1. Cupano Estate Collection

3. “I still remember the first Brunello I tasted from Cupano, where I was and what I was doing. It was the 2001, and I was floored by the promise of this young winery, only in its second vintage at the time. Inspired by Henri Jayer, proprietors Ornella and Lionel Cousin follow an approach of low yields, full phenolic ripeness, natural yeasts and malolactic fermentation in French oak… As good as the wines are young, the real surprise is just how well they develop in bottle.” -Antonio Galloni

5. “This is the single best up-and- coming producer of Brunello today” -Ian d'Agata

6. Cupano sits on a rolling plain at the far edges of Montalcino. Off in the distance, you can see the Banfi castle; to the left, you can see the medieval hilltop town of Camigliano. Ornella Tondini, an Italian, and Lionello Cousin, a Frenchman, have chosen to grow their grapes organically, and their beautiful, terroir-driven wines--Brunello di Montalcino, Rosso di Montalcino and their Bordeaux-style blend, Ombrone Sant’Antimo--embody the wisdom of that decision in their purity, complexity and specificity of place; one whiff transports you to the estate’s gently rolling hills. A perfect blending of Ornella’s Italian heritage and Lionello’s French upbringing, Cupano Brunello is aged in barrique, rather than the traditional botti, and it’s undeniably elegant, inexpressibly generous, gently touched with exotic spice, deeply evocative and profoundly satisfying. Crafted from meticulously grown organic Sangiovese grapes kept to extraordinarily low yields, this Brunello spends fifty months in oak barrels and in the bottle before release. The result is a spicy, aromatic, intense and velvety wine that offers deceptive power, great longevity and terrific balance, and a perfect melding of its Montalcino terroir and owner-operator Lionel Cousin’s French roots. Cupano

8. “Our farm is on the hills south of Siena, Etruscan land, one of the most beautiful landscape in the world, Heritage of Unesco, where nature and millenary art melt in exquisite harmony. We live on a stony hill above the Ombrone river with good drainage, high mineral content and a wonderful view. Year after year we have confirmation that it is ‘un vrai, grand terroir.’ Our mentor was Henri Jayer from Burgundy with his strong beliefs: few hectares, wine made in the vineyard, no chemical fertilizers or pesticides, limited yields, further selection on the sorting table with removal of any unripe or moldy grapes, autochthonous yeasts, malolactic on the lees in new French barriques. Carlo Ferrini selected the land for the vines and the vine-stocks, the growth system and the height of the vines. François Bouchet initiated us to biodynamic, the simple and efficient biodynamic of the old gentleman farmer he was. And only when Giulio Gambelli, glass in hand, looks at us in silence and gives us the thumbs up, we bottle. Thanks to these masters we hope to succeed in imbuing our wine with a memory, the landscape, a season, the story of our enchantment. -Lionel Cousin Cupano

10. “Either you cling on to what your oenologist tells you, which is based on chemistry, or you observe nature and try to interpret what it's telling you. “I believe that as a society we've become too interventionist, constantly having your nascent wines analyzed in laboratories is rather like obsessively measuring blood pressure. The pharmaceutical and chemical industries have vested interests in promoting both. But without all this you can still tell when your vines are suffering, just as you know when you are not feeling well. I don't believe in preemptively taking medicines in either case.” -Lionel Cousin

12. Cupano Estate Total area: 34 ha Cultivated Area: 7ha Average Altitude: 200 m Geological Composition: sandy clay with large substructure of cobble stones Type of Cultivation: organic, certified by ICEAViticulture Training Method: spurred cordon Vine Density: 6250 ha Average Yield: 35/45 q/l Harvest: manual, collected in crates Annual Production: 13.000/14.000 bottles Vinification Maceration: cold pre-fermentation Yeasts: naturally occurring native yeasts Fermentation temperature : 25-30°C Wine vats: conical stainless steel Wood: oak barrels, 228lt, from central France Malolactic fermentation : in wood on the lees

14. Cupano Estate Collection Rosso di Montalcino 2012 Brunello di Montalcino 2008 Brunello di Montalcino 2007 Brunello di Montalcino 2005 Brunello di Montalcino 2003 Ombrone 2006

15. Brunello di Montalcino 2008 Bottled July 26th 2011 Dark red. Highly perfumed aromas of griotta cherry, wild herbs and menthol; shows a distinctly medicinal aspect. Then supple, broad and full in the mouth, and quite dry in a classical way, with juicy acidity nicely framing the rich red fruit !avors. Finishes long and very savory, with hints of aromatic botanical herbs and ripe red cherries. - Stephen Tanzer

16. Brunello di Montalcino 2007 Bottled June 30th 2010 A rich and decadent red, with cured meats and ripe fruits. Full and velvety, with soft and round tannins. Loads going on. Succulent and more-ish. -James Suckling

17. Brunello di Montalcino 2005 Bottled October 28th 2008 “Cupano’s 2005 Brunello di Montalcino is one of the unqualified successes of the vintage. A richly- textured core of perfumed red fruit flows from the glass, along with suggestions of French oak, tar and smoke. The oak seems more measured than it has been in the past, and what emerges is a transparent yet deeply expressive personality. The wine’s inner perfume and expansive fruit follow through to the long, caressing finish.” - Antonio Galloni

18. Brunello di Montalcino 2003 Bottled August 22nd 2007 “The velvety-textured 2003 Brunello di Montalcino is endowed with perfumed aromatics and a soft, expansive core of dark cherries, leather, tobacco and sweet toasted oak that are beautifully balanced by the wine’s firm tannins.” -Antonio Galloni

19. Ombrone 2006 50% Sangiovese, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot Bottled January 9th 2009 Most intriguing too is the Ombrone of 2006, a great Rosso, still too young, loaded as it is with scents in full production and an energy which will have to spread out completely as it stays longer in the bottle. - La Republica