On Monday, we shared a quiet prediction with you: that the 2021 Brunello di Montalcino was a Top 20 contender. This morning, Wine Spectator named Caparzo’s 2021 Brunello di Montalcino the No. 4 wine in the world, Caparzo’s first Top 10 ever. James Suckling 96, Wine Spectator 95, Vinous 94, Jeb Dunnuck 93. The list is out, the rush has started, and our bottles are still $49.99.

• In Stock Now · The Last Cases We Secured Before The Announcement

Monday’s Note

“A Top 20 Contender.” This Morning, It Landed At #4.

Earlier this week, we sent you an email explaining why Caparzo’s 2021 Brunello belonged in the Top 100, and likely the Top 20. Before this morning’s announcement, we moved to secure the very last cases available, so you wouldn’t have to compete with the sudden surge in demand. You don’t need to chase this bottle, or watch prices climb once the spotlight hits.

The 2021 Brunello di Montalcino Vintage

A Generational Shift for Brunello.

The greatest Brunellos we have tasted, and a vintage we believe is on track to outperform 2016.

A Personal Note

Dear Artisans,

For two decades, Christine and I have focused on bringing you the greatest Brunello releases at the best prices we can find. We still remember the hits: the 2006s, the 2007s, 2010, 2015, the magical 2016s, and more recently 2019.

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We honestly did not think any vintage would come close to 2016. Then we tasted the 2021s. These are the most exciting Brunellos we have tasted, and we believe this vintage is on track to surpass it.

What 2021 Tastes Like

James Suckling put it best in his vintage report: “There is something unmistakably classical about Brunello di Montalcino 2021. The wines have an almost old-fashioned charm, with fresh, graceful aromatics that recall balanced vintages of the past such as 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2004.”

In the glass, the best of them are so elegant they feel almost weightless, yet they carry incredibly fine tannins and a structure you sense more than feel. At the core is everything great Sangiovese should be: black cherry, blood orange and flowers.

What Happened In The Vineyard

A rainy spring filled the soils with water. Then frosts on April 7, 8 and 15 cut yields by as much as a third in some vineyards. A warm, dry May gave way to a long, dry summer, warmer than 2020. Crucially, no rain fell in September, so growers could pick exactly when their grapes were ready.

Smaller crops, and no weather forcing the harvest. That is where the concentration and the balance come from.

Why We Saw It Coming

Every November, Wine Spectator ranks its Top 100 Wines of the year, revealing the Top 10 a wine or two a day before the full list drops next week.

On Monday, our pick for the Top 20 was Caparzo’s 2021 Brunello di Montalcino: 95 points from Bruce Sanderson, a price well under the norm for the score, and a real production of 15,000 cases, so readers can actually find it.

We did not just go on instinct. Expertise is mostly paying attention when others aren’t. We studied every Wine Spectator Top 100 list from 1988 to 2025, all 3,800 wines, and scored this year’s 90-point wines against them. Caparzo’s 2021 came out among our ten likeliest picks. A ranking doesn’t make a wine taste better, of course. It simply confirms what the glass already told us.

This morning, Wine Spectator named it the No. 4 wine of 2026, saying it “earns a spot on our Top 10 for its combination of quality and value in the superb 2021 harvest.”

In Wine Spectator’s reveal video, Bruce Sanderson put it plainly: “There are a lot of really high-scoring Brunello di Montalcino from the 2021 vintage, but most of them are much more expensive. And the fact that this is $54 makes it really an exceptional value.” Wine Spectator lists it at $54. Ours is $49.99. Watch the reveal and read the story.

Caparzo In The Wine Spectator Top 100

Source: Wine Spectator Top 100 lists, 1988–2025. Price = Wine Spectator’s release price.

Caparzo’s Highest Ranking Ever

Three Top 100 appearances before this one, and the best was #17. No. 4 is Caparzo’s first Top 10. It is also the least expensive Brunello in Wine Spectator’s Top 10 since 2011: every Brunello in the Top 10 since then has listed at $60 or more.

$5 In Eight Years. Unheard Of.

Look at the 2018 row. The 2013 Caparzo Brunello was #17 in the world at $45. Eight years and several great vintages later, the 2021 is ours at $49.99: the price has moved only $5. Name another Brunello, or any wine on that list, that has held still like that.

The other two appearances came from Caparzo’s single-vineyard La Casa, from the Montosoli hill, which Caparzo first bottled on its own in 1977, introducing the cru concept to Montalcino. This time it is the classic Brunello carrying the flag.

One Of Montalcino’s Historic Thirteen

Caparzo made its first Brunello in 1970, when there were only 13 wineries in all of Montalcino. Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini has owned the estate since 1998; that is her signature across the green label. Her daughter Alessandra joined in 2015, and the family has invested heavily since, particularly in replanting the vineyards.

Sanderson credits them directly: Caparzo’s wines “have become more elegant and more defined over the years,” a testament to “the commitment by Elisabetta and now her daughter Alessandra.”

The Brunello is a blend of vineyards from four different terroirs around the appellation, “representing the character of the entire territory,” in Wine Spectator’s words. It ferments in stainless steel, then ages two years in large 5,000- to 8,000-liter Slavonian oak casks. In a vintage as complete as 2021, that balance is the whole point.

The Last Cases, Secured Before The Announcement

We moved before this morning’s reveal and secured the very last cases we could find. Now that the wine has a Top 10 ranking behind it, attention shifts, scarcity sets in, and prices tend to follow.

Ours is in stock now at $49.99, below the $54 Wine Spectator lists. If you want a bottle, it’s waiting for you, no chasing required.

James Tran

Artisan Wine & Spirits

Why This Matters

The Wine · In Stock Now

Caparzo Brunello 2021. The #4 Wine Of 2026.

Montalcino classic from the vintage of a lifetime, under fifty dollars.

WS #4 Of 20264th Top 1002021 Vintage

Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino 2021

Caparzo · Brunello di Montalcino DOCG · Tuscany · 750 mL

Four critics, four raves. James Suckling calls it an intoxicating wine; Vinous calls it a dark and radiant beauty; Wine Spectator calls it elegant overall and super long. Roses and violets, strawberry and red cherry, velvety tannins and a licorice finish.

The house serves it with roasts, grilled and spit-roasted meats, game and aged cheeses, and suggests opening it one to two hours before dinner. Jeb Dunnuck says drink now or over the next 12 to 15 years; Wine Spectator’s window runs to 2048. Bruce Sanderson’s own pick: “pasta and a Bolognese sauce. Keep it classic.”

• In Stock Now · The Last Cases We Secured Before The Announcement

More 2021 Brunello

Our Recent 2021 Brunello Offers Worth A Second Look.

Four more wines from Wine Spectator’s 99-point vintage, each with every review on its offer page.

Casanova di Neri · Brunello 2021

Casanova di Neri: the 2021 White Label, Tenuta Nuova and the double-100 Cerretalto.

Ciacci Piccolomini · Brunello 2021

Ciacci Piccolomini 2021: the Pianrosso at James Suckling 98 and the Brunello at Luca Gardini 98+.

Piancornello · Brunello 2021

Piancornello Brunello 2021: the first wine of our 2021 Brunello campaign.

Siro Pacenti · Brunello 2021

Siro Pacenti Vecchie Vigne 2021: Falstaff 99, Jeb Dunnuck and James Suckling 98.

The Bottom Line

The glass told us first. Wine Spectator agreed.

Wine Spectator’s No. 4 wine of 2026, Caparzo’s first Top 10, four critics from 93 to 96, the vintage of a lifetime, and a price that has moved $5 in eight years.

$49.99 a bottle, in stock now. These are the last cases we secured before the announcement; once they are gone, they are gone.

Cheers,

— James Tran

Artisan Wine & Spirits

• In Stock Now · The Last Cases We Secured Before The Announcement

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