Le Chiuse Brunello di Montalcino Diecianna Riserva 2010

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

The Riserva “Diecianni”

… from the winery.

What is it and what differentiates it from Brunello di Montalcino? For years I’ve been trying to understand what it is about Riserva that justifies its fame and price.

At Le Chiuse, Riserva has been made since the time of my maternal great-great-grandfather Tancredi Biondi-Santi and his quest for a wine that would last over time, almost eternally.

My mother Simonetta, after she inherited Le Chiuse, worked with my father Nicolò to combine production of Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino with that of Riserva, starting in 1995. For the Riserva they used the smallest grape bunches from the oldest vineyard to obtain a wine of character that would endure over time.

I grew up in that environment. When I began presenting the wines of Le Chiuse around the world, a frequent comment about the Riserva was that it was being tasted too early, before it could express its best. I noticed people striving to give a specific identity to Brunello Riserva to distinguish it from Brunello “annata” instead of just price.

That inspired me to seek a way to convey the authentic identity of Brunello Riserva, though what may seem to be an obvious solutions—using grapes from a select vineyard or adapting a special winemaking style—would make no sense at Le Chiuse. That’s because our vines registered for Brunello are all in the same micro-area, constituting a sort of unique vineyard, while our philosophy of winemaking is viscerally linked to tradition, excluding innovations or a more modern approach.

The answer turned out to be the simplest and most natural: to give time to a wine that asks for time. That’s why, following experience, we decided to postpone the release of our Riserva from the sixth to the tenth year after the harvest, extending aging in bottle from one to almost five years. To do this, we enlarged the cellar to a depth of seven meters below ground level to create a perfect natural environment for aging.

This allows us to present a Riserva of greater balance and complexity without, however, altering our philosophy of wine or the expression of our terrain. The time lapse between the release of Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino is now repeated between Brunello “annata” and Brunello Riserva, giving rise to three distinct voices all in the same chorus.

History

The Le Chiuse holdings originate through hereditary title, passed down from ancestors, Jacobo Biondi and Clementina Santi. Wine production starting toward the end of the 19th century.

For most of its life, the fruit of the vineyard was destined, through lease, for Biondi-Santi’s Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. Upon the death of a family Fiorella in 1986, the Le Chiuse holding, right in the heart of Montalcino,  passed to her daughter Simonetta Valiani.  With her grandfather love for the lands and passion for making wine, Simonetta started to produce wine “Brunello Le Chiuse”. Together with her husband Nicolo’ Magnelli she restored the farm-buildings, the chapel, built a new underground-cellar and planted new vineyards. To maintain the wine typicality the new vineyards are implanted with wild feet all grafted one by one with the old vines stocks (60/70 years old).

The Vineyards

The estate consists of 18 hectares, including vineyards, olive groves and forest situated on the north-northeast side of the Montalcino hill at 300 meters above sea level and on the south-east slope at 500 meters above sea level.

There are five Sangiovese Grosso vineyards on the property with respective ages of 26, 16,14,10 and 2 years old.  Together, the vineyards occupy eight hectares and have an average vine density of 4,000 vines per hectare.  The spurred cordon trained vines are, for the most part, from a Massal selection of Sangiovese Grosso from Il Greppo.

The terrain is of marine origin and, therefore, rich in fossil material.  It is also composed of clay striations, as well as, a good presence of marl and tuff.  The result of this composition is the production of a wine characterized by an exaltation of aromas, good body and an alcohol level that is never excessive.

Each year Le Chiuse produces approximately 30,000 bottles of wine between its Rosso di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino, Brunello di Montalcino Riserva and a classic method spumante called “Stellare”.

As the new shouts establish they are heavily thinned to control the yield and keep the canopy open.

In August, the green harvest takes place in which a selection of bunches is made.  In the course of the green harvest, almost half of the entire production of the vineyards is purged – an average of 40-45 quintals per hectare are removed.  This operation is fundamental to obtaining high quality, allowing a better maturation of the remaining bunches and giving a good concentration to the final wine.  In addition, the low yields reduce the risk of attack from disease, guaranteeing healthy grapes.

The true harvest begins in the second half of September when the largest bunches are collected by hand for the Rosso di Montalcino and “Stellare”.  After a few weeks, it is time for the smallest bunches to be harvested for the Brunello di Montalcino, and in the best years, the Brunello di Montalcino Riserva.

The grapes are selected and picked by hand.  Taking advantage of the vicinity of the winery, the grapes make it from the vineyards to the de-stemmer and crusher in less than a half hour.  Using a gravitational system, the must falls into steel vats to begin fermentation.

The Winery

Once de-stemmed and crushed, the grapes are gravitationally fed into steel vats.  Fermentation using indigenous yeasts takes place in thermo-controlled tanks that do not exceed 29°C.  Throughout fermentation and maceration, the must undergoes remontage and delestage to obtain the best extraction from the skins.  After 18 days, the wine is separated and left to rest for approximately three months.  During this period, malolactic fermentation takes place.

In January, the wine is racked into large Slovenian oak barrels that hold 20-30 hl.  The wine will refine here for 12 months in the case of Rosso di Montalcino, 36 months in the case of Brunello di Montalcino and 48 months in the case of Brunello di Montalcino Riserva.  During aging the wine is racked regularly.

Before bottling, the wine goes back into steel tanks while DOC and DOCG certifications are requested.

After light filtering, the wine is bottled and then refines an additional eight months before release.

Vintage 2010

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