Biondi-Santi Tenuta Greppo Brunello di Montalcino 2018

As the original creator of Brunello di Montalcino wine in the mid-1800s, Biondi-Santi has only improved on the style since then. The famed biotype of Sangiovese and its charming hometown of Montalcino have gained global adoration thanks to the efforts of this iconic Tuscan producer – and their 2018 Brunello di Montalcino only ups the ante. Biondi-Santi is a wine most wine lovers can only fathom trying – but for more than $125 off retail, with numerous rave scores, today is a great day to finally get your hands on some!

Drinking Biondi-Santi wine feels like you’re taking part in history. They put Montalcino on the map and are the measuring stick against which all other Brunellos are gauged. Clemente Santi is considered the founder of the Brunello di Montalcino style, focusing on using the Sangiovese Grosso grape in a long-aged red wine. Clemente’s daughter married Dr. Jacopo Biondi, which is how the winery got its name, and that couple’s son, Ferruccio Biondi-Santi, is known for developing the family’s very own Sangiovese clone known as BBS11 (Brunello Biondi Santi 11) – the only varietal clone that includes the name of a producer, and the clone used in this 2018 Brunello!

The estate vineyard, Tenuta Greppo, is a high-altitude, terraced terroir southeast of Montalcino with galestro-rich soils of poor quality that grow grapes with a wondrous balance of structure, fruit, and acidity. The hand-picked grapes are fermented in cement vats with native yeasts and aged in traditional, large Slavonian oak casks for 24 to 30 months. This is the second harvest done by the new owners – a French company called EPI that also owns Charles Heidsieck and Piper-Heidsieck Champagne, among others – who took over the complete production from field to bottle, starting in this 2018 vintage and onward.

“The 2018 Biondi Santi Brunello shows the winery’s hallmark finesse that French investment group EPI, owners of the historic estate since 2017, have scrupulously preserved thanks to the passion and determination of a great on-site team.” – Kerin O’Keefe

With double 96 point scores, among a pile of additional favorable reviews, the 2018 is a total and complete enchantment, well worthy of its original price, but even more alluring with $125 knocked off. As Vinous stated, “Simply magnificent, the 2018 takes the perfumed character of the vintage and marries perfectly to a core of vividly intense fruit. This is entirely atypical of the vintage and the result of extreme selection that reduced production quantities by 20%.” This isn’t just a red wine – it’s a masterpiece and a masterclass in what can be done with prideful leadership and steadfast vinification. The floral aromas of lilac, lavender, and dried rose accompany equally lovely, layered flavors of black and red cherries, orange peel, spiced cranberry tea, eucalyptus, and a cacophony of coriander, black pepper, and dried herbs. It has a freshness and bright acidity that is almost saline-like, and a softness to the tannins that gently tone down the racy energy. Overall, it is pure, lifted, finessed, and ever-so-approachable now, though it’s built to last for years, even decades longer in the cellar. Under $190 for a wine with such history and continued success is quite out of the ordinary, but a treat we will accept with enthusiasm! Make some of this yours while you still can!

PAIRING IDEAS: I’d go big with a slow-braised wild boar ragu over al dente pappardelle for something as enchanting and hearty as this historic, immaculate wine.