($97, Kobrand Wine And Spirits): Tenute Silvio Nardi, now run by his daughter, Emilia Nardi, remains of the Brunello’s top producers.  They have vineyards in both the northwest and southeast portions of the Montalcino zone, which produces grapes of different styles because of the difference in soil and climate in each of the areas.  Their regular Brunello is made from a blend of grapes from those areas and is a consistently fine, easy-to-recommend Brunello.  (The 2010 at about $50, which I rate at 92 points, is a bargain.)  Their Brunello from Vigneto Manachiara, a 17-acre vineyard with 40 to 50 year-old vines in the southwest part of Montalcino, is in a different league.  The elegance and breed of their regular Brunello is apparent in the Manachiara.  However, the single vineyard bottling has enormous complexity — so much is going on in the glass you barely notice the substantial tannic structure — and an incredible balance. Emilia Nardi says that her father purchased land in Montalcino when no one else was interested in the area.  She continues, understatedly, “We have been there since the 1950s and we think we know how to make Brunello.”  No kidding!  The 2010 Vigneto Manachiara is one of the great wines of the extraordinary 2010 vintage.  Put it in your cellar for a decade.
96 Michael Apstein Feb 2, 2016