JS96, WS95, VM94, Caparzo Brunello 4th Top 100 Shoo-In! 2021 Vtg-of-a-Lifetime $49.99
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Originally sent to our list on November 9, 2026. Pricing and availability reflect that date — for current pricing and stock, see artisan.wine.
• Arrives Wednesday · Expected To Sell Out As Wine Spectator Reveals Its Top 10
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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.
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A Personal Note
Dear Artisans,
For two decades, Christine and I have been proud to bring 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.
Our Wine Spectator Top 100 Prediction
Every November, Wine Spectator ranks its Top 100 Wines of the year. The Top 10 is being revealed this week, a wine or two a day, and the remaining 90 drop next week.
Our pick for the Top 20: Caparzo’s 2021 Brunello di Montalcino. It has everything the editors reward: 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. Wine Spectator lists it at $54.00. Ours is $49.99.
We did not just go on instinct. 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 comes out among our ten likeliest picks. And regardless of any ranking - its a no-brainer smart buy.
Caparzo In The Wine Spectator Top 100
Source: Wine Spectator Top 100 lists, 1988–2025. Price = Wine Spectator’s release price; 2026 = ours.
$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.
Caparzo is one of the few estates with vineyards spread across the different corners of the appellation, so every Brunello is a blend of Montalcino’s microclimates, north and south, high and low. In a vintage as complete as 2021, that balance is the whole point.
Arriving Wednesday, Gone By The Reveal
Our allocation lands this Wednesday. Once Wine Spectator names its Top 10 this week and the rest of the list next week, every retailer in the country will be chasing this wine, and ours will be sold out.
Reserve now at $49.99 and it will be waiting for you when it lands.
James Tran
Artisan Wine & Spirits
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Why This Matters
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The Wine · Arrives Wednesday
Caparzo Brunello 2021. The Top 100 Pick.
Montalcino classic from the vintage of a lifetime, under fifty dollars.
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WS Top 100 ×32021 VintageSangiovese
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.
• Arrives Wednesday · Expected To Sell Out As Wine Spectator Reveals Its Top 10
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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.
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Casanova di Neri · Brunello 2021
Casanova di Neri: the 2021 White Label, Tenuta Nuova and the double-100 Cerretalto.
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Ciacci Piccolomini · Brunello 2021
Ciacci Piccolomini 2021: the Pianrosso at James Suckling 98 and the Brunello at Luca Gardini 98+.
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Piancornello · Brunello 2021
Piancornello Brunello 2021: the first wine of our 2021 Brunello campaign.
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Siro Pacenti · Brunello 2021
Siro Pacenti Vecchie Vigne 2021: Falstaff 99, Jeb Dunnuck and James Suckling 98.
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The Bottom Line
Buy it before Wine Spectator tells everyone else.
Three Top 100s behind it, four critics from 93 to 96, the vintage of a lifetime, and a price that has moved $5 in eight years. If our prediction is right, this is Caparzo’s fourth Top 100.
$49.99 a bottle, arriving Wednesday. Reserve yours now; once the list is out, it will be gone.
Cheers,
— James Tran
Artisan Wine & Spirits
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• Arrives Wednesday · Expected To Sell Out As Wine Spectator Reveals Its Top 10
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The Artisan VIP List
Prices so low… we can’t show!
Join our VIP list to receive private sale offers with prices too low to publish, along with rare allocations.
Join The VIP List →
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