Biondi-Santi Tenuta Greppo Brunello di Montalcino 2010
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Robert
Parker
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I had previously reviewed this wine upon its commercial release three years ago, but a wine like this merits frequent return visits. The 2010 Brunello di Montalcino remains youthful and tight and has hardly budged since I last reviewed it. This classic vintage will be remembered for its elegance and its power, two seemingly contradictory traits that come magically together on rare occasions. This wine shows tightness at its core with snappy freshness and stacked aromas of forest fruit, violets and freshly tilled earth. I have expanded the drinking window with this second review of the wine.
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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!
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
Famous for its bold, layered and long-lived red, Brunello di Montalcino, the town of Montalcino is about 70 miles south of Florence, and has a warmer and drier climate than that of its neighbor, Chianti. The Sangiovese grape is king here, as it is in Chianti, but Montalcino has its own clone called Brunello.
The Brunello vineyards of Montalcino blanket the rolling hills surrounding the village and fan out at various elevations, creating the potential for Brunello wines expressing different styles. From the valleys, where deeper deposits of clay are found, come wines typically bolder, more concentrated and rich in opulent black fruit. The hillside vineyards produce wines more concentrated in red fruits and floral aromas; these sites reach up to over 1,600 feet and have shallow soils of rocks and shale.
Brunello di Montalcino by law must be aged a minimum of four years, including two years in barrel before realease and once released, typically needs more time in bottle for its drinking potential to be fully reached. The good news is that Montalcino makes a “baby brother” version. The wines called Rosso di Montalcino are often made from younger vines, aged for about a year before release, offer extraordinary values and are ready to drink young.