Biondi Santi's new neighbor
By the time Brunello hit the world’s stage—let’s call it 1969 at a dinner at Buckingham Palace, when a 1955 Biondi Santi Brunello was met with shock and awe, Brunello's tradition of expert enologist consultants was well underway.
The man behind that ‘55 Biondi Santi was Giulio Gambelli, who’d quickly ascended from apprentice to enology star. Gambelli would go on to produce a long string of successes as a consulting enologist at estates such as Case Basse (Soldera) and Costanti, while helping define the standards for Brunello DOCG—Italy's first DOCG—along the way.
The model made sense—if you're making a wine from a prized terroir, the last thing you want to do is take a chance on an unknown winemaker. Thus, Brunello—and Tuscany—spawned more enology stars, like Carlo Ferini, Attilo Pagli and Paolo Vagaggini, and attracted elite Bordeaux consultants such as Michel Rolland and Stéphane Derenoncourt. Ultimately the frenzy of enology talent helped quickly elevate Brunello’s quality to what it is today, one of the hottest segments of US wine market rising in double digits many years since 2015.
And when you consider Brunello’s miniscule production—ranking on par with Etna—you can see why, for ambitious Brunello estates, the question becomes not whether but which enology expert to choose.
That's what led the Minari family to ponder who would be able to carry forth their vision for Scopone, their tiny estate just 5 minutes away from Biondi Santi.
It was also a priority for the Minari's to reflect Scopone's name— "scopa" are Tuscany's sorghum brooms prized for fine craftsmanship and refined edge. In such a fashion, Scopone's wine should be elegant to reflect its prestigious location and honor the local culture.
That brought them to Stéphane Derenoncourt, one of the most celebrated consultants in the world.
In Derenoncourt, the Minaris saw someone who was first a "terroirist"—a reputation he cemented by taking a Burgundy-like approach in Bordeaux with great success (Smith Haut Lafitte, Clos Fourtet, Domaine de Chevalier) before expanding to Italy and Napa.
All that comes across in the excellent 2019 Scopone Brunello, which retails for $60. Tart cherries, dried rose petals and orange peel with worn leather and savory herbs around a polished broad texture of fine grained tannins and brilliant acidity make this wine delicious out of the gate. The wine shows the richness of the southeastern Montalcino site with the purity of expression from precise vinification and large neutral oak.
In the sizzling hot Brunello market, the 2019 Scopone Brunello leaves nothing to chance.
