Rich and ripe, with dried fruits with hints of black cherries. Flowers too. Full body, with dark chocolate and berry character. Love the firm and velvety tannins. Wonderful finish. Beautiful Brunello from Gaja. Hard not to drink now.

The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille is a tighter, darker and ulimtately more inward Brunello than the Rennina. Dark wild cherries, plums, tobacco, licorice, spices and menthol are wrapped around a substantial frame of tannic heft. Ideally the wine needs at least another few years in bottle, but it is impossible to miss the wine’s fabulous sense of poise and harmony. As always, Sugarille is a Brunello that speaks with a distinctly Piedmontese accent. It is a beautiful wine by any measure. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2026. - Antonio Galloni

This very perfumed red evokes flowers, spices and wild underbrush. This is rich and fleshy, boasting plum, licorice, tar and mineral flavors that get a boost from the firm, lively structure. Shows fine density and extract, with a lingering aftertaste. Best from 2014 through 2026. 600 cases imported. –BS

The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino Sugarille grounds you to the earth with a bouquet that mixes wild berries and exotic spice with flowery undergrowth and smoke. This soothes the palate with soft, fleshy textures, casting a wave of ripe red and black fruit across a core of zesty acidity, and a hint of spicy citrus helps to lift the expression. Inner earth tones and minerals linger incredibly long through the lightly structured finale, as the mouth waters for another sip. This is in a beautiful place today, and it’s wonderfully integrated. -- Eric Guido