Tiezzi

Tiezzi is a small, deeply traditional Montalcino producer run by Enzo Tiezzi (born 1939), his wife Maria Vittoria, their daughter Monica and the third-generation Rachele. Enzo grew up in Montalcino, trained as an agronomist-oenologist, and from 1973 spent around fifteen years as chief winemaker for the Cinzano group, overseeing both Col d'Orcia and Argiano. He served as president of the Consorzio del Brunello from 1983 to 1988 - the tenure during which Brunello was elevated to DOCG and Rosso di Montalcino DOC was created. His first Brunello was the 1985 vintage from Cerrino; Tiezzi Vini runs today from the family cellar in the town.

The estate is around 10 hectares across four parcels in two zones. Poggio Cerrino and Cigaleta sit three kilometres north-east of Montalcino at 350 metres on north-east-facing ground, vines planted from the late 1970s and mid-1990s. Soccorso and San Carlo are just outside Montalcino's 14th-century walls, at 530 metres on south-west-facing terraces; the parcel was abandoned when Enzo acquired it in 1999 and replanted in traditional bush-training. Land use: Brunello 3.9 hectares, Rosso 1, Sant'Antimo 0.64, plus olives, forest and a replanting of Moscadello.

Farming is traditional and low-input - copper and sulphur only - without organic certification. In the cellar: parcel-by-parcel fermentations in large upright wooden vats without temperature control, long macerations, native yeasts; Brunello aged in 10-40 hectolitre Slavonian oak botti. The range is classicist: Brunello di Montalcino (estate blend plus single-vineyard Poggio Cerrino and Vigna Soccorso), Brunello Riserva from Soccorso, Rosso di Montalcino, Sant'Antimo. Under-the-radar rather than fashionable, but squarely in the classicist lineage of Montalcino traditionalists.