Mastrojanni's 2014 Brunello di Montalcino (with 39,000 bottles made) opens to a dark garnet color with some amber-crimson hues at the edges. The wine presents a lovely velvety texture that is smooth and silky to the end. The folks at Mastrojanni were forced to make a huge sacrifice in this difficult vintage and they ended up dropping one-third of the fruit. They saved the very best to make Brunello in 2014. Because the cru selections were not produced, fruit from the Vigna Schiena d'Asino and the Vigna Loreto ended up here instead. The wine shows bright aromatic intensity with wild berry, moist earth and grilled herb, but the mouthfeel is compact and streamlined. (ML)

Inviting aromas of pipe tobacco, wild berry, forest floor, crushed herb and a whiff of cocoa lead the way on this polished red. Linear and precise, the medium-bodied palate shows sour cherry, cranberry, tangy orange zest and star anise framed in vibrant acidity and polished tannins. (KO)

This initially presents as an older wine, with an evolved garnet colour and a dried floral, sous-bois bouquet. Yet on the palate there's an irony firmness and plenty of sandy tannins in the overall lighter frame of the vintage. Some bitterness pokes through but doesn't detract. (MM)