Biondi Santi Brunello di Montalcino 2019

Brilliant, bright, ruby red. Complex and profound aromas of rich cherries, tobacco and oak, with a dark savouriness. Very juicy on the palate, with very well-integrated tannins, very elegant, slightly creamy, comes in several waves. A balanced and harmonious wine, with a finish that is full of finesse, great!

This wine will be released in March 2025. The Biondi-Santi 2019 Brunello di Montalcino was born in a generous vintage that provided abundant high-quality fruit. The growing season became progressively warmer throughout summer, without heat spikes, and it ended with well-timed rains and a warm autumn. Harvest started in mid-September, and the grapes ripened according to the right parameters without over-ripeness. The wine shows a natural textural richness that is supported by dark fruit, navel orange, tobacco, laurel leaf and Mediterranean herb. There are flinty mineral notes that add to the complexity. This beautiful wine hits a special mark: it offers the ethereal qualities you expect of this celebrated estate, with a good level of austerity to match.

This red feels open and juicy at first, with a vein of cherry, strawberry and floral flavors, before the firm edge of stiff tannins emerges. The underlying mineral element takes a little time to reveal itself but then defines the extended aftertaste. Best from 2028 through 2048.

Very perfumed and fragrant with sweet berries and fresh roses that follow through to a medium body with pretty depth of fruit and balance. Racy and driven, there’s a lot going on in the center-palate. The legend lives. Give this a few years to open, but already impressive. Best after 2027.

Just mid ruby with orange tinges. Brooding and subtle at the same time. Saline, minerally notes and iron, blood orange and cool cherry. And pet shop. Real complexity. Elegant, transparent and fluid on the palate with acidity that is a little vibrant and almost gossamer-like tannins woven into the fruit, but seemingly truthful to the historic style. 

A bright red color, the 2019 Brunello Di Montalcino was bottled in March of 2024 and will be released in March of 2025. The aromas are layered and complex with notes of red berries, cranberries, rosemary, orange peel, and black licorice that are constantly evolving in the glass as it opens. Medium-bodied and structured, but also elegant with a weightless feel, it has a long and savory finish. It feels as though it's going to gain in intensity with more time in bottle. Drink 2027-2050.

After cold, wet spring delayed flowering, northern winds and some rain tempered the summer heat, ahead of harvest starting on 14 September. A great vintage for Brunello, proclaims viticulture and winemaking director Federico Radi (who started at the estate in 2017) this is a vivacious, lively wine, with great freshness allied to a pliable structure. Orange peel, violet, rose, bay leaf and exotic spice notes run through the rich berry fruit supported by textured black-tea tannins. Vinified using a pied de cuve (indigenous yeast from the vineyard used as a fermentation starter) in oak barrels, concrete and stainless steel tanks, then aged in Slavonian oak barrels for 30 months. RADI'S RECAP: Dynamic, balsamic, enticing and floral.

The 2019 Brunello di Montalcino pulls the taster close to the glass, darkly floral and balsamic at the first tilt. This blossoms with a textbook profile of worn leather, dried rose, dusty earth, spice and dried black cherry. It sweeps across the palate, silky-smooth with hints of ripe red and black fruit underscored by saline mineral tones that add a crunchy yet salty sensation toward the close. It finishes with tremendous length and concentration, lifted by a tinge of sour citrus. Fine-grained tannins resonate under an air of sweet lavender. The 2019 is classic to the core. With this level of depth coming from the anatta, one can only imagine what the riserva will reveal.