Born to make Brunello

Gianni Brunnelli

VARIETALS:                100% Sangiovese Grosso

PRICE:                         $83.00 / bottle

FORMAT:                      6 x 750ml

AVAILABLE:                  11 six packs

DRINKABILITY:            2014 to 2027

94 POINTS - James Suckling  (January 15, 2011) 

"A soft and fruity red, chocolate and berries aromas and flavors that build on the palate. Full with soft tannins and a long finish. Aftertaste shows plums, toffee and cedar. Citrus too. Turns tannic. Give it three to four years of bottle age."

93 POINTS - Wine Advocate (May 2011, Issue #194) 

"The 2006 Brunello di Montalcino is a gorgeous wine graced with red berries, spices, sweet tobacco, cedar and leather. In 2006, the estate's Brunello has an extra degree of inner sweetness and perfume that make it particularly compelling. Today the fruit is quite primary, yet the tannins are so silky and polished the wine is delicious even at this early stage. This is a fabulous effort from Brunelli. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2026." 

 The Story

Podernovone vineyard at Gianni Brunelli

Gianni Brunelli was from an old Montalcino family. He dedicated his life to upholding the local traditions of great food, wine and hospitality. He became famous for all of the above at his legendary restaurant Osteria Le Logge in Sienna "where customers are treated like friends and friends like gods".  In 1988 he re-established his family's grape growing tradition at Le Chiuse de Sotto, a 2 ha vineyard below the hill town of Montalcino.

Sadly Gianni Brunelli passed away passed away in 2008, but his wife Laura carries on. She is a great character in her own right, big-hearted, and full of generosity and warmth. It is not surprising that Gianni Brunelli's wines are as supple, outgoing and hedonistic as Brunello's can be. Aged in big vats of Slovenian oak, they are elegant wines that have none of the severity that Brunello was once known for. Stylistically they have more in common with classic Burgundy or Barolo, which is to say that they are wines of plush texture and a core of ripe fruit. The 2006 is very youthful, and should be given the chance to develop, the way Brunello can, over the next 10 years or more.