Le Chiuse

Hardly any other Tuscan winery is as closely related to the founding fathers of Brunello di Montalcino as the small business of Simonetta Valiani and her husband Nicolò Magnelli. Le Chiuse is located south of Montalcino between the villages of Montosoli and Canalicchi and belonged to the aristocratic Biondi-Santi family from the 18th century onwards, whose Sangiovese wine made history in 1888 as the very first Brunello di Montalcino.

Strictly speaking, Simonetta is the niece of Franco Biondi-Santi, the last representative of this Tuscan wine dynasty, who had a special knack for single-varietal Sangiovese wines. In his opinion, the vineyards of Le Chiuse were among the best situated in the whole of Montalcino, which is why he had leased Simonetta's vineyards for the production of his legendary and long-lived Brunello Riserva wines for many years.

Today, the Sangiovese Grosso vines still ripen at an altitude of 350 metres on these very north/northeast slopes of Montalcino, from which the Biondi-Santi Riserva was once produced. In the meantime, Simonetta presses her own refined Brunello di Montalcino and the no less impressive Riserva DIECIANNI from these seven hectares, while the vines for her magnificent, cherry-fruited Rosso di Montalcino ripen on the south-eastern side of the hill.

With such a noble pedigree, the stage is already set for excellent wine production, which is why we were even more impressed that Simonetta, at the age of only 26, wanted to raise her bar even higher and initiated an important turnaround in the family business. With the conversion to organic viticulture techniques, rigorous yield reductions and targeted grape selection, the modest winemaker and her husband Nicolò have been producing phenomenal wines since 1992, to which the Montalcino region owes its excellent reputation.

"At the beginning it was difficult and very exhausting, especially with three children. But I was still so passionate about it," says the winemaker in conversation, who inherited her enthusiasm for wine from her grandfather Tancredi, Franco's father. Following his traditional idea, Simonetta vinifies without commercial yeasts and ages her Rosso di Montalcino for 12, the Brunello for 36 and the Riserva for a whole 48 months in large Slavonian oak barrels.

"Today, my son works with me at the winery, which means that I have managed to pass on to him the passion for my work," she adds with a smile. Simonetta is definitely a driving force in the top class of Montalcino, which she proves to us and the world's most renowned wine critics every year anew with her multi-layered Sangiovese wines. SUPERIORE.DE