Siro Pacenti

Perched on the northern slopes of Montalcino at around 350 metres, Siro Pacenti is one of the appellation's most quietly influential estates. Founded by Siro Pacenti in 1970 and now run with obsessive rigour by his son Giancarlo, the domaine farms just under 12 hectares of Sangiovese Grosso — the clone locally known as Brunello — across two distinct parcels: Pelagrilli to the north and Piancornello to the south.

Giancarlo took over winemaking in the early 1990s and immediately set about raising the bar. He reduced yields, extended maceration times, and moved to a combination of large Slavonian oak casks and smaller French barriques — a choice that was controversial in traditional Montalcino but produced wines of remarkable density and aromatic clarity. Today Siro Pacenti is considered a benchmark of the modern Brunello style: structured and age-worthy, yet accessible in youth in a way that the old-school giants rarely were.

The estate's two parcels sit on opposite sides of the Montalcino hill and produce wines of markedly different character. Pelagrilli, on the cooler northern flank, gives wines of elegance and perfume — fine-grained tannins, red-fruit aromatics, and a mineral thread that speaks directly of the galestro schist beneath. Piancornello, on the warmer southern exposure, contributes power and depth: darker fruit, broader shoulders, and a density that underpins the estate's most celebrated bottlings.

Giancarlo blends the two parcels for his Brunello di Montalcino, achieving a balance that neither site could produce alone. In exceptional years he releases a single-vineyard Pelagrilli bottling, which showcases the northern terroir in its purest form — a wine that rewards patience and rewards it generously.

Giancarlo Pacenti's approach is rooted in the vineyard. Canopy management is meticulous, green harvesting keeps yields below 35 hl/ha, and harvest is timed to achieve full phenolic ripeness rather than chasing sugar levels. In the cellar, fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel before the wine moves to a combination of 500-litre tonneaux and large Slavonian oak botti for ageing.

The result is a house style that is unmistakably modern — polished, precise, and deeply expressive — yet never at the expense of Brunello's essential character: its iron-fisted tannins, its soaring acidity, and its capacity to evolve over decades. Siro Pacenti wines are built to last, but they rarely demand the patience that the old guard required.