This past Saturday, I ate inside a restaurant for the first time in over a year.

My parents drove down from the Central Valley and, since we are all now vaccinated, my wife and I joined them at Angelini Osteria: for me personally, the best restaurant in all of Los Angeles.

We drank cocktails made with the completely underrated Etna Bitter, Contratto Vermouth, and Prosecco. Yes, of course, we ate the famous Pasta al Limone (pictured above, because a bowl of delicious pasta is always more photogenic than a piece of meat).

But the real star of the show? The bottle of 2016 Argiano Brunello di Montaclino that I brought with me from Mission, to pair along side the massive, rosemary-scented Bistecca alla Fiorentina that we split between the table.

You wanna talk about a showstopper, this bottle was all anyone could talk about—both my parents, as well as our server who we shared a glass with. After decanting for about forty-five minutes, it was a symphony of sour cherry, dusty earth, and savory spices, permeating our palates in waves with every sip.

All this from a $50 bottle that is only going to get better over time, so you can guess what I’ll be buying more of later this week.

Eric Guido from Vinous said it point blank last November: “There is no other vintage or category of wine that I’ve been looking forward to more than the 2016 Brunello di Montalcinos. The big question is: Do the 2016s live up to our expectations?”

The answer, my friends, is a resounding: YES.

From my personal experience, let me tell you that buying great vintages from the world’s best wine regions is like a savings account. Not simply because the wines will appreciate, but because you’ll be happy you have them down the line. There’s not one person in the wine business who isn’t kicking themselves for not buying more 2005 and 2009 Bordeaux. It’s just the nature of the beast; you always wish you would have bought more when you had the chance.

I’m telling you right now: you’ll wish you would have bought more 2016 Brunello by the time 2021 is over.

The wines are incredibly approachable right now, offering a seductive and often hedonistic mouthful of red fruits and supple tannins, but with balance and grace. These are not California fruit bombs. These are Sangiovese-based wines with both power and elegance, capable of pairing with a variety of fantastic foods, from grilled meats to pasta ragù.

And we’ve only got more coming. If you were planning to put $1000 into your retirement this month, I’d carve out $300 of that for 2016 Brunello, if you can.

That’s what I’m doing, at least.

-David Driscoll