Gianni Brunelli le Chiuse di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 3-Vintage Collection

Earning Our Keep in Verona

No one puts on a wine party quite like the Italians. Our three days at VinItaly were filled with animated tastings and conversations, culminating each night with a steady diet of minestra, gnocchi, ravioli, and roasted bird. Not to say, however, that we weren’t earning our keep on the back streets of Verona.

While most of the importers and collectors who attend VinItaly are focused on the latest releases, we always devote 20-30 percent of our time prying open the cellar doors of some of Italy’s most revered estates, looking to procure perfectly aged back vintages that are otherwise ticketed exclusively for the top restaurants in N.Y.C., the Bay Area, Milan, and Tokyo.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be treating you to a small but steady diet of great vintagediscoveries from Barolo, Barbaresco, and Brunello di Montalcino. This morning, we’re starting things off with a BANG with this three-vintage collection of the astounding 2004, 2006, and 2009 Brunello di Montalcino from superstar estate Gianni Brunelli.

In 1987, Gianni Brunelli purchased Le Chiuse di Sotto, an estate that had belonged to his father Dino, with barely 5 acres of vineyards planted at 200 meters above sea level in the cooler northern hills above Montalcino.

A few years later, Brunelli acquired Podernovone, a 10-acre parcel which, at 350 meters in elevation, commanded a magnificent view of Monte Amiata. While the wines of Le Chiuse di Sotto are always some of the most minerally fragrant and Burgundian of the appellation, the Brunellos drawn off the calcareous marl of Podernovone are darker and more powerful.

Since the early 2000s, after fielding steady requests from the likes of Marea, Jean-Georges, Del Posto, and Otto in N.Y.C., and Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry in Yountville, the winery began holding back small caches of their tiny Riserva production, doling out back-vintage allocations a few cases at a time.

While one rarely finds these Riservas on retail shelves — and if so, the provenance of the wines is often suspect — if you’re in the city and choose to stop at 240 Central Park South, or you’re in the Bay Area and are fortunate enough to secure a table at The French Laundry, bring your AMEX Black Card and order a bottle of these exquisite Riservas.

Alternatively, do what just a few WineAccess members will be doing this morning, and pick up a three-vintage collection Gianni Brunelli di Montalcino Riserva for $70 LESS than a single bottle in Yountville! It’s your call.

Matching 94-point scores from Antonio Galloni on the 2004, 2006, and 2009 vintages. We’ve been offered 7 cases of each wine, which will be offered ONLY in 3-packs. $120/bottle on release. $250/3-pack this morning. A total of 252 bottles are up for grabs, all drawn DIRECTLY from the Brunelli family’s frigid cellars in Montalcino.