2009 was the culmination of 30 years of experience.
Carlo Ferrini, one of Italy’s most influential wine consultants whom three different publications named Winemaker of the Year, across three different publications, released the maiden vintage of his new, personal and incredibly small production Brunello di Montalcino – Giodo.
It took one more year for critics to realise what he was doing. James Suckling immediately awarded the 2010 a perfect 100 points and 98pts from RobertParker.com – not just some of the greatest plaudits in Brunello, but almost unheard of for any wine’s second vintage.
It takes years, or usually decades of fine tuning to get to this level. But this is Carlo Ferrini.
A quote from The Buyer sums up this remarkable ability: ‘With Sangiovese for blood, it was only natural that when Carlo decided to realise the dream of having his own estate to make ‘the perfect wine’ he would pick Montalcino.’ Critics throughout Italy dubbed him ‘Mr Merlot’ for his work, principally for the remarkable way his wove the grape into Sangiovese, but with Giodo’s meteoric rise, Jancis Robinson bestowed the title ‘Sr Elegenza’ upon him instead.
‘We have three goals: elegance, elegance, elegance’ explains his daughter, Bianca, who is now an integral part of the team. This, they have undoubtedly achieved – like most pioneers in traditional wine making regions (Gaja, in Barbaresco, springs to mind), Giodo has found a way to seamlessly mesh the modern with the traditional.
The wine
Their wine is unmistakably Brunello. The apogee of Sangiovese, with its intense cherry and blackcurrant, enmeshed with Tuscan herbs and flowers, but it also sleek, polished and incredibly precise. Whilst traditional Brunello benefits from and in many cases requires age, Giodo makes no such demands on your time.
You can enjoy its beautiful, intense, bright fruit the day it arrives, as it can in with two decades of cellaring.
In spite of its relative youth, just 12 vintages, the project is constantly evolving.
2020 saw the installation of a brand new, state of the art winery – fed entirely by gravity, it includes a panoply of fermentation vessels, from steel, to concrete, wood of all sizes and some beautiful amphora. The latter, used for their porosity – allowing the wine to gently breathe, as it would in barrels, without imparting any oak influence.
Whilst it took a year for critics to realise the objective quality of this project after the maiden release, this time, they were swifter off the mark – the 2020 was awarded ‘best wine in Italy’. Not Brunello, or even Tuscany; the entire country.
With the release of the 2021, one of Brunello’s greatest vintages to date, we have seen perhaps the most significant change. The Ferrini’s have cut production in half – from 16,000 to just 8,500 bottles. The entire estate comprises of just 6 hectares, all
positioned around their winery and from hereon, Giodo Brunello will be made from just 1 hectare of their best and oldest vines.
It is a striking move, which shows the determination of both Carlo and Bianca. Not content with having already created an icon over just 12 vintages, they are now positioning Giodo to compete amongst the very finest and rarest wine in the region.
We are absolutely certain they will succeed.
2021 Giodo Brunello di Montalcino – Tasting notes.
Somehow both weightless and intense. The fruit – cherry, blackcurrant and orange zest, zip across both nose and palate, accompanied by enticing aromas of the Tuscan hillside as you swirl the glass. Lavendar, rosemary and a touch of tea leaf, with a crushed rock salinity are already expressive in this young wine. The palate is medium bodied and ultra fine. There is obvious structure, but as with all the greatest wines, it plays it roles in the background, holding up and drawing out the intense, crunchy, vibrant fruit. Elegance, precision and pleasure, all in one glass.