Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Teatro Riserva 2019

A Brunello that in 2019 is more sketch than finished wine: rich fruit, a profound sense of terroir and careful ageing are still tightly bound together, wrapped in a dark, almost smoky note, shoe polish and a subtle reduction. Anyone opening it today will need patience and large glasses.

At 0.7 hectares, Teatro is the smallest of Podere Salicutti's three vineyards, lying to the left of the cantina and facing south like an amphitheatre. At 520 metres it is the highest and has the estate's coolest microclimate, where ripening arrives latest. The soils are sandy and clay-rich, with a skeleton ranging from fine pebbles to large chunks of limestone and calcareous marl, underlain by marl rock some 60 to 80 million years old. It was planted in 1994, in soils that have never come into contact with conventional chemical treatments.

Pure Sangiovese, hand-selected, vinified by cellar master Gianni Fabbri. Francesco Leanza cleared the land in 1994 and planted the vines around the cantina; Sabine and Felix Eichbauer took over the estate in 2015 and have farmed biodynamically to Demeter standards since 2022.

The attack is powerful and taut, with immense depth and inner density; yet the power remains agile and elegant. The tannins are filigree, firm and silky, the ripe acidity carries from within and lends pace. The finish is orchestral, the structure cathedral-like.

Podere Salicutti is Montalcino's first certified organic winery. Of its 11 hectares, 4.5 are under vine, alongside an olive grove and woodland; donkeys, bees and chickens are also part of the estate. The winery belongs to the respekt-BIODYN association of 36 European winegrowers. In the cellar, a turquoise glass column by Massimiliano Fuksas pierces the vaulted ceiling.