For the 2012 vintage, Gaja combined the best lots from their estate to produce this single Brunello bottling, Pieve Santa Restituta. The color is clear garnet with tawny glints; it is starting to show a faint hint of age. The fragrance commingles leather, sweet tobacco, blackberries, anise seed, and fresh fennel. The structure is sueded and relaxed, like brewed tea stained with savory red fruits. At the finish there is a suggestion of dried pine needles, earthy and forest-inflected.
Elegantly stitched together, delicious, and ready to drink now. Pair it with harvest foods that evoke the woods: game birds, venison, aged cheeses, mushrooms.
2012 Gaja Pieve Santa Restituta Brunello di Montalcino
15% abv | $75 (sample) Imported by Terlato Wines