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Tenuta Il Greppo – Biondi Santi
The wine that started Brunello. Biondi-Santi have declared a Riserva only about forty times since 1888, always from the oldest vines at Il Greppo. Firm, fresh, and built to last decades rather than years.
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Vivino's 4,222 raters give it 4.6 out of 5, and their commonest note is not fruit. It is earth, leather and mushroom, logged 273 times across 800 reviews. The cherry turns up after that.
Dried rose and violet come first, then a smell like a wood floor in autumn. Vivino's drinkers agree: earth, leather and mushroom is their commonest note, logged 273 times across 800 reviews. Monica Larner picked out dried rose petal or blue violet in the 2010 that she did not find in most other Brunello that year.
Orange peel
Rose petal
Violet
Cherry
Tobacco
Forest Floor
Leather
LiquoriceSour cherry and orange peel, with tobacco and liquorice behind them. Acidity is the point here. Biondi-Santi pick early to keep it, and that makes the wine taste taut rather than heavy. The tannins are fine and chalky, not chewy. Even in a hot year like 2015, at 14.5 per cent, it stays medium in weight.
Long, dry and savoury, with a salty, iron edge that keeps pulling you back. Three years in big old Slavonian casks give it grip without any oak flavour.
A famous name that drinks like a quiet one. About 10,000 bottles are made in the years the family declares a Riserva, and Vivino's 4,222 raters put it at 4.6 out of 5.
An older year on sale here is not a leftover. Biondi-Santi release each Riserva only when the family judges it ready, and they held the 2012 back an extra year before selling it in 2020.
This is a keeping wine before it is anything else. Critics give the 2018 until 2053 and the 2016 until 2060, and the cheapest year on this page still runs to hundreds of pounds.
Built to keep. A Riserva cannot be sold until it has aged five years, and this one spends three of them in big oak casks. Critics give the 2016 until 2060.
About as special as Italian wine gets. It is the wine that started Brunello, and every bottle carries its own number on the neck label. The 1955 was named the only Italian wine among the best of the twentieth century.
High acidity and fine tannins make it a proper food red. Vivino suggests beef, lamb, poultry and game with it, and Italian merchants list the same short list plus aged cheese.
You can drink a very good Brunello Riserva from another Montalcino estate for a fraction of this. The premium buys the name that invented the wine and the few thousand bottles made in each declared year.
A hard first Brunello. It is dry, firm and savoury rather than fruity, it wants years or a long decant, and the price leaves no room to experiment.
Nothing here is everyday. One bottle costs more than a case of good Tuscan red, and it asks for a long wait and a proper meal before it repays you.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
A compact view of what the Brunello di Montalcino denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
A Riserva is made only in years the family rates, and the 2016 was the 42nd since 1888. Montalcino's growers gave 2010, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2019 their top five stars, and gave 2013 and 2018 four.
A cold, wet spring, then a hot dry June and July, with late August rain setting up a harvest that began on 14 September. Montalcino's growers gave 2019 five stars. Wine Spectator scored it 98 and says drink from 2030.
A cool, wet year with a bad name that Biondi-Santi say it does not deserve. The estate picked from 16 September over eight days, choosing bunch by bunch, and made only 8,000 to 9,000 bottles. Kerin O'Keefe scored it 98 and says drink from 2030.
Montalcino's growers gave 2016 five stars. A cooler than usual summer and wide day to night swings stretched ripening out, and picking began on 19 September, a week later than the estate's normal. It was the 42nd Riserva since 1888.
A hot, dry year that the estate calls majestic. A northerly wind in early September cooled the vines before a harvest that began 10 days late, on 21 September. Wine Enthusiast scored it 97 and says drink it from 2025.
A cold, wet spring, then a hot dry June and July, with late August rain setting up a harvest that began on 14 September. Montalcino's growers gave 2019 five stars. Wine Spectator scored it 98 and says drink from 2030.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Ferruccio Biondi Santi made the first Brunello di Montalcino Riserva at Il Greppo in 1888, and bottles from that year still lie in the cellar. Each new Riserva waits there in a dark room called La Storica, wearing only a drop of beeswax over the cork. It is labelled and numbered on the day it is sold.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Brunello di Montalcino is in the DOCG tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Brunello di Montalcino falls within Tuscany, covering Comune di Montalcino, Toscana.
Wine route
Half a day to a full day · 4 stops
Open the driveMade at Tenuta Il Greppo – Biondi Santi, Montalcino.
Wine route in the zone: Brunello and Rosso loop.
The estate makes a Riserva only in years it rates, and about 10,000 bottles come of it. In 2018 that fell to between 8,000 and 9,000. The 2010 gave 13,600.
Biondi-Santi farm 33 hectares of vines, about 45 football pitches, over five plots. Only vines older than 25 years go into the Riserva. The oldest plot at Il Greppo was planted in 1936.
The rules ask for two years in wood. This Riserva gets three in big Slavonian casks, then waits until the family says it is ready. The 2012 was held back an extra year and sold in 2020.
Ferruccio Biondi Santi made the first Brunello Riserva here in 1888, and the 1955 was later named the only Italian wine among the best of the twentieth century. Collectors pay for that history.
Wine Enthusiast gave the 2012 a perfect 100. The 2016 took Gambero Rosso's top Tre Bicchieri award, and the 2018 and 2019 both sit at 97 or above. Scores like that move the asking price.
On the cheapest bottle here, at 545 pounds, about 91 pounds is VAT. Duty adds 3.10 pounds at the February 2026 rate for a 13.5 per cent wine. On a bottle this dear the tax barely registers.
Dishes that go with this wine
Vivino suggests beef, lamb, poultry and game with this bottle. Italian merchants list roast and grilled meat, stews, game and aged cheese. The acidity and the fine tannins do the work, so salt and fat suit it and chilli and sugar do not.
Fat and char soften the grip of the tannins, and the meat tastes cleaner for it. Brunello di Montalcino is a dry, firm red made from Sangiovese, and this one is fresher and lighter on its feet than most. Keep the cooking plain: salt, fire, olive oil.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · Ribeye steak · Rack of lamb · Lamb chops · More pairings →
Hard salty cheese coats the mouth, and the acidity here strips it away between bites. Brunello di Montalcino is a high-acid Tuscan red, and Biondi-Santi push that further by picking early. Aged Pecorino works far better than anything soft and creamy.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · Cheese board · Strong cheddar cheese
Tomato is sharp, and a soft round red tastes flat beside it. This wine carries more acidity than the sauce does, so the two meet as equals. Brunello di Montalcino is a dry Tuscan red with real bite, and a lamb or beef ragu is where that bite earns its keep.
Try with: Ragu alla bolognese · Agnello Ragu Lucano · Ossobuco alla Milanese · Beef stew · More pairings →
Game tastes of the woods, and so does this wine, so neither has to shout. Sangiovese keeps Brunello di Montalcino medium in body, not big and soupy, and that suits a lean bird better than a heavyweight red. Vivino names game as one of its four suggested matches here.
Try with: Venison Stew · Roast Duck · Duck breast · Steak and Kidney Pie · More pairings →
Mushrooms pull out the earthy side of the wine, and the wine makes them taste deeper. That earthy note is the single thing Vivino's drinkers mention most about this bottle, ahead of any fruit. Brunello di Montalcino is a savoury dry red, so a porcini risotto is a natural fit.
Try with: Porcini mushroom risotto · Truffle risotto · Risotto alla Milanese · More pairings →
Chilli makes firm tannins taste harder and drier, and the heat wipes out the wine's detail. Sugar does the other kind of damage: next to a pudding a dry red like Brunello di Montalcino turns sour and thin. Save the bottle for the savoury course.
Skip with: Lamb bhuna · Peking duck · Cheesecake · Pairing guide →
The estate holds each Riserva back until it thinks the wine is ready, so the older years on sale are drinking now. The young ones still want time. Critics put the 2018 at its best between 2030 and 2053.
Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Built to keep. A Riserva cannot be sold until it has aged five years, and this one spends three of them in big oak casks. Critics give the 2016 until 2060.
£344.13 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 13 Sep 2026, 01:44 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumIt is the wine that started Brunello di Montalcino. Ferruccio Biondi Santi made the first one in 1888 at Il Greppo, the family estate just outside the town of Montalcino. It is pure Sangiovese. The estate makes a Riserva only in years it rates highly, and the 2016 was only the 42nd since 1888.
It comes from older vines and only from better years. The estate's UK importer says vines over 25 years old go into the Riserva, vines of 10 to 25 years into the standard Brunello, and younger vines into the Rosso di Montalcino. The Riserva then spends three years in big Slavonian oak casks and longer again in bottle.
Because there is very little of it and a lot of people want it. About 10,000 bottles are made in a year the estate declares a Riserva, and only 8,000 to 9,000 were made in 2018. Add the fame of the first Brunello ever bottled and the price follows.
Later than you might think, unless you buy an older year. Biondi-Santi hold each Riserva back until the family judges it ready, so a 2012 or a 2013 on sale now is drinking. Critics put the 2018 at its best between 2030 and 2053, and give the 2016 until 2060.
Plain roast and grilled meat. Vivino suggests beef, lamb, poultry and game, and Italian merchants list the same things plus aged cheese. The wine is firm and fresh rather than sweet and heavy, so it likes salt and fat and dislikes chilli and sugar.
Yes. Each Riserva rests unlabelled in a dark cellar room at Il Greppo called La Storica, wearing only a drop of beeswax over the cork. It is dressed with the label of its own vintage when it is sold, and the neck tag carries that bottle's number.
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