2007 Biondi-Santi “Annata” Brunello di Montalcino Tuscany 750 ml

The Greatest Brunello You’ll Ever Try

For many buyers, Biondi-Santi is the holy grail of Brunello di Montalcino — a supremely regal Sangiovese that binds power and freshness, capable of aging like First-Growth Bordeaux. The Tuscan family estate invented the modern expression of Brunello, and to this day upholds the region’s time-honored techniques in the cellar and vineyards. At a Biondi-Santi vertical tasting this winter, I was transfixed by wines from classic Brunello vintages such as 1983 and 1997. Of the newer vintages, one comes closest to achieving timeless elegance: the 2007, which the late Franco Biondi Santi said was most reminiscent of the greatest wine he ever made. 95 points from James Suckling. Matching 94-point scores from Vinous’s Antonio Galloni and Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, calling it “gorgeous.” 

If asked to name the defining features of Brunello di Montalcino, many collectors would begin by citing the wine’s astonishing potential for aging. Some have even claimed, to a few raised eyebrows, that the best Brunellos continue cellaring beautifully well over 100 years. After a Biondi-Santi tasting in San Francisco this past February, the idea no longer seemed far-fetched. Poured alongside braised beef short ribs and garlic potato purée, the garnet-ruby 1983 was extraordinarily vibrant and ripe, giving up a 90-second finish.

The Biondi Santi family can be credited with endowing Brunello di Montalcino with its awesome capacity for aging. It has been the focus for the estate dating back to the 1880s, when the winery’s progenitor, scientist Clemente Santi, pioneered racking and barrel-aging practices with red wines at a time when Montalcino was known best for sweet whites. Ferrucio Biondi Santi continued his grandfather’s work, employing his knowledge of massal selection and rootstocks to create a new clone, the BBS 11, which signaled the birth of modern Brunello di Montalcino.

Ferruccio’s son Tancredi secretly walled up some of the family’s oldest Riserva, including the 1888 vintage, prior to World War II, a move which later enabled him to demonstrate the wine’s seeming immortality. In 1970, he shocked the world by uncorking an incredibly rich and youthful-tasting 82-year-old wine.

In our age, it was the late, legendary Franco Biondi Santi, nicknamed the “Gentleman of Montalcino,” who was the face of the winery and the defender of traditional and meticulous Brunello vinification, emphasizing aging in large oak casks. He was fond of telling critics the greatest wine he ever made was the 1997 — a spellbinding highlight of the February tasting, showing stunning freshness, juicy and fleshy yet light on its feet.

Franco has said that the 2007 reminded him the most of the iconic 1997. In 2007’s excellent, hot vintage, Biondi-Santi’s 80-year-old Sangiovese vines reached deep into steep hillsides of Il Greppo, rich with galestro soils. Grapes were thick-skinned, infused with bright acidity, gorgeous aromatics, and powerful tannins.

If you open now, decant for a full four to eight hours (seriously) and prepare for fireworks. If you can be patient, so can this bottle. As Franco once said: “The characteristic of Brunello is its longevity. Nature is capable of beautiful things — you just have to wait.”