Yesterday

The origins of Le Chiuse are rooted in history. It was part of the properties of the Biondi Santi family, and it was in fact brought as a dowry at the end of the 1700's by Maria Tamanti, when she married Clemente Santi. Their daughter, Caterina, married Jacopo Biondi, and their son Ferruccio, the great grandfather of Simonetta Valiani, added on the maternal surname "Santi" to his, to respect his mother's wish. After fighting at Garibaldi's side, Ferruccio continued his grandfather Clemente's work, by carefully selecting the grape variety until finally achieving the specific clone of Sangiovese called "grosso".
Wine, wheat, and oil were originally produced here. Tancredi, Ferruccio’s son, left “Le Chiuse” and two other estates to his daughter Fiorella as inheritance, urging her to never sell it “because that is where the famous Brunello Riserva was born”. “perchè lì nasceva il famoso Brunello per le Riserve”From that moment, Fiorella rented the estates to her brother Franco, owner of the farm “Il Greppo”, who handled the vineyards and produced wine until 1990

After Fiorella's death in 1986, her daughter, Simonetta Valiani, who inherited the love for this land and the passion for wine from her grandfather Tancredi, started producing the Brunello “le Chiuse” on her own. With the help of her husband, Niccolò Magnelli, and the advice of her uncle, Franco Biondi Santi, three massal selection vineyards of the oldest vines were established. In 2004 the vineyards reached a total surface of 7 hectares, preserving the original “BBS11” clone. In 2006 the son, Lorenzo Magnelli, joins the family business, and with whom was decided to restore a vineyard further south of Montalcino called “Pullera”, sitting right above “Il Greppo”, where wine was made since the times of Tancredi Biondi Santi. Furthermore, it was decided to postpone the release of the Brunello di Montalcino Riserva by 4 additional years, bringing the commercial release to the 10th year after the harvest, hence its name “DIECIANNI”, and the production of two new wines, the “Stellare” and the “Sferracavalli”.