The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is lifted with aromatics of soft medicinal herbs, fresh soil, cherry fruit, and dried flowers. The palate is fresh with black cherry fruit, tea leaf, orange peel, and mineral-rich, stony earth. There is well-integrated structure, with crispness, fresh acidity, and a beautifully long finish. This is one of my favorite wines of the vintage for its classic structure, high complexity, and nuanced, balanced style. Drink 2025-2042.

This gorgeous wine opens with fragrant aromas of violet, wild berry, new leather, tilled earth and spice. Showing the estate's hallmark elegance, structure and precision, the focused, full-bodied palate delivers cherry, crushed raspberry, star anise and tobacco before finishing on a note of black tea. Taut, refined tannins and bright acidity keep it vibrant and balanced. Drink 2024–2046. KERIN O’KEEFE

Pretty strawberry, currant and cherry flavors take center stage in this taut and linear red, flanked by floral, mineral and tobacco notes, with fine balance and intensity on a slim frame. This is ample, yet the refined tannins provide structure. Best from 2024 through 2048. 2,500 cases made, 600 cases imported. — BS

This striking 2016 is a suave yet dense package. It’s headily scented with violet, lilac and rose, eventually giving way to exotic spice and tobacco. The tannins are chalky and integrated but commanding from the get-go. The palate is packed with succulent blackberry and strawberry. Accents of leather suggest a savouriness that should amplify with time. The estate now releases its Riserva at 10 years of age, and it is well worth seeking out as it's a great indication of how Le Chiuse’s wines evolve.

(97+ points) Le Chiuse's 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is a wine buzzing with energy and spirit. You sense this in the sheer crunch and snap of the primary fruit that recalls wild berry, cassis and sour cherry. Those lifted red fruit aromas are framed by light smoke, tar, potting soil, blue flower and crushed mineral or limestone. This is an extremely elegant wine that has been shaped by an epic vintage. The wine draws its fruit from an eight-hectare parcel with limestone clay. Le Chiuse's star is rapidly rising, and this new release from 2016 just thrust that shooting star into hyper speed. With 13,576 bottles made, this estate gives us one of the best buys of the vintage.- ML

The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino is an understated beauty of a wine that takes some time to come fully into focus. Patience is rewarded by a dazzling display of roses and violets, giving way to fresh-picked strawberries with a dusting of autumnal spice. This pure expression of Sangiovese fruit continues to impress with undeniable elegance, soothing and soft yet energized by brisk acids, taking on a decidedly salty note while still showing a mix of ripe berries. It's so gentle yet full of character, tapering off to round tannins, primary fruit and inner florals. The 2016 Le Chiuse is full of potential but also deceivingly delicious today. - By Eric Guido on November 2020