Montalcino's Brunello is famed for many reasons, and one of the characteristics of the wine is its long ageing of almost 5 years before wineries are even allowed to release the bottles. For the Riserva version of the Brunello, it's one extra year - minimum - of ageing inside the winery before release.
But at winery Le Chiuse, that's not long enough. Lorenzo is the winemaker at his family farm and a few years ago he extended the lower part of the cellar so there would be room for further bottle ageing. And this year is when Le Chiuse finally released the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino Riserva - a good 10 years after harvest.
The reasoning behind this decision is that there needs to be a further distinction in the Riserva as a special wine, a wine that needs to age longer to show its best. And Le Chiuse does that best at the right conditions for the wines so that Brunello lovers can pick up the wine when it's ready to be enjoyed (or aged further in the new owner's cellar).
See our video with Lorenzo here:
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