2015 Pietranera Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Tuscany 750 ml

“Gentlemen...” Vanessa trailed off as she swirled, then took a long second sip of the ruby-red 2015 Pietranera. “We’ve officially found our first Brunello.” 

It was a Monday night in Montalcino, and the sleepy town was quiet—meanwhile we were starving and weary, having just driven in after a long flight to Florence. We might have been content to go to bed, but our host at Relais Friggiali insisted on cooking for us, and before we could protest, he disappeared into the cluttered kitchen. Not long after we’d sleepwalked over to the table, he returned with a platter of pinci pasta with wild boar ragù—and a bottle of his family’s Brunello. 

The smell of the steaming pasta and the aroma of the wine quickly filled the tiny dining room, breathing life into our table of travelers. Our host poured the Pietranera around, and we dove into its generous and warm red plum, dried Bing cherry fruit, and dusty earth tones enveloped in notes of dried roses, licorice, and leather, all framed by firm tannins.  

This was exactly what we’d come to Montalcino for—pure Tuscan grace from one of the top vintages in the last decade—and a day before our tasting trip had officially begun, we’d bagged our first Brunello. The best news is that we brought it back at a super-sharp price: Just $45 per bottle. Tough to beat for a 95-point Tuscan classic like this one.

The Wine Access members who got in on our first allocation agreed, with one 5-star reviewer proclaiming: “This is as good as Brunello gets!” 

We agree. The beauty of Brunello is that it can dazzle in so many ways. Some bowl you over with boldness and power, while some—like the 2015 Pietranera—beguile with grace, intoxicating aromatics, and a long, succulent finish. It’s that charming complexity that James Suckling alluded to when he called it “extremely perfumed and pretty” in his 95-point review. 

The day after we tasted the Pietranera, the family invited us out to the estate on the southeast side of Montalcino, 500 acres of rolling hills covered not only by neat rows of Sangiovese Grosso growing in the marl and clay soils, but cypress trees, olive groves, and untamed woods. It’s a stunning setting that’s just as much a feast for the nose as for the eyes, and it was easy to grasp where the aromatic bounty of the Pietranera Brunello comes from.

Like many of the best of Brunello wines, Pietranera combines tradition and modernity, and the rusticity of the manor house (not to mention their Relais!) belies serious winemaking know-how. In their impeccable cellar, the Sangiovese is destemmed and crushed, then fermented in gleaming stainless steel tanks at precisely controlled temperatures. Then the wine goes into Slavonian oak casks for up to 30 months before returning to tank for six months, then spending a year in the bottle. The result is a super-savory, no-rough-edges Brunello that’s drinking absolutely perfectly right now, and will only improve with five or ten years of cellaring. 

Claim your bottle, claim your case, and indulge in the 95-point Brunello that set the tone for our Tuscan trip. One sip takes us back, and we know you’ll love where it takes you.