Biondi Santi was the first, Costanti the third - IIRC both started in mid 1800s.
The current regime at Pietroso dates from the 70’s but the estate dates from the 14th century:
there are newbies in Brunello too, e.g., Le Ragnaie and Stella di Campalto.
And La Ragnaie is made in a traditional style. A terrific wine IMO.
This is when they started as they are now. I think both estates date back to 1300s.
La Torre is another traditional estate who has not been mentioned thus far in this thread. '07s are still on the market too.
Yes, in the second half of the century. According to the book by Kerin O’Keefe both were among the founders of the “Società enologica di Montalcino” in 1871.
She adds: “no one knows, however, what grapes were in these early Brunellos”.
Good point. Indeed in the same book an anecdote is reported which I found almost incredible: in 1954 the prime minister who was from Tuscany decided to offer Brunello at an official dinner. The caterer had never heard about this wine and went to the (at the time) best Enoteca in Rome (Trimani) to order the wine.
They also had never heard of it!
That’s interesting to me as they seem to be such a board darling. Is it that you don’t think the style is traditional, or that you just don’t like the wines? I find too much volatile acidity in them, so I’m not a fan, but I seem to be in the minority.
I don’t know how they are made, but I have found the end result very slick and international-styled. It just doesn’t speak of Brunello to me. I can’t say I’ve found VA in them, but I don’t doubt it - VA afflicts a lot of Brunellos. All that time in cask can’t make it easy to keep the VA away. I have put away a number of promising ones only to open them later and find them stale with VA, which is part of why I started limiting myself to a small handful of trusted producers.
There is no Brunello of Soldera in 2007.
Stella die Campalto is great. Also Salvioni and Biondi Santi - it depends how much you want to invest.
Thanks for all the great replies. I will probably order some 2004, 2007 and 2008 Costanti and/or Lisini based on your recommendations and CellarTracker notes. Those seem reasonably priced.
Jane, if you can find it, the 2006 Costanti, while in all likelihood shut down today, was an awesome wine on release.