Red Wine: 2013 | Biondi Santi | Tenuta Greppo Riserva

Tense and elegant, this red evokes strawberry, cherry, floral, iron and rosemary aromas and flavors. Harmonious in its linear profile and smooth, yet with adequate tannins for a long life ahead. The fresh finish balances fruit and balsamic elements.

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Producer: Biondi Santi

Ratings: WA | 98 D | 95

Vintage: 2013

Size: 750ml

ABV: 13.5%

Varietal: Sangiovese

Country/Region: Italy, Tuscany

Tense and elegant, this red evokes strawberry, cherry, floral, iron and rosemary aromas and flavors. Harmonious in its linear profile and smooth, yet with adequate tannins for a long life ahead. The fresh finish balances fruit and balsamic elements.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The Biondi-Santi 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is a stunning wine from all points of view. Seamless integration and elegant complexity are what stand out, and it’s worth dedicating a few extra lines to the aromatic depth that is put so beautifully on display as the wine slowly unfolds. The bouquet starts off with wild cherry, earth, wet ash, crme de cassis and pruny chocolate. With extra time, there are hints of dried tobacco leaf, sandalwood and mossy forest floor. These lead to a fine tail of dried herb, bay leaf and a touch of rusty nail. The Riserva comes in numbered bottles, and I opened number 04277. To the palate, the wine is streamlined and silky with smooth tannins and a well-managed 13.5% alcohol content. The oak presence is reduced to a minimum, offering mild hints of spice and the delicate sandalwood or dried fig aroma I described above. Fresh acidity is the glue that gives the wine buoyancy and staying power. At this young stage, this 2013 vintage could be considered a bit shy or slow to start, but this will play out to great advantage in the long term as the wine continues its bottle evolution.

• Decanter: The 2013 vintage is the estate’s latest Riserva to be released, the winerys 40th Riserva since 1888 and the first vintage in over 40 years without the leadership of Franco Biondi-Santi. Due to rainstorms in September, the family delayed picking until the end of the month, making 2013 a relatively late harvest for Biondi-Santi. Classic sour red cherry notes are accented by orange, sandalwood and fennel. The palate charms with its savoury expression, finely textured sandy tannins and underlying minerality. Understated and refined, it flows gracefully but will nevertheless benefit from a couple of years in the cellar.

Producer Information

Biondi Santi is a Tuscan producer synonymous with the wines of Brunello di Montalcino; indeed, it has claims to being the inventor of the appellation.The Biondi Santi vineyard has 32 hectares (79 acres) of Sangiovese, of which five hectares (12 acres) were planted between 1930-1972. The vineyards are divided on five vineyard plots, located around the town of Montalcino.The main estate, Tenuta Greppo, where the cellar and the main vineyards are located, lies at an altitude of 564 meters (1,850 feet) above sea levelThe oldest vines form the basis of the Riserva wines, while the standard wine is made from vines in the 10-25 year bracket. Fruit from vines less than 10 years old supplies the dry, brightly aromatic Rosso di Montalcino.In poorer years, when no Brunello is released, Biondi Santi used to make a second Rosso di Montalcino, called Fascia Rossa, with fruit from the older vines. This is now discontinued.