A Stand Out in an Outstanding Vintage: San Filippo's 2015 Brunellos

Have we mentioned we’re really excited about the 2015 Brunello vintage? Brunello is at the heart and soul of our Italian program, and over the 24 years he’s been at K&L, Italian Buyer Greg St. Clair has stocked our shelves with a really comprehensive selection. With the 2015 vintage, there are so many wines to fall in love with—in fact, as Ian D’Agata of Vinous has said, “It will take noteworthy skill to buy a bad 2015 Brunello.” But there are few that really shine from this standout vintage, and one such is the single-vineyard “Le Lucére” bottling from San Filippo, which earned a perfect 100 points from James Suckling and was a contender for his wine of the year. (His praise: “Decadent aromas of ripe fruit, such as plums and peaches with black truffles and porcini mushrooms. Full body, with layers of ripe fruit and round and chewy tannins. Lots of chocolate and fresh mushroom at the finish. A thoroughly terroir-driven red. Try after 2022.”)

The man behind the estate is Roberto Giannelli, formerly in real estate in Florence, who really turned around the ship when he bought the estate in 2003. It lies just 2 km south of the town of Montalcino in a zone full of famed vineyards (including Biondi Santi and La Serena). Le Lucére is the winery’s most prized site, comprising 2 hectares of organically farmed vines at 300 m (about 1000 ft) altitude. Lucére is known for creating broader shouldered, structured Brunellos, and 2015’s rendition is certainly powerful.

So, what makes a perfect vintage? A perfect Brunello? I thought it best to ask the man himself, and Roberto Giannelli generously replied with his ideas about wines and weather.

OTT: What makes for a perfect vintage in Montalcino? What happened in 2015?
RG: The perfect vintage is when the weather allows you to harvest at the right moment, when the fruits are perfectly ripe in sugar, color, and tannins. This was the case in 2015, we had a dry end of season so we harvested very healthy grapes. Big excursions between night and day helped the phenolic maturation and the accumulation of flavors molecules in the grapes. All these variables gave awesome complexity and structure to our Brunellos in 2015.

OTT: Do you think we’ll have ever more “perfect” vintages because of the changing climate?
RG: Probably, yes. We can say that rising temperatures have helped to have better vintages over the last 15-20 years, but at the same time we also did big improvements on viticulture management, especially here in Montalcino. So I think it is a mix of more knowledge with what we do for our vineyards and the climate change itself. We don’t know what will happen in the future, but I’m more concerned about the extreme weather events like spring frost and hailstorms that probably will happen more often. 

OTT: Can you tell us a bit about Le Lucére vineyard? What makes it special?
RG: Le Lucére vineyard is east-oriented, so the sun hits the vines early in the morning and immediately dries up the dew. This is perfect to remove humidity around the grapes especially during the ripening season. The process is also helped by the wind, which is always present in this area. Then, in the afternoon, when temperatures are higher the sun is less direct, preventing grapes from getting sunburns. The vines are 25 years old. The soil is composed of a good combination between clay and silt, and it is also rich in galestro stones. This type of soil is different and unique compared to San Filippo’s other vineyards. The vines are perfectly balanced, they never grow too much in terms of canopy, and they produce few grapes which are very concentrated in color, flavors, and with the perfect phenolic maturation.

In 2003, when I bought the estate I decided to produce a single vineyard Brunello from Le Lucére vineyard, and every year we are still surprised by the complexity and richness of this wine. 

OTT: When you bought the estate, what did you do to change it?
RG: I invested a lot in the vineyards for us to be more efficient and to do the right vineyard work at the right moment. I have also replanted parts of the old vineyards, and I improved the winery, buying better fermentation tanks and using premium casks for our wines.

OTT: Can you describe your specific style of wine & winemaking?
RG: We don’t use a recipe for our wines, every vintage is different so we work differently depending on the fruits we harvest. Everything starts from the vineyard, so then in the cellar you will just have to do the best to preserve and exalt the qualities of the wine. 

OTT: How did you get interested in making wine?RG: The wine world has been always a great passion since I was a teenager and I was lucky, in those years, to meet some great winemakers, including Paolo De Marchi (Isole e Olena), who really did convey his love for this work.

OTT: What do you think makes a perfect Brunello?
RG: In my opinion, a great Brunello is a wine that reflects its vineyard terroir. It has to be complex and rich on the nose, well balanced in the mouth with a good acidity and remarkable persistency. The great tannin structure will guarantee the quality during aging.

OTT: What do you do when you are not making wine?
RG: My other great passions are my kids and classical music.

For readers looking to start their journey delving into 2015 Brunellos, Giannelli’s wines are an excellent place to start. But you really can’t go wrong. As Ian D’Agata said; “I simply do not recall ever tasting as many outstanding young Brunellos as I did this year.” Happy drinking!

- Kate Soto