10,000 View Review: Biondi Santi 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Greppo Annata Trophy Wine Review

Thanks again to all my subscribers and viewers. I hit 10,000 views, which a milestone for me. I held a poll on this channel and although the results were close, viewers decided they wanted me to open and review the Biondi Santi 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Greppo Annata.

Biondi Santi was established in 1865 by a local farmer, Clemente Santi who isolated certain plantings of Sangiovese vines with the aim of produce high quality wines that could be aged (instead of sweet, ready to drink wines that were prevalent at that time. Clemente is credited with originating Brunello di Montalcino. In 1888, Clement's grandson, Ferruccio Biondi released the version of what we consider modern Brunello with wines that were aged in wood barrels for over a decade.

Through experimentation, Biondi Santi found a close of the Sangiovese grape that was best suited to this specific vineyard. Named the Sangiovese Grosso BBS-11 clone, this clone is exclusively used by Biondi Santi. The other thing that distinguished Biondi Santi is its location on top of Montalcino, where the soil is poor in nutrients but rich in mineral (giving the minerality to the wine). Much of modern Brunello is grown at lower elevations, where the soil is mostly clay, which imparts a different taste profile.

Biondi Santi has about 26 hectares. The produce 3 wines with the same grapes/vineyards but are distinguished by the age of the vines. Their Rosso di Montalcino is made from 4-10 year old vines, the Annata is made from 10-25 year old vines and their Riserva is made from vines older than 25 years and only in exceptional vintates. The oldest plot of the vineyard has vines from 1936.

The current winemaker is Jacopo Biondi-Santi (6th generation) and the 7th generation will be led by Tancredi Biondi-Santi.

This wine, the 2010 Annata, is produced from 100% Sangiovese (BBS-11 clone) grapes and is aged 36 months in Slavonian oak and then a further 12 months in bottle before release. The winery produces around 5,400 cases of this wine each year and each bottle is numbered.

For more information about this winery, please visit their website at