Saturated, dark ruby-garnet. Sweet, ripe, oaky nose features spice and resin notes but plenty of plum and black cherry fruit as well. Full, powerful, and long, with the strong spicy character following through in the mouth. Dense and strong in extract but quite velvety as well. Very international in style but unquestionably an excellent wine. I have had some discussions-entirely amicable-with Siro Pacenti about the specific personality of his wines: he is far more convinced than I of the suitability of new oak barrels for the wines of Montalcino. But his seriousness cannot be questioned-in this case, we are not talking about someone who is trying to latch onto a trend or oak up his wines for the market. (DT)