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Solomon Vintners brings new Biondi Santi family wines to Hong Kong
Fine wine merchant Solomon Vintners is bringing Tuscan winemaking family Biondi Santi’s latest Castello di Montepò project to Hong Kong.
Biondi Santi’s history dates back to the 1800s when Clemente Santi planted his first vineyard in Montalcino with vines obtained from a selected Sangiovese clone, called Sangiovese Grosso, eventually becoming the first to name the wine Brunello di Montalcino.
More than two centuries later, and now an international success, family members Jacopo Biondi Santi and his son, Tancredi, have set their sights on the nearby Maremma for their latest project.
It is here in Maremma, at the family’s Castello di Montepò estate, that Jacopo has found the perfect home for his Sangiovese Grosso BBS 11, a clone identified and trademarked by the family. The clone forms a key component of the wines produced at the family’s former Brunello di Montalcino estate.
In their new home at the Montepò estate Jacopo has pioneered the first microzonal study in Tuscany, using 55 of the more than 600 hectares owned by the family.
The study has enabled him to identify three specific sites – Maceone, Poggio Ferro, and Fontecanese – to plant the BBS 11 clone, and vinify unique single vineyard expressions.
Jacopo Biondi Santi had long believed the forested terroir and coastal climate of Maremma would be ideally suited to the clone, purchasing the Montepò estate in the 1980s with the vision to expand into the region.
Tancredi Biondi Santi, a member of the family’s 7th generation, said of the project: “The development of this family vision and project at Castello di Montepò only began in recent years and is a unique endeavour in Tuscany that aims to reflect the importance of the land in winemaking as well as the incredible role it plays in producing a fine wine that speaks of the place it comes from.”
The wines are due to arrive in Hong Kong through the winery’s exclusive partnership with Solomon Vintners. Rosanna Au, director of Solomon Vintners, called the Biondi Santi family “one of Italy’s most iconic winemaking families”.
She noted that its latest project “represents an exciting new chapter for Tuscany as they bring their many years of expertise and experience into the emerging region of Maremma, and will no doubt become a benchmark for their wines too”.
Just 3,000 bottles of each wine will be produced annually, and the addition of Castello di Montepò will diversify Solomon Vintners’ fine wine portfolio.
“Since the very beginning, Biondi Santi has been among Brunello di Montalcino’s most revered wines – their pioneering efforts in the region having helped set the bar very high for the DOCG. The family’s new beginnings resonate with us as a company where we will soon be approaching our third anniversary here in Hong Kong,” Au commented.
Tancredi said his family was “thrilled that our wines will be represented by Solomon Vintners and their professional team, joining some of the most prestigious and exclusive producers in the world” and is excited to be introduced to “Hong Kong’s sophisticated market”.
Indeed, Au noted that Italian fine wines have “long held influence over collectors in this region”, particularly for their “diverse styles, long cellaring potential, and indigenous varieties”.
“This, coupled with the thriving culinary scene in town, where acclaimed restaurants have built sophisticated Italian wine lists, is continuing to cultivate a growing base of Italian wine-lovers,” she said.
“Jacopo Biondi Santi’s astute approach to studying and delineating Tuscany’s great terroir, the first of its kind in the region, once again puts them on the map as a pioneer for quality. With the notion of terroir being of increasing importance to consumers in the city today, Castello di Montepo balances traditional know-how with modern innovation to give consumers a more in-depth appreciation into the nuances of Sangiovese Grosso, and especially the family’s unique BBS 11 clone, in the Tuscan landscape.”
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