Agostina Pieri is an estate winery in Località Piancornello, in the hamlet of Castelnuovo dell’Abate in the south-east of the Montalcino region of Italy. The estate was created in 1991 by Agostina Pieri who runs it with her two sons, Francesco Monaci (born 1975, winemaker) and Giacopo Monaci (born 1980, vineyard manager).The family makes wines under the Sant’Antimo Rosso DOC, Rosso di Montalcino DOC and Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. In 1990 Agostina Pieri’s father Alessandro Pieri had divided his estate among his three children. His eldest daughter Agostina Pieri created this, her own eponymous estate. His second daughter, Silvana created Piancornello di Pieri Silvana. His third daughter, Graziella Pieri, married Sirò Pacenti and so her vines were amalgamated into the Sirò Pacenti estate. In 2011 Silvana Pieri’s Piancornello estate was itself sub-divided into two: Piancornello di Monaci Claudio now called Piancornello, Podere del Visciolo; and Quattroventi which was subsequently renamed Corte dei Venti di Clara Monaci.

Staff: Consulting oenologist: Fabrizio Moltard.

Estate vineyards: 2015 10.5 ha of vines, mostly planted in the 1990s, of which 4.6ha of Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2.5ha of Rosso di Montalcino DOC and 3.4ha of Sant’Antimo DOC.

Winemaking: Known for an overtly oaky style, recent vintages show signs of a more sensitive use of oak, moving away from 225-litre barrels to larger tonneaux and botti. MLF in oak.

Red wines

Sant’Antimo Rosso DOC

Rosso di Montalcino DOC: 2009 Warm vintage. 100% aged in barrels and botti. | 2010 Aged 60% in neutral barrels, 40% in oak vats. |  2012 17,000 bottles. 12 months in 20hl Allier oak vats. Primary nose, open knit, red plum and toffee-oak. sexy international woody style (Anteprima 2014). | 2013 Aged in four types of wood. 15,000 bottles. Sweet and savoury, balanced, bright (Benvenuto Brunello 2015). | 2014 Vat sample. Bit closed. Aged in 3rd fill. About to be bottled. Very fluid wood, crisp cherry, ripe, and open, interesting weight and freshness (Anteprima 2016).

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG: 2000 Dirty old wood, baked and with VA (Anteprima 2005). | 2007 Francesco Monaci described 2007 as a year with no winter. Overall temperatures were warmer than normal, but without heat spikes. The harvest took place in the early part of September, about ten days earlier than normal. Aged one year in cask and a second year in 600-litre demi-muids. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2027,” (Galloni: 2012/4). | 2009 48 months in 600-litre demi-muids and botti. Overt, polished red fruit (Anteprima 2014). | 2009 14.5%. L12208. Bright ruby garnet colour with a watery rim. Bacon/salami, talcum powder and new oak on the nose. Sweet entry for both fruit and oak with the latter dominating the finish. Not much middle. Three distinct parts to this: acid, the oak, and the sour cherry fruit. Not disjointed, but a little angular for me. But others will like it for its moderately weighted mix of vanilla and cherry, and relative smoothness. Overall: crowdpleaser in a minor key blind tasted (Montalcino Consorzio with Dr Ian d’Agata 2014). | 2010 20,000 bottles. Slight Cotarella-style nose, savoury berries. Ripe oaky nose, savoury berries, well made, clean, clear and not too heavy (Anteprima 2015). | 2011 Francesco Monaci told me he may give the wine 5-6 delestages per day. New oak, rich, lots of depth, oak too, crowd pleasing red fruit, with some green tannin and alcohol burn (Anteprima 2016).

Contact

Agostina Pieri

Loc. Piancornello

35–Sant’Angelo Scalo

I-53024 Montalcino (SI), Italy

Tel+39 0577 844163 | Website: www.pieriagostina.it/en