Biondi Santi 2011 Tenuta Greppo Annata Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Tuscany Italy

96 Points Wine Enthusiast – Beautifully balanced, this opens with alluring scents of wild berry, rose, baking spice and whiffs of chopped herb. Seamlessly combining ripe fruit and the firm’s trademark finesse, the bright elegantly structured palate delivers juicy wild cherry, crushed raspberry, white pepper and a hint of black tea framed in polished tannins and fresh acidity. It’s already tempting but the best is yet to come.

93 Points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate – Jacopo Biondi Santi was already making wine at Il Greppo when the 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Annata was produced. His father, Franco Biondi Santi, would pass away in 2013 at the age of 91. The winemaking approach is unchanged despite the father to son transition. This wine shows extra richness and texture with focused fruit aromas that are graceful but also powerful. There are hints of ripe fruit with dried cherry and prune buried deep within the bouquet. In the mouth, this Brunello shows good structure and acidity with a slightly denser feel compared to past vintages.

93 Points James Suckling – This is so pretty and refined with blackberry, cedar, dried-mushroom and plum aromas. Full-bodied and very tight and elegant. Very well done for the vintage. Drink or hold.

93 Points Vinous – The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Annata is silky, soft and open-knit, especially within the context of what has been the norm at Biondi Santi for the last few decades. Freshly cut flowers, red berries and mint all open up in the glass, but it is the wine’s decidedly mid-weight structure that truly stands out. The 2011 is a very rare young Biondi Santi that will drink well pretty much upon release, as shocked as I myself am to write those words. The bright red cherry, raspberry and floral overtones have an almost Nebbiolo-sense of brightness.