Banfi Brunello di Montalcino Poggio alle Mura 2021
£61.95
The wine
A Brunello with great personality, from the vineyards around the medieval castle of Poggio alle Mura. Intense ruby red, with a complex aromatic structure highlighted by blackberry and plum jam combined with spicy hints of tobacco. Balanced and elegant on the palate, with ripe, well-integrated tannins and a long, sustained finish.
Poggio alle Mura takes its name from the medieval castle at the heart of the estate, and the fruit comes from the vineyards immediately around it, identified by the zonation studies as among the best Sangiovese sites Banfi farm. Ageing is in a combination of French oak barrique and larger Slavonian casks, the latter contributing structure without adding much vanilla.
The producer
Banfi
View all Banfi winesBrothers John and Harry Mariani bought land at Montalcino in 1978 and, working with the winemaker Ezio Rivella, built one of the most ambitious estates in Tuscany. Banfi now farms around 850 hectares of vineyard on the southern side of the hill, making it by some distance the largest single holding in the appellation.
What sets it apart is the research. From 1980 the estate ran a programme of zonation studies, mapping soils and exposures plot by plot and trialling hundreds of Sangiovese clones to establish which slopes suited the grape best. That work underpins the single-vineyard Brunellos: Poggio alle Mura from the land around the medieval castle, Vigna Marrucheto, and Poggio all'Oro, released only in the greatest years. Banfi also made the first Supertuscan in Montalcino, Summus, in 1985.
Sustainability is taken seriously rather than decoratively. The estate holds Equalitas certification at both organisational and product level, and the Poggio all'Oro 2016 was the first Brunello ever to earn it. Banfi entered the Top 100 of the World's Best Vineyards in 2025.






