Brunello Riserva

	Varietals:	100% Sangiovese Grosso (Prugnolo Gentile)
	Vineyard:	Single Vineyard
	Appellation:	Tuscany
	Sub Appellation:	Montalcino
	Fermentation:	Open Top Fermenters
	Wood:	French Oak
	Aging:	36 Months Oak

Wine Spectator: 96 Points - Black as night, with aromas of blackberry, violet, flowers and Indian spices. Full-bodied, with loads of tannins, but ultrarefined. Very long and beautiful, with great texture. This is 1997 again. Best after 2010. 500 cases made. –JS

Prugnolo Gentile aka Sangiovese Grosso):
Its origins can be traced back to the Sangioveto variety, which it differs from in some aspects. It is held to be indigenous to the commune of Montepulciano, in the province of Siena and was already described in the 18th Century as "Pigniuolo Rosso".

Brunello di Montalcino
In a country like Italy, which has been producing wines for about 3,500 years, a Brunello di Montalcino can be considered a modern invention. It is not, in fact, a wine made in homage to local traditions but the result of the studies of a single winemaker, Ferruccio Biondi-Santi. Around 1870, Ferruccio Biondi-Santi began to set out in his vineyards a clone of the Sangiovese variety known as Brunello. The young viticulturist had noted that a subvariety of Sangiovese, referred to as Grosso to distinguish it from the breed that had originated in the Chianti area and that produced smaller berries, was more resistant to attacks by phylloxera, which was then ravaging the vineyards of the district. In the end, Biondi-Santi completely replanted his vineyards and was soon able to produce an entirely satisfactory wine made from a single variety.

Biondi-Santi did not stop there but went on to break with the traditions of the place. At that time, Tuscans generally preferred young red wines, which were softened and rendered more immediately drinkable through the use of the governo. Tastes even ran to fizzy reds. However, the innovative winemaker subjected the wine, as it still is, to a process of fining involving a stay of at least four years in oak casks, completed by a period in the bottle where in time it developed outstanding qualities. Brunello began to be talked about after 1880. The first great vintage, officially, was the 1888 Brunello, of which five bottles still exist. Their contents are perfectly preserved, a proof of the wine's great powers of longevity. With the passing of the years, it steadily acquires greater fragrance, a more velvety flavor, increased harmony and an odor that is delicate and at the same time quite intense.

Those attributes were mentioned by Baron Luigi Ricasoli, a politician and leading Tuscan producer - he laid down the discipline for Chianti - in 1930, after he tasted a Brunello of the 1888 vintage. "Well, I'll never reach this point,'' he said in comparing his own production with the quality and the longevity of the exceptional Brunello. In 1988, Italian President Francesco Cossiga attended the celebration of the 100th anniversary of this extraordinary wine's creation.

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