Why it matters
The producer
In 1888, Ferruccio Biondi Santi pressed a label onto bottles from that year's harvest at Il Greppo and wrote a name that did not yet legally exist: Brunello di Montalcino. He had not discovered the wine. He had invented the category. Those original bottles are still in the estate cellar.
The estate sits northeast of Montalcino on a hillside property called Il Greppo, farming 33 hectares of Sangiovese Grosso divided across five vineyard plots. It produces two wines: a Brunello di Montalcino and a Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. The range has stayed narrow across four generations of family ownership. One grape. One estate. Two levels of ageing.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Montalcino is a hilltop town in the province of Siena, in southern Tuscany. The Brunello di Montalcino DOCG covers the slopes surrounding the town, and the appellation's position determines the character of every bottle: altitude moderates summer heat, the long growing season allows Sangiovese Grosso to ripen fully while holding its acidity, and the dry autumns reduce disease pressure.
Il Greppo occupies the northeastern part of the appellation, a zone that sits higher and cooler than the south-facing slopes. That cooler position feeds directly into the wine: Brunello grown here tends toward firm acidity, structured tannin, and slower development in bottle. The five vineyard plots at Il Greppo all lie within this northeastern sector. The wines carry the address on the label: Brunello di Montalcino, the DOCG name Ferruccio put there first.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The estate farms Sangiovese Grosso on all five plots, using a specific clonal selection designated BBS11, developed from vines grown at Il Greppo. The grape produces wines with naturally high acidity and substantial tannin, which explains the ageing logic behind both bottles in the range.
Both the Brunello and the Riserva are aged in Slavonian oak before release. Slavonian oak is large-format and slower to impart character than French barriques; it smooths tannin over time without adding strong vanilla or toast notes, keeping the fruit and acidity in the foreground. The Riserva must age for a minimum of six years before release under DOCG rules, a duration that concentrates the fruit and drives the tannin toward the youthful firmness that defines it at the bottle stage. The Brunello di Montalcino follows a shorter ageing path, reaching the market earlier and in a more approachable state, though built on the same high-acidity framework.
Wines to know
The range in view
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG is 100 percent Sangiovese Grosso from the five Il Greppo plots, aged in Slavonian oak and released when it has developed enough fruit to be approachable in youth. The acidity is the defining feature: bright and persistent, it carries dried cherry, red plum, and earthy tobacco across the palate and prevents the wine from feeling heavy despite the tannin. It can be opened soon after release, but its acid architecture means it will continue to develop for years in bottle.
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva is produced only in declared vintages, the years when the grape quality and conditions justify the extended commitment. The minimum six-year ageing period before release produces a wine with more concentrated fruit, firmer tannin at the point of purchase, and a long savory finish that stays on the palate after the wine is gone. The Riserva is not more approachable than the Brunello; it is more demanding. Tannin is prominent and youthful at release, and the wine asks for time.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. It is 100 percent Sangiovese Grosso from the Il Greppo estate, aged in Slavonian oak, and built on the bright acidity that defines this estate's approach to the grape. The wine is approachable at release in a way that the Riserva is not, and that approachability makes it the clearer opening argument for what the estate does: how the northeastern plots, the BBS11 clone, and the Slavonian oak combine to produce a Brunello with lift and length rather than weight. Dried cherry, red plum, iron, firm tannin, and a finish that stays.