They say, “Drink no wine before its time.” For most such sweeping directives, it’s impossible to trace the elusive “they.” Not so, though, for the champion of patience when it comes to wine. The modern-day patriarch of Brunello di Montalcino’s Biondi-Santi, pioneer of superior Sangiovese in the region, was adamant that vintages of the complex, structured red should be held until they were ready to release their beauty.

The 2012 Biondi-Santi Riserva is, in fact, the last vintage overseen by Franco Biondi Santi himself, who passed away in 2013, and the bottle is dedicated to the innovator—fifth generation in the historic winemaking family that can claim responsibility for both the name Brunello and the acclaimed Clone BBS11. The wine was slated to be released last fall (2019), but as CEO Giampiero Bertolini describes it, the tech team tasting around the table looked at each other and shook their heads—it wasn’t ready, and they didn’t want to take a shortcut.