The 2003 Vin Santo del Chianti Classico Castello di Brolio doesn't have the vertical intensity or the inner liveliness that you get with such overt abundance in the 2004 edition. This was a very hot vintage, and the quality of the fruit shows as much. Sugars were developed during the extraordinarily hot summer season and further concentrated during the air-drying period that proceeds winemaking. In fact, there is a touch of sourness or tightness (along with generous residual sugar) that underlines the challenges of the vintage. The wine opens to a very dark amber color and rich aromas of dried fig, toasted chestnut, honey and grilled rosemary. - Monica Larner