Like many other non-French wine regions, Italy has benefitted from fine wine investors falling out of love with Bordeaux and Burgundy. As savvy collectors look for better value bottles that offer more significant growth, it’s been bye bye Bordeaux and Ciao Italia for some time now. Cue Tuscany and its bold, brooding, red wines. And enter Azienda Salvioni, among the finest and most collectable of all them all.

Coming into viticulture almost by accident, Azienda Salvioni is considered one of Tuscany’s younger wines. Grandpa Salvioni was a dabbler with wine, a hobbyist who would enjoy making an excellent product for his friends and family. Seeing his father enjoy something so much led Giulio Salvioni to explore his family’s terroir, and in 1989 he began producing the family Brunello for a broader market. The third generation and current captains of the Salvioni vineyard are David, who manages the 20-hectares fields while his sister Alessia manages sales and marketing. Under their steerage Salivoni has become an internationally recognised fine wine, known for the superb age-ability and (relative) affordability of their two Montalcinos.

Produced in only the best years, Azienda Salvioni’s flagship wine is their Brunello di Montalcino. In years when the Sangiovese grape harvest has not been deemed good enough, the entire crop will go to the second wine, the Rosso di Montalcino. The Brunello di Montalcino sees 36 months ageing in Slavonian oak barrels, whereas the Rosso di Montalcino ages for 12 months in botti (cask). Both wines are also then aged in bottle until release. Between 8,000-13,000 bottle of Brunello di Montalcino produced in good years, with prices so far remaining fair for a wine of this quality; however, such small quantities mean increased rarity and bottles are not easily found post allocation. 2010 has so far been the best year for Azienda Salvioni (94 points from Robert Parker), and the market has been quick to follow: a growth of 50% between 2017 and 2019 on a single bottle shows that this is a vineyard capable of marvellous things.