2011 Brunello di Montalcino, Biondi-Santi, Tuscany, Italy

2011 Brunello di Montalcino, Biondi-Santi, Tuscany, Italy

Product: 20118113791
 
2011 Brunello di Montalcino, Biondi-Santi, Tuscany, Italy

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Description

Following the 2010 will always be challenging, but I’m relieved that 2011 Biondi Santi was an absolute joy. The nose and palate are refined and pure, exhibiting a beautiful, airy red cherry interwoven with subtle oak characteristics. 

This is wine evidently still growing into itself, almost like a great young Volnay; there is headroom for the palate to expand. Most impressive is the length; wonderful tannins taper and build exquisitely. 

The 2010 will impress with its weight and power, but the 2011 will impress equally with its finesse and ethereal finish.

Gary Owen, Berry Bros. & Rudd (October 2020)

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Critics reviews

Antonio Galloni, Vinous93/100

The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Annata is silky, soft and open-knit, especially within the context of what has been the norm at Biondi Santi for the last few decades. Freshly cut flowers, red berries and mint all open up in the glass, but it is the wine's decidedly mid-weight structure that truly stands out.

The 2011 is a very rare young Biondi Santi that will drink well pretty much upon release, as shocked as I myself am to write those words. The bright red cherry, raspberry and floral overtones have an almost Nebbiolo-sense of brightness.

Drink 2017 - 2031

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (February 2016)

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Wine Advocate93/100

Jacopo Biondi Santi was already making wine at Il Greppo when the 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Annata was produced. His father, Franco Biondi Santi, would pass away in 2013 at the age of 91. The winemaking approach is unchanged despite the father to son transition.

This wine shows extra richness and texture with focused fruit aromas that are graceful but also powerful. There are hints of ripe fruit with dried cherry and prune buried deep within the bouquet. In the mouth, this Brunello shows good structure and acidity with a slightly denser feel compared to past vintages.

Drink 2017 - 2030

Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (March 2016)

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About this WINE

Biondi-Santi

Biondi-Santi

Biond-Santi remains a beacon for traditionally made Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino.The Greppo vineyards of the Biondi Santi family date back to the 1800s. Clemente Santi, nephew of Giorgio Santi, was the first to create red wines suitable for ageing, and his oenological techniques learnt through agriculture, chemistry and science were far more advanced than his peers.

Clemente’s knowledge was passed on to his nephew Ferruccio Biondi Santi, who skilfully continued to run the Greppo estate, and managed to keep production running after the First World War. In 1932 he was described as ‘the inventor of Brunello’.

The estate has been passed down through the family to this day, and is currently managed by Franco Biondi Santi, along with the help of his two children, who will eventually take on the business themselves.

Brunello del Greppo now has twenty five hectares dedicated to its production, and the traditional agronomy and cellaring practises are still used to give this grape its character and quality.

Biondi-Santi harvests early. The wines are subject to a long maceration period, in steel for the straight Brunello, and oak for the Riserva, and are then aged in large oak casks.

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Brunello di Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino

Along with Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino is Tuscany's most famous DOCG and the region's boldest expression of Sangiovese. Located 30 miles south of Siena with the hilltop town of Montalcino as its epicentre, its 2,000 hectares of vines are naturally delimited by the Orcia, Asso and Ombrone valleys. Brunello is the local name for the Sangiovese Grosso clone from which Brunello di Montalcino should be made in purezza (ie 100 percent).

The Brunello di Montalcino DOCG has a whale-like shape: at its head, at 661 metres above sea level on ancient, stony galestro soils facing east and southeast lies the town of Montalcino, where the DOC was founded. As you follow the spine south towards the tail, the vineyards lose altitude – those around Colle Sant'Angelo are at 250 metres – while the soils become richer with iron and clay. Further east, in the shadow of the 1,734 metre Mont'Amiata lies the village of Castelnuovo dell'Abate where the vineyards are strewn with a rich mix of galestro, granitic, volcanic, clay and schist soil types.

While Brunello di Montalcino's climate is mildly Mediterranean, thanks to the sea being a mere 20 miles away, the elevation of the vineyards provides an important diurnal temperature variation (ie hot days and cool nights). This benefits the grapes by maintaining acidity levels and extending their ripening time. The howling tramontana wind can also play an important role in drying and concentrating the fruit.

Historically, the zone is one of Tuscany's youngest. First praised in 1550 by Leandro Alberti for the quality of its wines, it was Tenuta Il Greppo who bottled the inaugural Brunello di Montalcino in 1888. By 1929, the region had 925 hectares of vines and 1,243 hectares of mixed crops, while in 1932 it was decreed that only those wines made and bottled within the commune could be labelled as Brunello di Montalcino. Since then, the number of producers has risen from 11 in 1960 to 230 in 2006, while over the same period the vineyards have expanded from 1,000 hectares to 12,000. The region earned its DOC in 1966, and was upgraded to DOCG in 1980.

Brunello di Montalcino cannot be released for sale until five years after the harvest, or six years in the case of Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. During this time the wines should be aged for at least two years in oak, followed by at least four months in bottle (six months for Riservas); maximum yields are 55 hl/ha. 

Rosso di Montalcino is declassified Brunello di Montalcino, released for sale 18 months after the harvest.

Recommended producers: Costanti, Fuligni, Lisini, San Giuseppe, Soldera, Cerbaiona

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Sangiovese

Sangiovese

A black grape widely grown in Central Italy and the main component of Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano as well as being the sole permitted grape for the famed Brunello di Montalcino.

It is a high yielding, late ripening grape that performs best on well-drained calcareous soils on south-facing hillsides. For years it was blighted by poor clonal selection and massive overcropping - however since the 1980s the quality of Sangiovese-based wines has rocketed upwards and they are now some of the most sought after in the world.

It produces wines with pronounced tannins and acidity, though not always with great depth of colour, and its character can vary from farmyard/leather nuances through to essence of red cherries and plums. In the 1960s the advent of Super Tuscans saw bottlings of 100% Sangiovese wines, as well as the introduction of Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blends, the most famous being Tignanello.

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