This is so complex, with lifting citrus and herb undertones to the blue and red berry fruit. Thyme, sage and lavender, with mocha and clove, too. Full-bodied, full of depth and intensity, with firm yet seamless tannins. Evolves to espresso. Balanced, powerful and very long. Try after 2025.

97 points, JamesSuckling.com (December 2022)

Roasted herbs, walnuts, olives, dried cherries and balsamic on the nose with a touch of leather and sage. It’s full-bodied with firm, finely-knit tannins. Creamy and so well integrated with depth and class. Try after 2024.

95 points, JamesSuckling.com (December 2022)

The Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Vigna di Pianrosso Santa Caterina d'Oro is gorgeous, full stop. It shows an incredible level of Sangiovese purity and sharpness, and you taste the grape as if you were eating berries straight out of the vineyard. On top of that healthy and bright primary material, the wine layers on elegant aromas of spice, ferrous earth, balsam herb and red rose potpourri. The aromas meet with seamless integration and segue to ongoing depth and complexity offered to the palate. This Riserva is rather delicate in terms of mouthfeel; however, it is powerful and long, with high alcohol, polished tannins and a silky texture. A hint of sweet cherry mixed with menthol freshness pulls it together at the end.

97+ points, Wine Advocate (February 2022)

The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino turns out beautiful results if you choose to drink the wine now, or if you opt to age it a little longer. It offers immediate intensity and complexity with a prelude of red and purple berry fruits that follow to tarry spice, campfire ash, licorice and rusty nail. Those savoy tones are well measured against the wine's elegant, mid-weight finish. And the tannins are integrated seamlessly. The winemaking team has worked well in a challenging vintage. This is a large production of 80,000 bottles.

94 points, Wine Advocate (March 2023)

A special single-vineyard wine with origins in one of the more remote, wild and beautiful corners of Montalcino, this is one of the true treats of the appellation. The Ciacci Piccolomini d'Aragona 2018 Brunello di Montalcino Pianrosso opens to a medium-rich appearance and vibrant color saturation. Sangiovese can lose its color quickly, but it remains beautifully intact here. Sweet cherry, redcurrant, spice, blue flower, balsam herb and orange peel are neatly woven together to create this balanced wine. Fruit is sourced from across a 11.7-hectare vineyard with schistous galestro soils. Production is 37,000 bottles.

96 points, Wine Advocate (March 2023)

Both fluid and concentrated at once, this exudes cherry, black currant, violet and mineral aromas and flavors. Saturated with ripe fruit, this has beautifully integrated acidity and tannins, with a racy profile that drives the superlong finish. The tannins flex their muscles at the end yet remain refined. Best from 2024 through 2042.

98 points, Wine Spectator (June 2022)

Dense and brooding, revealing plum, cherry, earth, menthol and tobacco flavors. On the austere side today, with buried fruit and dominant tannins, yet this has fine equilibrium and extended length. Best from 2026 through 2043.

93 points, Wine Spectator (June 2023)

A complex red, with dark, savory notes of licorice, eucalyptus and tobacco aligned with cherry and berry flavors. Succulent, showing light viscosity to the texture, with wild herb and iron elements creeping in on the long finish. Power meets grace. Best from 2026 through 2045.

94 points, Wine Spectator (June 2023)