Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva 'Tenuta Greppo' 2012 (750 ml.) Biondi Santi

THE WINE

TheBrunello di Montalcino Riserva 2012OfBiondi Santi is dedicated to Franco Biondi-Santi. It was produced with the Sangiovese Grosso BBS11 clone, identified and selected by Biondi-Santi to the Tenuta Greppo in the 1970s. Grapes from exclusively the oldest vineyards, over 25 years old, were used. It is a typical expression of the oenological vision of Franco Biondi Santi. Its distinctive freshness gives a wonderful liveliness to the monumental and at the same time refined structure. The bouquet opens like a symphony of soft and fruity scents that evolve into a crescendo of herbal notes, licorice, and balsamic sensations. On the palate, it is elegant and savory with crisp tannins. The finish is long, clean, and fragrant.

THE STORY

The story of Brunello del Greppo begins with Clemente. Santi. Grandchild ofGiorgio SantiIn which Professor Baccio Baccetti writes in the publication "Culture and University? in Siena" - July 1993 - in the chapter "Sienese Naturalists," among other things:

The nephewClementeSon of Luigi Santi Petronilla Canali, a pharmacy graduate from Pisa and a well-known writer, had extensive land holdings in Montalcino and Pienza, and dedicated a large part of his work to agriculture, particularly at Greppo, a farm owned by his mother Canali.
His knowledge of chemistry and science helped him elevate his winemaking techniques to enviable levels during the last years of his life.
Before achieving recognition for his "chosen red wine (Brunello) of 1865," his Moscatello was also awarded at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867 (an extraordinary enological recognition because at that time, the French considered themselves the only producers in the world of quality wines). He produced red wines suitable for aging; he had identified more advanced techniques for racking and aging in barrels compared to all his contemporaries.

Ferruccio Biondi SantiEstablished very strict production standards. Other producers in the early 1800s received important awards for their wines called "Brunello": Paccagnini, Anghirelli, Angelini, Vieri Padelletti, but none were able to maintain continuity in their wines beyond the end of World War I. Ferruccio, building on the extraordinary experience of his maternal grandfather Clemente Santi, He dedicated himself skillfully to the Greppo business and, as often happens in the happiest historical decisions, owes something to adversity: in the mid-1800s, powdery mildew, then phylloxera, and then downy mildew struck Europe and consequently also the Greppo.
He found himself facing an unprecedented threat to the survival of his vineyards due to phylloxera.
But while the winegrowers tried to quickly produce red wines (see also the "governo" of the new wine) for a rapid financial return from the new vineyards, he looked towards new horizons and wanted to diversify with a wine that he believed would be long-lived by vinifying the Sangiovese in purity. In 1932, he was described as the inventor of Brunello by an Interministerial Commission that studied the Chianti region, including Montalcino. In his company at Greppo, already at the end of the 1800s, he began a systematic mass selection of Sangiovese.
In the end, he completely replanted all his vineyards, grafting them onto wild rootstocks, using buds taken from those mother plants identified at Greppo: in a certain sense, he anticipated by about a century the trend in Tuscany to produce full-bodied red wines, vinifying the Sangiovese in purity. He died in 1917.

Other wineries also sought his consulting from one end of the Peninsula to the other: from Lugana wine in Desenzano to... Garda, in Chianti in the Senese region, at Fiorano of Prince Boncompagni in Rome, at Cirò in Calabria. His last act was, in March 1970, the ceremony of refilling his old bottles of Brunello Riserva 1888 - 1891 - 1925 - 1945, in the Cantina del Greppo, in the presence of Mario Soldati., Luigi Veronelli and Paolo Maccherini: it can certainly be said that in that act, perhaps better than in any other, lies his long career as an expert winemaker and that even today it confirms the supremacy, diversity, and uniqueness of Brunello del Greppo. Brunello di Montalcino. Biondi Santi In short, it reaches the peak of its fame and splendor, from the most discerning and refined admirers around the world.

But that doesn't mean he rested on his father's laurels. In the meantime, the... D.O.C. had encouraged other producers to plant vineyards and improve techniques in the hope of capitalizing on the prestigious image of Brunello. In the presence of such a scenario, which has seen an exponential growth of hectares registered for Brunello in the region (from 76 hectares in 1967 to the current 2100 in 2009), Franco Biondi Santi He increased the production of Brunello del Greppo from 4 hectares, at the death of his father, to the current 25. He continued the strict traditional agronomic and winemaking practices to consolidate the uniqueness and improve the quality of Brunello del Greppo, confident that he could match (given the same use of the land and grape varieties) the great hundred-year-old reserves of his Brunello.
Thanks to a personal and constant promotion of its wines around the world, Franco Biondi Santi Since the '70s, he has managed to make people understand and appreciate the extraordinary uniqueness and quality of his Brunello del Greppo. In the future, the continuity of Greppo is represented by his two sons. Franco, , Jacopo and Alessandra both interested in the Greppo: Jacopo With a vivid imagination of wines (firmly convinced of the typicality of Brunello del Greppo), Alessandra is involved in the promotion of the company.