Biondi Santi Brunello di Montalcino 2017 – 750ml Breakthru

96pts Jeb Dunnuck

The 2017 Brunello Di Montalcino is surprising in its freshness, considering the warmth of the vintage, and speaks to the cooler, northern-facing exposition of the estate. It is refined with ripe red cherry, raspberry, anise, and incense and is fresh with cherry fruit, warming spices, macchia, and herbes de Provence. It is ripe though it maintains a medium frame, with well-managed tannins and balanced acidity. It is a lovely and charming wine and is rather approachable now.

96pts Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate

A delicately sweet note of fresh summer cherry is a precursor to budding complexity and a very articulate bouquet that opens quickly in the glass. Immediately pleasing fruit is a characteristic of the 2017 growing season that had above average temperatures and drought throughout the summer. The resistant 2017 Brunello di Montalcino takes on these challenges without missing a beat. The wine’s celebrated acidity and its small berry nuances remain intact. The tannins are silky and the wine’s flavors fade slowly even after you have taken your last sip.

94pts Wine Spectator

A fresh, energetic red, boasting black cherry, blackberry, iron, rosemary and stone flavors. Reveals assertive tannins that ply the long finish for now, but this is all about balance and definition. Shows terrific length.

Winemaker Notes

The 2017 Brunello is a wine of light and energy. On the nose crispy notes of sour cherries, blood oranges and small red berry fruits are accompanied by scents of Mediterranean balsamic herbs and a touch of flint. On the palate energy, sweet fruit and silky tannins form a caressing sensation of elegance and equilibrium, leading us towards a long-lingering finish with a distinct savory touch, fresh and clean.

About the Winery

It is a rare phenomenon that a wine can trace its origins to a single man. Brunello di Montalcino, however, owes its existence to Ferrucio Biondi-Santi and its fame to his family. Now on the seventh generation of winemakers, the Biondi-Santi family continues to produce wines renowned for their elegance and extraordinary longevity. Located in the heart of Montalcino, the Tenuta Greppo estate spreads over 25 hectares of vines on soils rich in heavy stones and marl – perfect for the cultivation of Sangiovese Grosso. Defenders of a rich enological heritage, the family continues to employ traditional vinicultural methods started well over a century ago to highlight the wine’s unique characteristics, or tipicita. Brunello di Montalcino was first created by Ferrucio Biondi Santi towards the end of the 1800s. Fortified by the viticultural experience of his maternal grandfather, Ferruccio Biondi Santi planted his new vineyards on the “Greppo” estate with the single clone which he had isolated (Sangiovese grosso), vinifying all of his grapes without blending, marking the beginning of a new type of Tuscan wine for that era. The “Greppo” extends in a series of hills around 500 mt. above sea level, facing southeast – east of Montalcino and benefits of a microclimate and ideal soil for the production of tasty and ageworthy red wine. The total surface of the vineyards destinated to Brunello today is about 19 hectares which produce grapes of high quality. The son of Ferruccio, Tancredi, skilled agricultural expert and renowned oenologist, established the foundations for the future appellation system in Italy. Tancredi was also resonsible for launching Brunello on both domestic and international markets, winning enormous commercial success within a few decades and gaining widespread recognition expert. A true “wine legend” had been born!