Enzo Tiezzi Brunello di Montalcino, Poggio Cerrino | 2019

Approaching 90, Enzo Tiezzi is the quiet godfather of Montalcino. Among his many accomplishments, his graduate thesis in the 1970s helped write the roadmap for the appellation’s future, making the case for Brunello’s promotion to DOCG and the creation of Rosso di Montalcino DOC. Farmer, winemaker, director, doctor—Tiezzi mastered more than a few titles before finally purchasing his own vines in 1989. Today his flagship, Poggio Cerrino, remains one of Montalcino’s under-the-radar gems. Aged in large, old Slavonian casks, then bottled un-fined and unfiltered, it’s Tuscan to the bone with its heady red fruit, warm terra-cotta spice, and long-legged tannins. Serious rather than delicate, Poggio Cerrino is a perfect introduction to Tiezzi’s unapologetically old-school style. ~Allegra Angelo