Luminous garnet red. Perfumed nose of orange peel, cinnamon, sour red cherries, strawberries, talcum powder, and old fine leather, plus sneaky hints of slightly air-dried berries. Then juicy and dense with a silky mouthfeel to the flavors of red berries, blood orange and spices.
Reviews:
- Wine Enthusiast: This is the final Riserva to benefit from the late Franco Biondi Santi’s masterful hand. It boasts enticing scents of rose, underbrush, red berry, new leather and crushed mint. The chiseled palate features succulent Morello cherry, pomegranate, orange zest, star anise and a hint of tobacco, all framed in taut, polished tannins. Firm acidity lends youthful tension and keeps it impeccably balanced.
- Decanter: The 2012 Riserva is the last vintage produced by Franco Biondi Santi, and so this release is dedicated to him. Of the 39 Riservas the estate has produced since the first one in 1888, Franco oversaw 24 of them. 2012 is considered a warm vintage, more dry than hot and with an advanced harvest on 10 September: quite early for a Sangiovese from higher vineyards in Montalcino. The age of the vines has helped to give the wine outstanding complexity. It shows the typical freshness of Biondi Santi with red currant, pomegranate and orris root aromas, becoming more austere on the palate with rhubarb radice flavour, firm acidity and firm yet ripe tannins. The extraction is great and the tight-knit integration between fruit and structural elements gives it the depth to age for decades.
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.
