CRITIC REVIEWS
Walter Speller
Dedicato à Franco Biondi Santi states the label – his last vintage before Franco Biondi Santi passed away April 2013. Bottle number 003267. Mid ruby with orange tinges. Brooding, deep cherry nose. Beautiful, elegant palate weight. Succulent, cherry fruit that becomes vibrant on the finish. Very long and still a little tight on the finish. Precise and balanced to perfection but still pretty much closed, with the rich layer of tannins taking the lead for now. (WS)
Aldo Fiordelli
The 2012 Riserva is the last vintage produced by Franco Biondi Santi, and so this release is dedicated to him. Of the 39 Riservas the estate has produced since the first one in 1888, Franco oversaw 24 of them. 2012 is considered a warm vintage, more dry than hot and with an advanced harvest on 10 September: quite early for a Sangiovese from higher vineyards in Montalcino. The age of the vines has helped to give the wine outstanding complexity. It shows the typical freshness of Biondi Santi with red currant, pomegranate and orris root aromas, becoming more austere on the palate with rhubarb radice flavour, firm acidity and firm yet ripe tannins. The extraction is great and the tight-knit integration between fruit and structural elements gives it the depth to age for decades.