2020 Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino 750 ml

When Wine Advocate writes that “Poggio di Sotto has few rivals in Montalcino,” it’s not hyperbole—it’s the consensus of three decades of exceptional winemaking. The 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is among the greatest wines this legendary estate has ever produced.

Poggio di Sotto’s story begins in 1989, when Piero Palmucci purchased a property overlooking the Orcia River valley, certified it for organic farming, and devoted every hectare exclusively to Sangiovese. No international varieties, no concessions to fashion—just a single-minded pursuit of what this land could do with one grape. In 2011, Claudio Tipa acquired the estate and has done nothing but build on that foundation, completing an exhaustive massal selection with the University of Florence that catalogued 182 distinct Sangiovese clones—securing the genetic heritage of these extraordinary vines for generations to come.

The guiding philosophy in the vineyard is refreshingly contrarian: pick early. Winemakers Leonardo Berti and Luca Marrone aim to be among the first to harvest in Montalcino each season, a discipline that keeps alcohol restrained and acidity vivid. The 20 hectares of vines—most more than 50 years old—grow in schistic galestro soils laced with veins of white quartz, among the oldest in all of Montalcino. That mineral signature is the unmistakable fingerprint of this estate, running through every vintage they’ve ever produced.

In the cellar, Poggio di Sotto is equally patient. Long macerations with gentle pump-overs build silky tannins. The wine then spends three full years in large Slavonian oak botte before release— 74 casks in total—an unhurried process that suits an estate that has always played the long game.

The 2020 vintage produced wines of exceptional elegance and transparency. Harvest started the last week of August and finished in early October, a conscious early call that preserved the freshness and lift that define Poggio di Sotto’s style. Decanter called this one slender and graceful, with symphonic balance. Wine Advocate praised its territorial precision and the powerful imprint of those ancient galestro soils—with a complexity, the review noted, that will only deepen with time.