2015 Brunello di Montalcino

Part of Le Chiuse’s vineyards once belonged to Biondi-Santi, and were used for that estate’s world-famous Brunello Riserva. When Tancredi Biondi-Santi died, the property was divided between Franco and Fiorella Biondi-Santi. The latter was current Le Chiuse owner Simonetta Valiani’s mother. Simonetta wanted to make wine a long time ago and began doing so in 1992 aided by her husband Niccolò Magnelli. During the first years Franco Biondi-Santi graciously acted as a mentor, helping them choose massal selections from the Biondi-Santi Il Greppo estate. The estate’s first Rosso was the 1992, the first Brunello was the 1993 and the first Brunello Riserva the 1995. Simonetta Valiani’s son Lorenzo Magnelli now runs the estate. Though Magnelli studied enology for two years, he was needed back at the estate in 2006, in the meantime he managed also a stint of 3 months working at Rubicon in California. 2006 was the year the estate hired Valentino Ciarla, a well-known Italian winemaking consultant, who is still on board today. Le Chiuse is a very traditional estate, amongst the first to harvest every year (clearly, very much following Biondi-Santi’s example). Lorenzo Magnelli lives on the estate and pays extreme attention to harvesting at the optimal time; living at the winery enables him to intervene at precisely the right time. The estate owns eight hectares, of which seven hectares are situated all around the winery building, plus a small plot called Pullera across the road from the Biondi-Santi building (Tancredi used to make wine from that plot as well). The estate’s oldest vines are those of the not-so poetically named Vineyard number 2 (roughly 32 years old) from where Le Chiuse makes its Brunello Riserva today. Vineyard 1, replanted about 15 years ago, was the original one used by Tancredi Biondi-Santi to contribute to his Riserva. The Rosso di Montalcino is essentially a declassified Brunello, made from the estate’s youngest vines and biggest grape bunches. Le Chiuse practices certified organic farming.

Le Chiuse enjoys one of the most richest histories in all of Montalcino, as this is the location that Tancredi Biondi-Santi used to create many of the greatest vintages of the Biondi-Santi Brunello Riserva. Today, Simonetta Valiani, along with her husband Nicolò Magnelli and son Lorenzo, are the custodians of this revered location, using cuttings from the original vines to propagate the vineyard, while practicing organically. In the winery cellar, they maintain a traditional approach, using indigenous yeasts and aging for 36 months in large Slavonian oak. These are wines that speak of Sangiovese purity and Montalcino terroir above all else; they are also some of the best and longest-lived wines coming out of the region, vintage after vintage.