aromas are definitely on the mature side, and that said, they offer slightly less complexity and purity compared to the wines produced in 2010. The 2009 vintage was indeed a warm one especially in the weeks leading up to the harvest. This Riserva feels smooth and generous on the palate with soft tannins and sweet fruit flavors.