Scores immediately below, BUT the REASON WHY this wionery is so important as further below past these scores

96 Wine Advocate
The Le Chiuse 2020 Brunello di Montalcino (made with organic fruit) is a wine that prizes transparency and tension with cassis, Rainier cherry and raspberry coulis. I really love the bold fruit intensity that shines in this wine. To the palate, it offers subtle sweetness contrasted by bright acidity and silky tannins. This is a solid Brunello choice from 2020. Production is 18,800 bottles. I enjoyed a mind-blowing visit to Le Chiuse with proprietor Lorenzo Magnelli and consultant Valentino Ciarla. The tastings (both vertical and horizontal) served to teach me how this estate operates across its various vineyard parcels. As a rule of thumb, fruit from the side of the vineyard that looks toward the sunset is used for the Rosso di Montalcino, and fruit facing sunrise is earmarked for the Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. We tasted many wines together, a few of which are a long way from release. I’ve written up my brief notes. We tasted the beautiful 2016 Brunello di Montalcino next to the austere 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Diecianni that will hit the market in 2026. Both wines show verve and energy from sandstone soils on the cooler, northern side of the appellation. I loved what Lorenzo said about these two wines: “Brunello is lightness, and the Riserva is darkness.” We tasted the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino next to the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva Diecianni. Both wines had fine, dusty tannins, and the Riserva remained a little closed, which seems to be an estate characteristic and bodes well for the wine’s longevity. After that, we tasted the beautifully evolved 2004 Brunello di Montalcino across from the 2004 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. The latter was closed much like the 2010 Riserva, but the village Brunello from 2004 is incredibly elegant and expressive at this moment. Looking to future releases, we previewed the 2022 Brunello di Montalcino, which has sweet fruit and lasting richness. Lorenzo says, “The 2021 vintage is on the hard side, but 2022 is soft.” We then tasted through different parcels of the 2021 Brunello di Montalcino, with one sample from sandstone soils that was more mineral and closed and another from clay soils that shows more richness and softness. We also tasted samples of future 2021 and 2022 Riservas.

96 JD (Fricke)

A medium red color, the 2020 Brunello Di Montalcino opens to notes of wild strawberries, fresh, sweet herbs, herbs de Provence, and fresh purple flowers. Medium-bodied (although it expands through the palate), it’s fruity up front, with ripe tannins, and has a complete feel with a savory richness that fleshes out the wine. Drink 2026-2046.

One of the first female winemakers in Montalcino, Patrizia Cencioni purchased her family estate in 1989. Today she is joined by her two daughters, Annalisa and Ariana, who handle the export market and the hospitality sector respectively. Offelio is an homage to Patrizia’s uncle, who took the role of her daughters’ Nonno (grandfather) and encouraged Patrizia in the early days of her winery to pave her own path forward. 123, the name of the cru on the other side of the road, is at the highest elevation, with slower maturation than the other sites. Over the past several years, the estate has moved away from small barriques and has been working to produce wines that remain rich but also have elegance and a sense of place.

95 Vinous
A beguiling bouquet of crushed roses, violets and a flourish of exotic spice leads to dried strawberries and wet stone as the 2020 Brunello di Montalcino blossoms in the glass. This opens on the palate with a pretty inner sweetness, displaying textures of pure silk and an unexpected richness that’s perfectly offset by tantalizing acidity. While nearly fleshy in feel, the balance within is otherworldly. The 2020 finishes with a staining of grippy tannins offset by a tinge of sour citrus, leaving the senses salivating for more. This possesses the exuberance of the vintage but also the harmony to mature beautifully over the medium term. I tasted the 2020 from two bottles while in Montalcino earlier this year that did not perform anywhere near as well as this bottle did. Lorenzo Magnelli of Le Chiuse explained that the winery had experimented with different corks on 1,000 bottles and noted that those bottles will not be released to the public. The bottle I tasted for this note was finished with the winery’s standard corks.

The land that is Le Chiuse has ancient origins, going back centuries as a source of wine, wheat and olive oil. The estate came into the possession of theBiondi Santi family at the end of the 18th century as a dowry of Maria Tamanti when she married Clemente Santi. Their daughter Caterina married Jacopo Biondi and their son Ferruccio, the great grandfather of Simonetta Valiani, respected his mothers wishes and added her surname Santi to the family name. Ferruccio Biondi Santi, after having fought alongside Garibaldi, continued the work of his grandfather Clemente by selecting and enhancing vines until he obtained a particular clone of Sangiovese Grosso that became the source of the original Brunello di Montalcino.

Ferruccios son Tancredi bequeathed Le Chiuse and two other properties to his daughter Fiorella, urging her never to sell the estate because it was there that the grapes for the famous Brunello Riserva originated. From then on Fiorella leased the farms to her brother Franco, owner of the renowned Il Greppo estate, who cultivated the vineyards and vinified the grapes until 1990. When Fiorella died in 1986, her daughter Simonetta Valiani, who inherited her grandfather Tancredis love for the land and passion for wine, began to produce her own Brunello from Le Chiuse. With great dedication, she worked with her husband Nicol Magnelli and son Lorenzo in restoring the estate buildings and chapel, constructing an underground cellar and planting new vineyards.

Terroir

The estate comprises 18 hectares of woods, vineyards and olive groves. Brunello vineyards lie on the north-northeastern slope of the Montalcino hill at about 330 meters a.s.l.; olive groves, woodland and a younger vineyard are located on the southeastern slope at about 500 meters a.s.l. There are five vineyards, all planted in Sangiovese Grosso, created by a massal selection from the estate of Il Greppo, with an average age of 15 years. The vineyards, covering a total of eight hectares, are trained mainly in spurred cordon with an average plant density of 4,500 vines per hectare. The soil is of oceanic origin, so rich in marine fossils with streaks of clay and a notable presence of marl and tufa. These conditions favor wines that exalt aromas and flavors, with ample body and fluent equilibrium of alcohol content.

Vinification
Gravity fed, destemmed grapes that are softly crushed, head into temperature controlled steel tanks. The grapes ferment with only native yeasts, and macerate for 18 days at a maximum temperature of 29C with pumpovers and periodical punch downs. In spring the wine is put into oak barrels containing 20/30 hl for 36 months