J. G. BENDA
When being a newcomer in the Brunello game—especially with the first vintage released in 2024—you either need very deep pockets or a sort of reckless courage and intense work ethic. J.G. Benda is certainly the latter having worked 7 days per week over the last three years to bring this dream to fruition - and the amount of bottles available from this humble property cannot keep up with their demand at all. Prices and quantities dwarfed by their much lauded neighbors Biondi Santi, Case Basse, Soldera, and Pian Dell'Orino.
Isolated deep in the woods, at the highest point of Brunello, lie two small, one-hectare hilltop vineyards—vibrant oases set against their wild, wooded surroundings. On any given day, you’ll find John Benda and Zoë Johnson toiling tirelessly in these vineyards, working to reshape the land with care and precision.
They remove large fragments of rocky galestro, the stony-schistous soil that defines Tuscany’s finest vineyards, and train their vines using the traditional capovolto system. This method, rare outside Tuscany’s oldest vineyards (but occasionally found in Germany’s Mosel Valley), involves folding the cane down on each side of the plant and tying it to the lower wire. The resulting "double arch" resembles a heart, encouraging vigor in the center of the vine rather than its tips.
In much the same way that John trains his vines into their ideal form, he has also shaped his own path. Born in London to a British-Italian mother and a Turkish-Italian father, John spent his formative years in Rome, often vacationing in Tuscany—a place he would unknowingly return to later in life. While working in London’s financial sector, he befriended a wine collector who introduced him to the great bottles of Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Piedmont, as well as the stories behind them.
Inspired, John left his job, retrained himself, and returned to the untamed landscapes of his youth, settling in Montalcino. There, he learned the art of winemaking from like-minded producers such as Alessandro Mori of Il Marroneto, the architect of the fabled wine ‘Madonna delle Grazie’, applying the same passion and dedication that now define his work in the vineyard.
Together with his partner Zoë, an Australian wine enthusiast with prior experience working in Italy, John founded J.G. Benda. What Benda and Johnson lack in terms of vintages under their belt they compensate for through intensive scrutiny of their two plots of land and a never ending thirst for knowledge. The pair are committed to biodynamic practices, tending the vines by hand and taking a minimalist approach in the cellar. They age their wines in traditional large wooden botti, bottle them unfined and unfiltered, directly from the barrel and use only minimal sulfur additions.
We are thrilled to introduce you to their very first release and a new chapter in the rich history of Montalcino. A Sangiovese, that reflects the same passion and vitality that drive its creators. Deeply perfumed and elegant on the palate, a Rosso that exudes class and finesse.
