I have reviewed one wine from Le Chiuse: the 2022 Le Chiuse Rosso di Montalcino (97 points). Le Chiuse also features in one journal article on this site.
Le Chiuse is a Montalcino property with royalty in its blood. Its vineyards were once part of the original Biondi-Santi holdings, the family credited with creating Brunello, and Ferruccio Biondi-Santi used them for his Brunellos, including the Riservas of the legendary Greppo estate. In the 1990s Simonetta Valiani, Ferruccio’s great-granddaughter, reclaimed the land to start her own label, and today her son Lorenzo Magnelli runs the estate.
Le Chiuse makes some of the most classical and sought-after Brunello of the modern era. The wines are fermented in concrete and aged in large Slavonian oak, and they are vibrant, vertical and intensely aromatic. In 2021, in the high north of the appellation, it produced a wine of piercing acidity with blood orange and crushed stone.
The Rosso di Montalcino comes from the same vineyards, with the same care and large-cask ageing. The 2022 offers red cherry, wild strawberry and cranberry with purple flowers and tobacco spice, a medium body, smooth tannins, bright acidity and a clean, mineral finish.
If 2019 was operatic and 2020 was sunny, 2021 is the year of transparency. This is a vintage that vibrates with energy, defined by significant diurnal shifts that locked in soaring aromatics and “al dente” fruit profiles. Moving away from sheer muscle, the 2021 Brunellos are architectural and nervy, showcasing a savory, saline grip that speaks clearly of the Montalcino soil. For the collector who values elegance and tension over weight, this is a sophisticated, “intellectual” vintage that promises a fascinating evolution in the cellar.
