2016 Brunello di Montalcino

The Le Chiuse vineyards are located in the north, a single block that sits between Montalcino and Montosoli. This very location was used by Tancredi and Franco Biondi-Santi to produce Biondi-Santi Riserva up until the early nineties. Lorenzo Magnelli, who currently oversees the estate, explains that what sets his vineyards apart from most others is their steep, hillside exposition at 330 meters of elevation, rich in schist, stones and fossils with water-retaining clay only two meters below. These vineyards were planted using massale selection from clones specifically picked by Tancredi Biondi-Santi to excel in this location. The estate continues to follow many of the teachings of the Biondi-Santi family, having been guided by Franco Biondi-Santi himself in the beginning. Le Chiuse is traditional yet progressive, certified organic with extremely low yields, while working in a modern gravity-fed cellar; yet the focus is on purity, picking early and working to express the vineyard, not the winemaking, in the final product.