Brunello di Montalcino Estate Tour
In 1888, Ferruccio Biondi-Santi took a Sangiovese clone no one else believed in and invented a wine category from scratch. The Italian government officially agreed in 1932. Today his family's 1955 Riserva sells at auction for €14,000 a bottle — and it's not even the rarest thing in the cellar. Walk through the origin story of Italy's most decorated appellation — 69 Wine Spectator Top 100 appearances — from the Last Republic of Siena's medieval fortress to Casanova di Neri's vineyards that won Wine of the Year and a perfect 100 points in the same vintage.
A Wine Memories experience · winememories.fi
Country
🇮🇹 Italy
Duration
4 hours
How to Complete
5 steps curated by Wine Memories
- 🍷 Log Memory
📍 WHERE: Piazza del Popolo, the main square of Montalcino. Walk to the base of the 62-metre Campanone tower on the Palazzo dei Priori — the narrow Gothic building flanking it.
💡 WHAT: In 1555, when the Medici and the Spanish crushed Siena, the city's exiled nobles fled up this hill. Led by Pietro Strozzi, backed by France, they declared Montalcino the 'Republic of Siena Retired to Montalcino' — the last free city-state in Tuscany. For four years they held out, minting their own coins in the Palazzo's lower hall. Look up the Campanone tower: every coat of arms carved into that stone represents a ruling family, including the Medici crest added after the republic finally surrendered on 31 July 1559. The wine you're about to drink was grown in fields defended by people who refused to give up a country that no longer existed.
🎯 HOW: Look for the marble coats of arms carved along the tower base — count them. Then walk the perimeter of Piazza del Popolo before heading toward the Fortezza. The whole piazza takes 10 minutes. No ticket required.
🔄 BACKUP: If the square is crowded, the Fortezza battlements 200m uphill give the same history lesson plus the panorama that explains why anyone would defend this particular hill.
- 🍷 Log Memory
📍 WHERE: Enoteca La Fortezza, Piazzale Fortezza 9, Montalcino — directly inside the main tower of the 1361 fortress. Open 10am–8pm in summer; arrive before noon to beat tour groups. Reservation recommended, walk-ins usually possible.
💡 WHAT: This is the official Consorzio enoteca — which means they hold back library vintages that no private shop can access. Brunello di Montalcino has appeared in Wine Spectator's Top 100 wines 69 times — more than any other appellation in history. The 1955 Biondi-Santi Riserva — the only Italian wine named in Wine Spectator's '12 best wines of the 20th century' — sold at auction for €14,000 per bottle. The glass you're buying costs €10–€15. Order the 3-wine flight (€25–€40) and ask the sommelier to compare a Normale (released in year 5 after harvest) against a Riserva (year 6) so you taste the extra year directly.
🎯 HOW: After tasting, pay €3 to climb the fortress battlements. The moment you step outside and the entire Val d'Orcia UNESCO landscape opens to the south — rolling wheat, cypress rows, hill towns in the distance — is exactly the reveal you came to Italy for. Best at golden hour.
🔄 BACKUP: If the enoteca is closed, Caffè Fiaschetteria Italiana on the piazza opened in 1888 — the same year Ferruccio Biondi-Santi bottled the first Brunello. They pour Rosso di Montalcino by the glass.
- 🍷 Log Memory
📍 WHERE: Biondi-Santi Tenuta Il Greppo, Villa Greppo 183, Montalcino 53024. GPS approximately 43.0495, 11.5018 — 3km southeast of Montalcino centre. Mandatory advance reservation via biondisanti.it; tours Mon–Fri only; closed August and public holidays.
💡 WHAT: Ferruccio Biondi-Santi didn't just make a good wine in 1888 — he invented an entire appellation. He took the Sangiovese Grosso grape, isolated the best clone (BBS11, which now bears his family name in the EU registry), and produced the first Brunello di Montalcino. The Italian government officially recognised him as the inventor of the wine in 1932. In the cellar at Il Greppo, the oldest vines were planted by Ferruccio's grandson Tancredi in 1936. Two bottles remain in La Storica bottle library from the very first 1888 vintage. The Riserva you'll taste in the cellar tasting room is from vines over 80 years old; when the 1955 Riserva went to auction it sold for €14,000 a bottle. Ask your guide to show you La Storica — the beeswax-sealed bottle library where numbered Riservas wait in the dark.
🎯 HOW: Book via the contact page at biondisanti.it. Request the cellar tour + 2-wine tasting (approximately €15–€25 per person). If you're travelling with a wine-obsessed group, enquire about their private tasting tier — they occasionally open older vintages for serious visitors.
🔄 BACKUP: If Biondi-Santi cannot accommodate your dates, Mastrojanni (road to Castelnuovo dell'Abate) is the most generous walk-in estate in Montalcino and their 'Schiena d'Asino' single vineyard Brunello punches well above its price.
- 🍷 Log Memory
📍 WHERE: Casanova di Neri, Podere Fiesole, Strada Provinciale 14, Montalcino (SP 14 km 31.8). Phone +39 0577 834455 or email [email protected] to book. Open Mon–Fri 10am–6pm; appointment only.
💡 WHAT: In 2006, Wine Spectator named Giacomo Neri's Tenuta Nuova 2001 the best wine on planet Earth — Wine of the Year. In 2007, his Cerretalto 2001 (from 3.7 hectares of iron-rich marl, 60-year-old vines at 380 metres altitude) scored 100 perfect points. James Suckling gave 100 points to Casanova di Neri's Giovanni Neri 2019. This is one family, two generations — Giovanni founded the estate in 1971, Giacomo took over in 1991, and now Giacomo's son Giovanni works alongside him. The current generation has produced more perfect-score Brunello than any estate not named Biondi-Santi. During your visit, ask Giacomo (or whoever pours) to explain the difference between Tenuta Nuova (62 acres, southern sun, richer and more approachable) and Cerretalto (iron, structure, 20+ years to fully open). Tasting fee applies; current Cerretalto releases sell for €100–€200 per bottle retail.
🎯 HOW: Tastings are by appointment. The estate is 8km southeast of Montalcino on SP14. Bring cash for purchases — they don't always have card terminals for walk-in buys.
🔄 BACKUP: If dates don't align, their wines are available at the Enoteca La Fortezza in town. Order Tenuta Nuova by the glass and ask the sommelier to pair it against a Biondi-Santi so you have the contrast in hand.
- 🍷 Log Memory
📍 WHERE: Tenuta Il Poggione, Loc. Monteano, Sant'Angelo in Colle, 12km south of Montalcino. Phone +39 0577 844 029; email info@ilpoggione.it; tenutailpoggione.it. GPS approximately 42.9900, 11.4600.
💡 WHAT: In the late 1800s, a Florentine landowner named Lavinio Franceschi heard a shepherd's stories about a valley south of Siena and drove down to look. He fell in love so completely he bought the land and started farming. That was five generations ago — Il Poggione is now run by Leopoldo and Livia Franceschi, great-great-grandchildren of Lavinio. They were one of the first wineries to commercially sell Brunello in the early 1900s, decades before most of their neighbours thought of bottling it. The cellar here is not a museum piece — it is a working facility whose oldest sections date to the 1890s. Unlike Biondi-Santi, Il Poggione rarely makes the headlines. That's why Giacomo Neri and Ferruccio's descendants will both mention it with respect when you ask who consistently makes honest, age-worthy Brunello without the premium price tag. The drive here alone — descending from Montalcino through cypress lanes above the Val d'Orcia — takes 20 minutes and looks exactly like every Tuscan oil painting you've ever seen.
🎯 HOW: Contact the estate directly for cellar visit availability. Ask specifically to see the old barrel hall. Their standard Brunello is €35–€50 per bottle at the cellar; the Riserva 'Vigna Paganelli' runs €70–€100. Tastings are free or very low cost with a purchase.
🔄 BACKUP: If Il Poggione is closed, Sant'Angelo in Colle village itself — perched on the hillside above the estate — has a small enoteca and a view north back toward Montalcino across 12km of Val d'Orcia landscape. Worth the drive regardless.