Italy · Tuscany

Biondi-Santi

Biondi-Santi is the founding house of Brunello di Montalcino and one of Italy's most historic wine estates. Ferruccio Biondi Santi is credited with creating Brunello as we know it — he isolated the Brunello clone of Sangiovese Grosso in the 1870s and produced the first wines that earned the Brunello designation. The estate's Riservas, made only in great years and from vines of 25 years or older, are among the most age-worthy Italian wines ever produced, with the 1955 and 1964 Riservas still extraordinary today. The current estate is managed by Jacopo Biondi Santi (before the recent EPI luxury group acquisition), maintaining the traditional style: very long macerations in large Slavonian oak, no new oak, low yields, and patience. The regular Brunello and the Riserva are each benchmarks for the appellation. At auction, Biondi-Santi Riservas from great vintages command prices second only to DRC in terms of Italian wine prestige, with the 1964 and 1955 among the most collected Italian bottles in the world.