Clear tawny with wide amber edges.  Big funk slowly turns, pausing briefly at briary velvet sandpaper before heading in to full on candied ripe cherry and tarry earth.  Final stop: Rather brown, bell-pepperish fruit–still bright, but…  This is not going to be a fruit-bomb, but it is lovely to smell.  Brunt caramel touches, but a green thread throughout.  In the mouth, a bit fruitier than I expected, dark and boisterously ripe–black tea and warm saddle battling with going-nowhere tannins.  A bit vapid in the center–watery and acidic–before a slight revival of heavily-patina-ed fruit re-surfaces amidst substantial tannin.
♦♦
1991 Col D’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG  14-0