Salvioni brunello di montalcino 1985 2011 (may 2016) vinous

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Salvioni: Brunello di Montalcino 1985-2011 Several years in the making, this truly once in a lifetime vertical traced the arc of Giulio Salvioni’s Brunello di Montalcino back to the inaugural 1985 vintage. From the outset, Salvioni’s Brunellos attracted a great deal of acclaim, and with good reason. The early vintages remain monuments to the potential of Sangiovese in Montalcino, while many of the more recent vintages are contemporary masterpieces. For the occasion, the Salvioni family gathered a few of their longtime conတdants including winemaker Attilio Pagli, who was a recent graduate of Siena’s Agrarian Institute working under the guidance of celebrated master taster Giulio Gambelli when he started consulting to the Salvioni family. “Towards the end of 1984, the Salvionis brought me a sample of their homemade wine and asked me to do some basic lab analysis. I tasted the wine and I thought it was fantastic!” says Pagli. “Remember, 1984 was a horrible year in Tuscany. That is when I understood the potential of this land. From there, I said ‘Why don’t we make a Brunello here?’” Pagli collaborated with Gambelli from 1982 through 1995. “The တrst Brunellos I worked on were Gianfranco Soldera’s 1983s. That time spent with Gambelli was a great gift.” A few members of the local press were also in attendance, including Andrea Gabbrielli, who is credited as the တrst Italian critic to recognize the quality of Salvioni Brunello after he gave the 1985 the coveted Tre Bicchieri award at Gambero Rosso. I sat in the corner and tried to soak in as much as possible (information, not wine!) All of the bottles were sourced from the Salvionis’ personal cellar. The Salvioni family and their wines embody the essence of what makes artisan Brunello so special. Totally hand made, from the vineyard to the cellar and into the bottle, these wines have much more in common with the great reds of Piedmont and Burgundy than they do with the vast majority of what comes out of Montalcino these days. Up until a few years ago, labeling was still done by hand because the cellar was not equipped with power outlets that could handle modern equipment. Production is miniscule, which means bottles disappear from the market as quickly as they arrive.


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