The bottles are all stored without labels, because they can spend up to decades in the cellar and the packaging would deteriorate. It would also be necessary to make changes to comply with specific laws. Consequently the bottles are labelled only when the time comes for their release for sale.
The labels have undergone various changes over the years.
These are the most significant:
The oldest is that of 1917, sold at auction by Pandolfini, of which we have only a photograph of the bottle.
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From 1927 to 1945, all the bottled wine was packaged with the labels of Biondi Santi e C. |
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| The label with the current features (black background with the family crest in the centre and ivory-coloured wording) has been used, albeit in different versions, since 1945 (also using it to label every bottle of Brunello ever created). This label was designed by Tancredi Biondi Santi in conjunction with an artist friend of his, Vittorio Zani, from Siena.
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The first version existing in the Greppo archives is the following (we can see how the term “Brunello” was highlighted, because only Brunello Biondi Santi was sold at that time. When other producers began to make Brunello in the early 60s, Tancredi Biondi Santi drew attention to the “brand”, over and above the name of the wine)
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At the same time, “Brunello Greppo” was made on the Greppo estate, and this was to be the third Brunello after the Reserve and Vintage (more or less corresponding to today’s Rosso di Montalcino) |
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Since then there have been no great changes, only adaptations to comply with the laws, indicating that it is a DOC wine.
In 1975, the bottle capacity was increased by law from 0.72 litres to 0.75 litres and since the 1980 harvest, Brunello has been able to boast the DOCG mark.
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| To today’s label: |
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