Made from the estate's oldest vines, the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino is a bold and powerful wine that shows enormous precision and grit. On the Brunello scale, this expression from Siro Pacenti offers more dark fruit, plum, spice, tar and smoke. The wine reveals beautiful density and an important mouthfeel that hits the palate with seductive determination. This wine is holding up beautifully since I tasted it last and has even improved in terms of its complexity and overall elegance. It still has a long way to go.

A fruity style, displaying rich cherry, raspberry and floral notes, with spice and tobacco accents. Firm, this lingers with briary elements on the finish. Best from 2016 through 2025. 2,500 cases made, 400 cases imported.??–BS??Region: Italy / Brunello di Montalcino Select to Add

The 2009 Brunello di Montalcino is comprised of fruit from the northern half of the appellation harvested between October 5 to the 10 and fruit from the southern half harvested the last week of September. This range proved essential in maintaining the balance – especially between sweet fruit and acidity – that defines this beautiful wine. The use of wood (24 months in barrique) has also been executed with care and restraint adding more to the overall texture and richness of the wine than it does to the nose per se. Drink: 2016-2025. Year after year, Siro Pacenti (run by the detailed-minded Giancarlo Pacenti) is one of the estates I most enjoy tasting during my annual trip to Montalcino. Talk about hitting the nail on the head, even in a more challenging vintage like 2009. Both Brunellos presented this year are compelling, bright and show enough of the proverbial “baby fat” to carry through them through the years. The winery is located in the northern quadrant of the appellation, although some fruit for the base Brunello is sourced from Piancornello, in the far south of the production zone. Importer: Michael Skurnik Wines, www.skurnikwines.com

Violet, black currant and cherry aromas and flavors define this supple, harmonious Brunello, which is elegant and intense, with dusty yet ripe tannins lending support. It all comes together on the lingering, spice- and mineral-tinged aftertaste. Best from 2017 through 2035. 2,500 cases made.??–BS??Region: Italy / Brunello di Montalcino Select to Add

The 2008 Brunello di Montalcino is deep, textured and impeccably balanced. Dark cherries, plums, tobacco, crushed rocks and spices blossom in the glass. Here, too, the overall sense of harmony is utterly captivating. A gorgeous wine, the 2008 stands out for its exceptional polish. The style is a bit deeper, richer and more layered than the Pelagrilli, but at the same time remains deeply marked by the prevalence of fruit from the northern side of Montalcino. In 2008 Pacenti lost about a third of his production from the south, which means this is a vintage in which the Brunello incorporated more fruit from the north than the south, roughly a 60/40 split. This is a fabulous effort in a vintage that proved to be full of challenges. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2028. With these new releases, Giancarlo Pacenti shows why he is one of the very finest growers in Montalcino. Pacenti owns vineyards both in the north and south of Montalcino. In 2008, hail and rain reduced yields by about 30% in Pacenti’s holdings in Piancornello, in the southern part of Montalcino, which tilts the composition of the estate’s flagship Brunello in favor of fruit from the north, near the winery itself. Over the last few years, Pacenti has begun to introduce 500-liter barrels to augment the standard French oak barriques that remain the core of the estate’s cooperage program. The use of the tonneau began with the top-of-the-line PS bottling, which is predominantly aged in 500-liter barrels. After having tasted many wines from barrel here over the years, it seems pretty clear Sangiovese that is so meticulously farmed to low yields responds best to the larger sized French oak barrels. For those who haven’t tasted the Pacenti wines in a few years, you owe it to yourself to do so. Giancarlo Pacenti’s wines have never been this refined or polished. Importers: Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300; Golden State Wine, Van Nuys, CA; tel. (818) 908-9509; Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA; tel. (781) 352-1100; Casa Bruno, Portland, OR; tel. (503) 235-7429