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The September 2022 Auction: Part 4

Auction # 729 | View Auction Schedule and Details
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Auction Ends: 9/22/2022 6:00:00 PM PDT

Lot #597. Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Greppo 2015

Description: Consists of 2 Bottles, 0.75L
Score: 97+ WA.
"The Biondi-Santi 2015 Brunello di Montalcino exudes dark, velvety fruit and concentration while maintaining the signature elegance, suppleness and lithe personalty that distinguishes the iconic Il Greppo estate. I found this new release to be quite distinctive and exquisitely beautiful, setting it apart from many of the past vintages we are most familiar with. This 2015 edition is dark, exuberant and bold, but precise, focused and sharp as well. It will live for years in your cellar, but tasted now in its infancy, the wine shows blackberry, dried cherry, plum and dark cassis. Those dark fruit tones segue to a rich presentation of tar, spice, earth, tobacco and sweet balsam herb. The bouquet offers seamless and smooth transitions. This warm and sunny growing season favored richness and phenolic weight. Wines from Biondi-Santi are made for the long haul, and the fresh acidity that characterizes this estate is the principle reason why. However, I'd argue that this wine from 2015 will evolve over the years not only thanks to the freshness but more so thanks to the important structure of this solid and profound wine. This spotlight focuses on two new releases from Biondi-Santi: the 2017 Rosso di Montalcino and the 2015 Brunello di Montalcino. The upcoming 2013 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva will be released later this year, and I will publish a review of that wine as soon as I have the opportunity to taste it. Of these two samples, it’s worth spending an extra word on the beautiful 2017 Rosso di Montalcino. Rosso is an entry-level category of wine in Montalcino, made with 100% Sangiovese like its big brother Brunello, which has been the subject of much debate and attention in recent years. There is an acute awareness on the part of both the trade and the consumer that the enormous growth potential of Rosso di Montalcino remains untapped. Because Rosso commands a lower price point than Brunello (a wine that sells well), there has been an unwillingness to invest vineyard acreage or infrastructure for Rosso di Montalcino. Why focus on Rosso in a Brunello market? As a result, Montalcino is an anomaly in the world of wine because it has an inverted quality pyramid. The classic wine region elsewhere is built upon on a large base of lower-priced wines at the bottom, and a pointed tip where a much smaller number of expensive fine wines live at the top. In Montalcino, cellar-worthy Brunello is the expensive wine at the top produced in ample volume, but the upside-down pyramid tapers down at the bottom to capture the sidelined Rosso. For example, in a year like 2018, the appellation produced eight million bottles of Brunello di Montalcino and 4.5 million bottles of Rosso di Montalcino for a turnover of 160 million euros, and 70% of the wine was sold in export markets, according to the Consorzio del Vino di Montalcino. The denomination has policies in place to limit the growth of Brunello to eight to nine million bottles, depending on the vintage. However, there is ample room for growth, says the Consorzio, for Rosso di Montalcino. If Rosso di Montalcino is to build momentum, it is critical that the iconic brands of the appellation get behind the wine. This is the context I believe we need to consider when presenting a wine like the Biondi-Santi 2017 Rosso di Montalcino. “We strongly believe in Rosso di Montalcino,” Biondi-Santi CEO Giampiero Bertolini tells me over a Zoom call. “Rosso is the entry ticket to Montalcino. This wine is key to bringing in new interest and new generations of wine lovers.” The Biondi-Santi estate has a long-standing Rosso di Montalcino program. But it also sometimes produced a special bottling recognized by a red banner on the label called Rosso di Montalcino Fascia Rosso in the most difficult vintages such as 1989, 1992, 2002 and 2014. In those years, fruit destined to Brunello was downgraded to the red banner selection. It was determined that the Fascia Rosso was causing confusion in the marketplace and the wine was discontinued. “We don’t want our Rosso to be seen as a declassified wine,” says Bertolini. “Instead, we want to draw a clear identity for our Rosso.” The identity of the 2017 Rosso di Montalcino reviewed here is closely linked to that of the estate’s technical director, Federico Radi, who joined the estate that same year. “The 2017 growing season was hot and the vines were stressed. Yields were reduced by 30% to 40% in some areas,” says Radi. “Areas with heavy clay soils and younger vines suffered the most, but we were able to maintain freshness in the 2017 Rosso thanks to the advanced age of the vines in our best sites with cooler Galestro soils.” Biondi-Santi embarked on an ambitious project to map its vineyard holdings and better understand the soil characteristics of each parcel. The team is also slowly replanting less-productive vines. I wrote about these initiatives in my article that was published last year in the June 202 Week 1 issue. I also wrote about some recent changes at the estate in an article called “Updates from Montalcino’s Tenuta Biondi Santi” published on Wine Journal, which is free to read (no subscription required). The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino reviewed here will also be released in magnum for the first time in the estate history. Brunello was not made in 2014, nor was a Riserva produced that year. Each year, the estate selects a back vintage from the library to re-release to the market. The 1983 Riserva was selected for this purpose, and I was lucky enough to taste that beautiful wine a couple of years ago. That review was published in July 2019. In Good Hands Tenuta Biondi Santi is in a happy place today. Brunello watchers had reason for pause after the death of the beloved Franco Biondi Santi in 2013 at the age of 91 (and still active in winemaking). Not too long after his passing, rumors suggested that the estate might be for sale. This led to broad questions about the future of the brand, and specific concerns regarding the stewardship of the traditional winemaking style that so faithfully mirrors the personality of Il dottore Franco Biondi Santi. Last year’s release of the 2012 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva had a ribbon printed on the front label that read: “Dedicato a Franco Biondi Santi.” That is his final vintage. In 2016, Biondi Santi’s heirs sold the estate to the Paris-based EPI holding company owned by Christopher Descours. Since that date, a careful restructuring program was initiated. In the years following the acquisition, Franco’s son Jacopo and his grandson Tancredi both stayed on for consistency during the transition. However, both men have since left Il Greppo to dedicate their efforts to Jacopo’s Southern Maremma wine estate, Castello di Montepò. Meet the Team Under its French ownership, Il Greppo is managed by an all-Italian dream team of professionals, with a small Danish inclusion, culled from some of Tuscany’s most prestigious wine estates such as Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi, Marchesi Mazzei and Isole e Olena. Giampiero Bertolini, Biondi-Santi CEO, joined the team in 2018. With 16 years at the Frescobaldi Group, he served as global sales and marketing director at Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi. He got his master’s degree in economy and marketing at the Università degli Studi di Firenze, completing some of his studies at the international marketing program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His mission at Biondi-Santi is to “further expand the value and the importance of the brand to reinforce its presence among the greatest wines of the world. On the one hand, this will be accomplished through the continuous improvement of the quality of the wines, within the utmost respect of Biondi-Santi’s secular tradition and history; on the other hand, by strengthening the presence of Biondi-Santi in the best restaurants worldwide and in the most prestigious private wine collector cellars,” according to a company statement. Technical director Federico Radi, who heads viticulture and winemaking, joined the company in 2017. Tuscan born, he studied agronomy at the Università degli Studi di Firenze and holds a master’s degree in oenology from the Unversità degli Studi di Siena. His professional career has given him passage through the historic cellars of Villa Mangiacane, Isole e Olena (where he was vineyard manager) and the Maremma estate of Marchesi Mazzei, Tenuta Belguardo, where he was in charge of production. Giovanni Lai (the best-dressed man in Italian wine) is the European sales director. I met Giovanni back in 2005 when I was studying to be a sommelier with the Italian Sommelier Association. He was my instructor during the spirits portion of the course. A few years later, I profiled him in an article I wrote on Italian mixed drinks. It was around that time that I also met Lene Bucelli (Danish by birth but Italian by choice, much like myself). Lene is the head of marketing and communications at Biondi-Santi and has worked as a press officer for various estates in Tuscany. Andrea Gianardi is CFO, after having worked at the Chianti Classico Consortium for many years. The estate staff under employment by Franco Biondi Santi, both in production and in the offices, have pretty much all stayed on under the new ownership." Monica Larner, Wine Advocate Interim, Feb 2021
Provenance: The Astrolabe Cellar
Lot Location: Orange County
Estimate: $100

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