The 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Madonna del Piano is a dark and thickly extracted expression. It is one of the blackest Brunellos you will find in this report. This rich red wine takes a little longer to open because those primary aromas are buried deep under all that bulk and power. Indeed, this wine is almost too much of a good thing. It moves with slow-motion laziness, and the bouquet is in absolutely no rush to show what it has in store. At its leisure, it will deliver dried blackberry, cassis, bitter chocolate, spice, campfire ash and sticky tar. There is some tannic astringency that will (hopefully) integrate with time. This is a hearty and satisfying wine to drink in the heart of winter with gentle snowflakes fluttering outside your window. It is a romantic wine in heart and soul.