From The Wine Spectator's article: The Miracle of Montalcino from the December 31st, 2016 issue.
"What makes the stately Sangiovese reds of Italy's Brunello di Montalcino special? A roomful of Wine Experience attendees attempted to divine this during a tasting of four distinctive wines from the appellation, made in different styles from disparate terroirs, but united in the blessing of what Altesino owner Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini summed up as 'the miracle of Montalcino.'
In the 2010 vintage, the miracle spread across the Montalcino area, where the success of different subzones usually varies from year to year; all four wines presented by senior editor Bruce Sanderson received classic ratings of 95 points or higher.
Starting in the north of the appellation, Donatella Cinella Colombini presented her harmonious riserva. Despite being born into a winemaking family, Colombini encountered skepticism and dismissiveness when, in 1998, she created her own winery from family holdings. She hired the only enology students she could find who were available on less than a year's notice—not coincidentally, women. "It was a shock because this discrimination was so large that I decided to do something to change the situation: a winery with a female staff—the first in Italy," Colombini declared to applause. Her wine is fermented with native yeasts and undergoes the requisite years-long aging in traditional large oak casks or barrels, a practice the other three wineries also follow rather than using the smaller barriques that some producers have adopted."