Gianni Brunelli

Gianni Brunelli founded Osteria Le Logge in Siena in 1977. In 1987 he returned to Montalcino and bought back Le Chiuse di Sotto, his father Dino's old property; a small plot of vines Dino planted in 1947 is still conserved in his memory. Le Chiuse di Sotto is a single 5-hectare property northeast of Montalcino: 2 hectares of Sangiovese and 2.5 hectares of olive groves that supply the estate's extra virgin olive oil. In the mid-1990s Gianni and Laura Brunelli bought Podernovone, a 4.5-hectare property on the southeastern slopes of Montalcino in the Sant'Antimo area, planted with Sangiovese and some Merlot; the first 2.2 hectares of vineyard there were completed in May 1998 and the remaining 2.3 hectares planted that October. Podernovone is made up of four named vineyards: Olmo, Oliva, Quercia and Gelso.

• Gianni Brunelli founded Osteria Le Logge in Siena in 1977, before returning to Montalcino
• Le Chiuse di Sotto was bought back in 1987; it had belonged to Gianni's father Dino, whose 1947 vine plantings are still conserved
• Le Chiuse di Sotto: 5 hectares in total, 2 hectares of Sangiovese and 2.5 hectares of olive groves
• Podernovone, bought in the mid-1990s, added 4.5 hectares of Sangiovese and Merlot in four named plots: Olmo, Oliva, Quercia and Gelso

Gianni Brunelli died in 2008. Laura Brunelli, his wife, manages all technical and administrative aspects of the winery with her team of family and staff. Born in Sardinia, Laura studied biology and met Gianni in Piazza del Campo; the two stayed together for the next thirty years, and Osteria Le Logge grew out of their shared love of wine and food. Sour Grapes Wine, a US importer, first met Laura at her Montalcino home in 2013 and, after years of working together behind the scenes, brought her wines into its family of producers in 2023. In May 2025 the estate was among those featured at Vinous Icons: Italy, a tasting event held in New York City.

• Laura Brunelli has run the estate's technical and administrative side since 2008, with her team of family and staff
• Laura, born in Sardinia, met Gianni in Piazza del Campo; they stayed together for thirty years
• Osteria Le Logge grew out of Gianni and Laura Brunelli's shared love of wine and food
• US importer Sour Grapes Wine since 2023; featured at Vinous Icons: Italy in New York City, May 2025

The estate's 6.5 hectares of vines are divided into five plots across two sites with different exposures and soils. Le Chiuse di Sotto, northeast of Montalcino, sits at 250 meters with a north-west exposure; its soil is tuff with fair amounts of clay and slate, and rows run north-south for maximum cluster light. Vines there are trained in the traditional Montalcino spurred cordon at 4,500 vines per hectare, planted exclusively with Sangiovese. At Podernovone, in the Sant'Antimo area on the southeastern slopes, the four named plots vary in exposure, altitude and soil: Olmo (south exposure, 470-500 meters, galestro rock, slate, schist and crushed limestone, sand-rich and well-draining), Oliva (southwest exposure, 470-500 meters, galestro with some crushed limestone, schist and slate), Quercia (west exposure, about 480 meters, galestro and tuff with some schist and sand), and Gelso (northwest exposure, about 510 meters, galestro and sand with white clay). All viticulture is organic, with no herbicides or synthetic products; soil between and under the rows is worked by hand, and organic fertilizer goes to each vine individually, as each vine needs. The Brunello di Montalcino DOCG is a blend of a careful selection of the estate's four crus.

• Le Chiuse di Sotto: 250 meters, north-west exposure, tuff/clay/slate soil, 4,500 vines/hectare, 100% Sangiovese, spurred cordon training
• Podernovone's four named plots: Olmo, Oliva, Quercia and Gelso, ranging 470-510 meters, all on galestro-based soils with varying slate, schist, limestone and sand
• All estate viticulture is organic; no herbicides or synthetic products; hand soil management and individual vine fertilization
• Brunello di Montalcino DOCG is blended from a selection of the estate's four crus

All grapes come from the estate's own vineyards; they are hand-harvested with an on-site selection and a final visual inspection at the sorting table, and yields are kept very low. Each plot is vinified separately in stainless steel tanks. There is no fixed protocol, since each vintage sets its own needs; the constants are cleanliness and a stable fermentation temperature of 26-27 degrees Celsius. Extraction is prolonged but delicate. After malolactic fermentation, the wine from each plot ages separately in the estate's oak cask cellar in Slavonian oak vessels of 5 to 30 hectoliters; the slow, prolonged aging lets the wine clarify naturally, so only a very light filtration is needed before bottling. Sangiovese goes into the Brunello di Montalcino and the Rosso di Montalcino, which is made from the same grapes as the Brunello; the Merlot planted at Podernovone goes into Amor Costante, an IGT blend the estate describes as combining the softness of Merlot with the structure of Sangiovese.

• All fruit is estate-grown, hand-harvested and sorted on-site before a final visual inspection at the sorting table
• Vinification is plot by plot in stainless steel tanks, with fermentation held at 26-27 degrees Celsius
• Aging is in Slavonian oak casks of 5 to 30 hectoliters; only a very light filtration is used before bottling
• Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalcino are Sangiovese; Amor Costante IGT blends Sangiovese with the estate's Podernovone Merlot

In 2015, after considerable thought and work, Laura Brunelli completed and inaugurated a new winery at Podernovone, among the property's 4.5 hectares of vines on the southeastern slopes of Montalcino. The building is designed to be minimal and practical, with a low energy impact, and uses solar energy and gravity to keep its carbon footprint down. It is built of stone using the traditional Etruscan cocciopesto method, which lets the building breathe, and a corridor surrounding the structure provides thermal isolation, holding a stable temperature through all four seasons. The estate calls Podernovone fully sustainable, combining technology and tradition.

• New Podernovone winery inaugurated in 2015 by Laura Brunelli
• Designed for a low energy impact; uses solar energy and gravity
• Built of stone using the traditional Etruscan cocciopesto method
• A surrounding corridor provides thermal isolation, keeping a stable temperature year-round

At 6.5 hectares across two contrasting Montalcino sites, Gianni Brunelli is a Brunello estate with two recent 100-point scores: Wine Advocate's Monica Larner for the 2016 vintage and Kerin O'Keefe for the 2021 vintage, which she also ranked No. 5 on her Top 100 Wines of 2025. The Wine Society named the 2023 Rosso di Montalcino 'one of the titans' of its 2025 Wine Champions Italian tasting, calling it 'so pure, with such a sense of place' and praising its 'real elegance, fine tannins and youthful vibrancy.' Laura Brunelli has directed the estate since 2008; Sour Grapes Wine has imported it into the US since 2023, and it was among the featured estates at Vinous Icons: Italy in New York in May 2025.

• 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Le Chiuse di Sotto: 100 points, Wine Advocate (Monica Larner)
• 2021 Brunello di Montalcino: 100 points and No. 5 in Kerin O'Keefe's Top 100 Wines of 2025
• 2023 Rosso di Montalcino: 'one of the titans' of The Wine Society's 2025 Wine Champions Italian tasting
• Laura Brunelli has directed the estate since 2008; viticulture is organic, vinification plot by plot, aging in Slavonian oak

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.giannibrunelli.it/en/gianni-brunelli/, https://www.giannibrunelli.it/en/prodotti/brunello-di-montalcino-docg/, https://www.giannibrunelli.it/en/prodotti/rosso-di-montalcino-doc/, https://www.giannibrunelli.it/en/prodotti/amor-costante-igt/, https://www.giannibrunelli.it/en/vineyard/. Secondary sources: Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino (appellation body), https://www.consorziobrunellodimontalcino.it/en/1458/gianni-brunelli-le-chiuse-di-sotto; Osteria Le Logge (the Brunelli family's own restaurant site), http://osterialelogge.it/en/osteria-le-logge; Vinfolio editorial quoting Wine Advocate critic Monica Larner, https://www.vinfolio.com/editorial/2016-Brunello-what-the-critics-are-saying; Sour Grapes Wine (US importer), http://www.sourgrapeswine.com/brunelli-1; WineNews.it coverage of Kerin O'Keefe's Top 100 Wines of 2025, https://winenews.it/en/la-gerla-monteraponi-and-cavallotto-the-podium-of-the-top-100-of-italian-wines-by-kerin-okeefe_578961/; Vinous Icons: Italy 2025 event page, https://vinous.com/events/vinous-icons-italy-2025-new-york-city; The Wine Society product page, https://www.thewinesociety.com/product/rosso-di-montalcino-gianni-brunelli-2023-en.aspx; Skurnik Wines & Spirits producer profile, https://www.skurnik.com/producer/gianni-brunelli/; The Wine Independent, https://thewineindependent.com/articles/gianni-brunelli-le-chiuse-di-sotto-2010-2020/. Last verified 2026-10-12. Where sources conflict (total vineyard hectares; identity of the relative who assists Laura Brunelli), the producer's own site governs where it speaks, and unresolved conflicts between two non-producer sources are omitted from the article; see conflicts.json.