Wine Spectator
95 Points
Tense and elegant, this red evokes strawberry, cherry, floral, iron and rosemary aromas and flavors. Harmonious in its linear profile and smooth, yet with adequate tannins for a long life ahead. The fresh finish balances fruit and balsamic elements.
The Wine Advocate
98 Points
A stunning wine from all points of view. Seamless integration and elegant complexity are what stand out, and it's worth dedicating a few extra lines to the aromatic depth that is put so beautifully on display as the wine slowly unfolds. The bouquet starts off with wild cherry, earth, wet ash, crème de cassis and pruny chocolate. With extra time, there are hints of dried tobacco leaf, sandalwood and mossy forest floor. These lead to a fine tail of dried herb, bay leaf and a touch of rusty nail...
jamessuckling.com
95 Points
A fresh, linear 2013 with cherry, mushroom and cedar character. Lots of blue fruit as well. Medium to full-bodied with firm, polished tannins and a creamy finish.
Wine Enthusiast
97 Points
Aromas of forest berries, rose and camphor with whiffs of underbrush and new leather slowly take shape on this radiant red. Elegant to the point of being almost ethereal, it's still youthfully austere, featuring tangy cranberry, sour cherry, orange zest and star anise before a black tea finish. Tightly wound, refined tannins and bright acidity provide the framework.
Wine Spectator
92 Points
Pure, fresh, supple and infused with cherry, strawberry, floral and mineral aromas and flavors, this Rosso is ready to roll. Fine harmony and finesse add interest, finishing with mineral and tobacco elements.
Wine Enthusiast
94 Points
Intensely fragrant, this has enticing scents of rose, violet and woodland berries that gain complexity thanks to a whiff of camphor. It's savory and polished, offering juicy red cherry, pomegranate and star anise before a white pepper finish. Surprisingly tangy acidity for the hot vintage and smooth tannins keep it balanced.
Wine Enthusiast
94 Points
Aromas of licorice, tobacco and new leather mingle with ripe woodland berry and balsamic whiffs of camphor. The aromas follow over to the full-bodied, rather concentrated palate along with dried cherry and ground clove framed in firm tannins.
Wine Spectator
95 Points
A combination of plum and cherry fruit and juicy texture introduces this lithe, intense red, which tightens up as it builds to the finish, where a mineral element and fine-grained tannins reign. This lingers, leaving a mouthwatering impression.
JancisRobinson.com
19 Points
Just mid ruby with orange tinges. Cool yet intense and complex on the nose. Contained yet deep. Minerally notes of cherry and blood orange. Compact transparent and with embryonic austerity. Reluctant to show it all, but the balance is sheer perfection. Finely powdered tannins and an elegant, medium palate weight.
JancisRobinson.com
17.5 Points
Palish ruby. Balsamic brooding nose with hints of sour cherry, raspberry and damson. With aeration more and more complex and multi-layered. Embryonic and tight with powdery tannins and gorgeous supple acidity…Fantastic balance and a cool perfumed finish.
JancisRobinson.com
17.5 Points
Pale ruby. Lifted, complex nose of raspberry and rhubarb with minerally, iron notes and dark, wet earth. Pure and a little austere with fine persistent tannins. Transparent and a little vibrant on the finish
Decanter
91 Points
Lying on one of the highest parts of Montalcino's southeast hillsides, the signature character of Biondi-Santi is the extreme freshness of fruit and firm acidity, [and] the selection of younger vines [for the Rosso] enhances even more the fresh character of the wine. This wine is focused on red currants and pomegranate, with black pepper and earthy tones….A cherry flavor shines, and it displays super-refined tannins and lifted acidity.
Jeb Dunnuck
95 Points
This is the first vintage under the stewardship by of winemaker, Federico Radi. The 2017 Rosso di Montalcino is floral, fresh, and citrusy, with aromatics of Mirabel plum and poppy red fruit. It is springy and refreshing on the palate with ripe raspberry, tea leaf, and blood orange. The warmth of the vintage comes through with a lightly confected fruit quality that lingers on the palate. This is a fantastic Rosso, and a sign of great things to come. Drink 2021-2030.
Jeb Dunnuck
97 Points
The 2015 Brunello is highly complex, with pine resin, clove, blood orange, and rose-hip. It offers a grounding richness and warmth from the vintage while maintaining transparency and lift. Structured and with a long finish, this bottle showed no sign of demise over several days. Cellar 1-5 years and enjoy over the next 20 years.
The Wine Advocate
97+ Points
The Biondi-Santi 2015 Brunello di Montalcino exudes dark, velvety fruit and concentration while maintaining the signature elegance, suppleness and lithe personalty that distinguishes the iconic Il Greppo estate. I found this new release to be quite distinctive and exquisitely beautiful, setting it apart from many of the past vintages we are most familiar with. This 2015 edition is dark, exuberant and bold, but precise, focused and sharp as well. It will live for years in your cellar, but tasted now in its infancy, the wine shows blackberry, dried cherry, plum and dark cassis...
The Wine Advocate
94+ Points
Here's a wine that proudly opens a new chapter for Montalcino's celebrated Rosso. The Biondi-Santi 2017 Rosso di Montalcino opens to immediately recognized Sangiovese character, presented in a soft, delicate and nuanced manner. The wine pours from its distinctive yellow-labeled bottle to a beautifully mild garnet color with dark sepia accents. As it takes on oxygen in the glass, the wine reveals a slow progression of wild berry, rose, tar, spice and tilled earth. There are faint traces of caramel, candied orange and wild mountain herb....
Vinous
95 Points
The 2015 Brunello di Montalcino Annata is an understated beauty that takes some time to blossom in the glass. It’s a sweetly spiced and floral expression of the vintage, blending ripe cherries and strawberries with dusty earth, hints of sage and violets. A refreshing air of mint and lavender develops over time. It’s elegance personified on the palate, seamless and silky-smooth, with a classic and pure expression of red fruits and saline-minerals, as fine tannins slowly mount toward the close. Hints of licorice, white pepper and savory herbs linger through the lightly structured finale...
jamessuckling.com
97 Points
This is so transparent and beautiful with clarity. Cherry, plum, strawberry, and berry character with some stone and orange. It’s full-bodied and very linear and round with balance and refinement. The tannins are fine and very powdery in texture. Excellent depth. Ripe, yet so energetic. Fresh, vivid and round. Drink or hold.
Vinous
93 Points
The 2016 Rosso di Montalcino hails from lower-elevation vineyards, around 250 meters, in the northern section of Montalcino. It’s a classic, layered and dramatic wine, showing bright cherry, sweet herbs, cooling mint, dried fall leaves, tobacco and savory spice, with a presence and depth that feels more like Brunello than Rosso in character. There’s sweetness and purity to the fruit here that keeps me coming back to the glass, yet I’m sure that the 2016 will benefit from a few years of cellaring, especially as its fine tannins build toward the close. The Rosso spends twelve months maturing
Vinous
92 Points
There’s a purity and savory refinement to the 2017 Rosso di Montalcino Tenuta Greppo that transcends the expectations of this warm and dry vintage. A perfumed display of wild strawberries, fresh roses, violets and a dusting of minerals lift up from the glass. Its textures are silky, carried across a feminine frame, with bright cherries and inner herbal tones that find vibrancy through a core of brilliant acidity. Nuanced tannins and dried berries linger, leaving a lightly structured yet very pretty impression....