96pts 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. Drink 2021–2031.
94pts Decanter
Biondi Santi decided to keep both the 2013 Brunello and 2012 Riserva an additional year in bottle before release. Therefore, the current releases are the 2012 Brunello and the 2011 Riserva. The latter is only made in exceptional years, produced from the estate's BBS11 (Brunello Biondi Santi, vine 11) clone, a selection Franco Biondi Santi started in 1970. These vines are at least 25 years old. The wine is fermented in wood and aged in Slavonian oak casks. The warm vintage gives this wine a precocious character and a charming richness of fruit. Aromas of exotic black tea, new furniture polish and macerated cherries make way for ethereal nuances of lavender, orange blossom and rosehip. Acidity lends buoyancy, and the authoritative tannins are finely sculpted.. All the elements are in balance, and while it will surely last a couple of decades, it is almost impossible to resist now.
94pts Vinous
Dark red. Musky nuances give way to brighter red fruit, licorice and herbal aromas. Rich and dense, with flavors of red cherry and minerals lifted by hints of orange peel and bergamot, not to mention noteworthy but harmonious acidity. Finishes long with youthfully chewy tannins and lingering hints of violet. This strikes me as a slightly readier to drink version of Brunello Riserva from Biondi-Santi, but as always, it improves greatly with aeration so decant at least six hours ahead for maximum enjoyment.
93pts Wine Spectator
A supple, harmonious red, showing some softening, with cherry, leather and wild herb flavors well-integrated into the lacy structure. Reveals a lingering essence of sweet fruit, black tea and graphite on the finish. Best from 2019 through 2032.
92pts Wine Advocate
The 2011 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva makes a bold and more articulate statement (compared to the 2012 Annata wine released at the same time). That extra year of aging has contributed to more powerful aromas of dark fruit, balsam herb and spice. There is extra fiber and texture here overall. This Riserva shows a higher degree of density and a tighter embroidery with dark fruit, spice and tobacco. Both 2011 and 2012 are warm vintages, and the wines produced do not boast the same level of bright acidity that you normally get from this estate. But, if there's one thing the wines of Biondi-Santi have demonstrated over the years, it is that they get better with time. Set this bottle aside in your cellar.
92pts James Suckling
Aromas of plums and light caramel and hazelnuts. Full body, a solid core of fruit and chewy tannins. A little dusty now. Need a couple of years to soften. Try in 2018.
Winemaker's Notes
The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva is a truly majestic wine. The bouquet is packed with intense fruity notes of black berries, pomegranate, and plums, intertwined with scents of Mediterranean herbs such as thyme, rosemary, and sage, rising from a carpet of forest floor.
On the palate, the wine seduces with exuberant charm and caressing sweetness. The youthful tannins reveal its immense structure and contribute to creating a distinctive sensation of freshness which leads us towards a long-lingering, savory finish.
History
It is a rare phenomenon that a wine can trace its origins to a single man. Brunello di Montalcino, however, owes its existence to Ferrucio Biondi-Santi and its fame to his family. Now on the seventh generation of winemakers, the Biondi-Santi family continues to produce wines renowned for their elegance and extraordinary longevity. Located in the heart of Montalcino, the Tenuta Greppo estate spreads over 25 hectares of vines on soils rich in heavy stones and marl – perfect for the cultivation of Sangiovese Grosso. Defenders of a rich enological heritage, the family continues to employ traditional vinicultural methods started well over a century ago to highlight the wine’s unique characteristics, or tipicita. Brunello di Montalcino was first created by Ferrucio Biondi Santi towards the end of the 1800s. Fortified by the viticultural experience of his maternal grandfather, Ferruccio Biondi Santi planted his new vineyards on the "Greppo" estate with the single clone which he had isolated (Sangiovese grosso), vinifying all of his grapes without blending, marking the beginning of a new type of Tuscan wine for that era. The "Greppo" extends in a series of hills around 500 mt. above sea level, facing southeast - east of Montalcino and benefits of a microclimate and ideal soil for the production of tasty and ageworthy red wine. The total surface of the vineyards destinated to Brunello today is about 19 hectares which produce grapes of high quality. The son of Ferruccio, Tancredi, skilled agricultural expert and renowned oenologist, established the foundations for the future appellation system in Italy. Tancredi was also resonsible for launching Brunello on both domestic and international markets, winning enormous commercial success within a few decades and gaining widespread recognition expert. A true "wine legend" had been born!
