Lisini is a family owned estate winery in Località Casanova Lisini near Sant’Angelo in Colle in the south-western part of the Montalcino region, Tuscany, Italy. Lisini, whose historic roots in Montalcino dates back centuries, produces Rosso di Montalcino DOC, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG and Brunello di Montalcino Riserva DOCG red wines. 

Owner: The Lisini-Clementi family. Carlo Lisini Baldi, Lorenzo Lisini Baldi.

Staff: Estate manager: Filippo Paoletti.

History: Farm buildings include a tower dated 1300 and an arched brick loggia in the Sienese style.

Estate vineyards: The Lisini family has owned some of the best sites to the north of San Angelo in Colle for several generations. On 21 Jan 2015 (for an article on Rosso di Montalcino for Decanter) Carlo Lisini told me the estate had about 150 hectares of land in total, in the Sesta area. Of this there were 24ha of vines of which 13ha were for Brunello di Montalcino and 5ha were for Rosso di Montalcino and the rest was IGT. He said he farmed them all the same way and described the soils as calcareous.

Winemaking: Lisini is in traditiona camp, with long ageing in botti. Roy Ricards says ‘Lisini makes august, occasionally baroque wines, which even in a lighter year age gracefully for ten years in bottle. When conditions are unfavourable they can elect to bottle the entire harvest early as Rosso di Montalcino – this was the case in 1992 and 2002.

Red wines

San Biagio Rosso: 2003 IGT Toscana. 100% Sangiovese. Stainless steel, no oak.

Rosso di Montalcino DOC, Lisini: “Filippo [Paoletti] believes that the only way to make a true Rosso di Montalcino is for it begin life like a Brunello. Lisini’s Rosso spends 12 months in large oak botti (we loved Filippo’s comment that “we only use barriques for growing flowers at Lisini”!),” (Higgs, A & Rodway, K: Jul 2011). | 2003 None made. See below. | 2004 8 months in Slovenian botti. Lisini’s UK agent Roy Richards thinks this needs a bit more time (bottled 12|2005), when we tasted it in the Vecchia Oliviera hotel, Montalcino on 21st April 2005 (I found its richness appealing). | 2005 Aged 8 months in Slavonian botti. | 2007 Aged in 1,000-2,000l Slovenian oak barrels for a year (previously aged for just 8 months). | 2008 “A heavy hailstorm in the north of the region (vines here are not used in Lisini’s Brunello) seriously affected the yields of the Rosso di Montalcino and the overall harvest was 40% lower than in the previous vintage. Filippo delayed the harvest for a week and the remaining grapes gained half a degree of alcohol in that time,” (Higgs, A: Jun 2010). | 2009 14.5%. Bright cedar garnet with a pinkish rim. Very distinctive sweet vanilla perfumes; rich mid-palate, nice and savoury, plenty of fruit, well put together, immediate but not simple, modernist in the good sense, just lacks for me a bit of interior texture and inner brightness at the Consorzio Tues 27th May 2014 with Ian d’Agata and others. | 2011 16,000 bottles. Rather primary as bottled only one week ago (Anteprima 2013). | 2012 12 months in botti. 8,300 bottles. Sweet, mid-weight and ripe, not too dry (Anteprima 2014). | 2013 16,000 bottles. 11m in botti. Fluid, zippy, ripe, plenty of length, well done (Anteprima 2015). | 2014 Fluid, easy, a bit simple, but savoury (Anteprima 2016). | 2018 11,000 bottles. | 2020 Bright red fruit, smooth texture and juicy, very enjoyable with several years ahead (tasted Jan 2023 at home).  

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Lisini: 1967 Pale bright crimson. Lovely dusty violets, sweet at Les Branleurs tasting, Pickworth Fri 25th April 2014. | 1968tasted at Les Branleurs tasting, Pickworth 25th April 2014. | 1970 Mushroomy at Les Branleurs tasting, Pickworth Fri 25th April 2014. | 1974 Geranium, green at Les Branleurs tasting, Pickworth 25th April 2014. | 1981 Broad and ripe, dryish, some mushroom at Les Branleurs tasting, Pickworth 25th April 2014. | 1999 Said to be very good by Roy Richards. | 2000 “A lot of Brunellos produced in this vintage can be quite cooked, as there were very hot winds just before the harvest. As the grapes started to shrivel, Lisini began harvesting early, and worked day and night until it was finished,” (Rodway, K: May 2005). Lovely wild fruit (Anteprima 2005. Roy Richards felt this was average. | 2001 Bottled 12|2005. Quite a lot of new oak, but rich in the Vecchia Oliviera hotel, Montalcino on 21st April 2005. | 2002 None released. | 2003 “After having tried, unsuccessfully, to make the 2001 last through two years due to the absence of 2002, we were a little anxious as to how the 2003 Brunello would evolve, but it is surprisingly fresh. The weather was too dry for the young vines with their shallow rooting systems, so this wine was sold off and no Rosso di Montalcino was made. Harvest started ten days earlier than normal on the 18th September. Filippo had deliberately eschewed “effeuillage” to protect the grapes against grilling. No acidification or fining was deemed necessary. It was bottled in September 2007 at 13.7% (13.5% on label),” (Richards, R: Ity 2008). | 2004 “Filippo [Paoletti] was nervous about the 2004 vintage when it started to rain at the end of August, and continued into September. However, once harvest began at the beginning of September, it was clear that the grapes had reached an optimum condition, and the resulting wines are stunning, the 2004 being heralded as one the greatest vintages in the history of Brunello. This spends 3½ years in large oak barrels – the first year in young wood to stabilise the wine, the second in wood of an in-between age to develop a complexity of flavours, and then the last 1½ years in old wood to reach an elegance typical in Lisini’s old-fashioned Brunellos,” (Higgs, A & Rodway, K: May 2009). |  2005 “The weather was not great in 2005; the summer was cool and damp, so a very strict selection was made in the vineyard resulting in volumes that were less than 50% of a normal harvest.” (Higgs, A: Jun 2010). | 2006 Bottled. | 2007 Bottled. | 2008 24,000 bottles. Bit of mustiness(?) decent weight, sweet fruit ond old viney (Anteprima 2013). | 2009 29,400 bottles. Elegant, some floral aromas. Not much weight for a 2009, interesting (Anteprima 2014). | 2010 30,000 bottles. Filippo Paoletti was one of the last to pick in In 2010. Very nice, sweet and savoury, good length, can feel a bit of wildness (Anteprima 2015). | 2011 Nice sweet fruit, warm but not over-extracted (Anteprima 2016). | 2012 Seems a bit vanilla and confected, simple restaurant wine at (Anteprima 2017). | 2014 Good weight of fruit, tannins both fruit and oak still melding, good effort for 2014 when tasted (Anteprima 2019). | 2015 40,000 bottles.

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Ugolaia: From a single southwest facing 1.5ha Sangiovese vineyard called Ugolaia. Massal selection. On 01st Oct 2014 Carlo Lisini Baldi told me “the site is a toponimo (named lieu-dit), between Sant’Angelo in Colle and Castelnuovo dell’Abate. Altitude of 360 metres. The soil is medio impasto con roccia volcania, Red soil, tufaceo di origine eocenica. Despite this iron-rich red soil we don’t see much extra colour in the wine. Rare to find volcanic soil like this in Montalcino.” 420A rootstock. Cordone speronato basso (70 cm da terra). 5,400 vines|ha. Yields of 1.1 kg of grapes per vine = 60 quintali|ha. Hand picked. Ferments in stainless steel at 28-30ºC. Pressed. MLF. Unfiltered. Around 36 months Slavonian oak botti (11-20hl), and then a further 6 months in chestnut botti (8hl – 52hl). Blended in steel. Aged in bottle for 18 months before release. Only made in the best years. More mineral, finer tannins, longer than the regular Brunello. 8,000-10,000 bottles. | 1999 Bottled. | 2000 Bottled. | 2001 The “Ugolaia…two nights of severe frost in April, 40% of the crop was lost, and it was then too late for the new shoots to produce any fruit,” (Rodway, K: May 2007). | 2004 Bottled.

2004 Brunello di Montalcino “Ugolaia”: From the 1.5ha south-west vineyard of the same name, Ugolaia spends a minimum of four years in Slovenian oak botti before release.| 2005 “3,200 bottles of Ugolaia were produced in 2005, half the normal quantity. There is normally a green harvest at the end of July but in 2005 there was a further cut of 20% in mid August and a severe selection at harvest to ensure only perfectly healthy ripe grapes were used’,” (Higgs, A & Rodway, K: Jul 2011). | 2006 Bottled. | 2007 6,000 bottles. | 2008 5,200 bottles. Bit too extracted and hot black berries and vanilla for my taste (Anteprima 2014). | 20098,000 bottles. Nice limpid scarlet colour, very intense tannin, and fruit, so needs time, lots of length (Anteprima 2015). | 2010 Very ripe, concentrated and yet fluid, really very Brunello and very Mediterranean, light on its feet (Anteprima 2016).

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Riserva, Lisini: 1978 Nice bottle stink, ripe, some dust, dry at Les Branleurs tasting, Pickworth Fri 25th April 2014. | 1979 Ethereal sweet fruit and brett? at Les Branleurs tasting, Pickworth Fri 25th April 2014. | 1985 Porty, dry entry, VA at Les Branleurs tasting, Pickworth Fri 25th April 2014. | 1986 Ripe, juicy tannins. Good middle, slight unevenness at end at Les Branleurs tasting, Pickworth Fri 25th April 2014. | 2008 2,600 bottles. Plenty of fruit and oak no nose, bit dry on palate (Anteprima 14). | 2009 3,700 bottles. Very nice floral feel to this (Anteprima 2015). | 2010 Very nice, quite tannic, but has sweet and aromatic fruit, bit hot at end (Anteprima 2016). | 2011 Bottled.

Prefillossero: This wine came from ungrafted vines dating to the mid’1800s. Only around 300 bottles were made at most, and with diminishing yields what is made is now kepot for the family cellar. | 1985 Savoury, sweet, ripe, holds at Les Branleurs tasting, Pickworth Fri 25th April 2014. | 1986 Savoury, dusty at Les Branleurs tasting, Pickworth Fri 25th April 2014. | 1988 Bottled. | 1989 Bottled. | 1990 Bottled. | 1991 Bottled. | 1995 Bottled.

Other crops: Olive oil extracted at Montalcino’s Frantoio La Spiga.

Contact

Azienda Agraria Lisini

Podere Casanova

Loc. Sant’Angelo in Colle

53024 Montalcino (SI), Italy