2019 Conti Costanti Brunello di Montalcino Tuscany 750 ml

Conti Costanti is not about scores.

Collectors revere the mythic Tuscan producer because they make some of the finest Sangiovese known to man. And those who know Italian wine know that no matter the vintage, no matter the circumstances, opening a Costanti wine means you’re in for something sublime—no matter what any critic says.

But when a Conti Costanti wine receives THREE 100-point scores—from Decanter, from Brunello expert Kerin O’Keefe, and from eminent Italian-wine authority Ian D’Agata (formerly of Vinous)—well, it’s hard to ignore. “Beautiful, elegant, mineral, suave, pretty and elegant,” wrote D’Agata. “It is one of the Brunellos of the 2019 vintage.”

Imagine yourself in Andrea Costanti’s shoes in the early 1980s. Freshly graduated from the University of Siena with a degree in geology, he was contacted one day by Count Emilio Costanti, a doctor and winegrower. The count had no children, and in looking for a successor to take over his winery he had traced the family genealogy to Andrea—the sole living descendant of the Costanti clan, which dates back to the 15th century.

Despite having zero background in wine, Andrea accepted the appointment as the count’s successor and threw himself into the family business. The first Costanti vintage had been released in 1865, but the wines remained hidden from the public for generations. Count Emilio was the first to commercialize the operation, and Andrea engineered the estate’s brilliant debut on the global market.

With a geologist’s eye, he could see that Costanti’s 24-acre vineyard, owned by the family for 200 years, was pure gold. At nearly 1,500 feet above sea level, the high-altitude site regularly produces some of the greatest Sangiovese grown in the region.