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Tuscany’s Wine: Brunello di Montalcino
Tuscany’s Wine: Brunello di Montalcino
Brunello di Montalcino is a red DOCG wine produced in Tuscany, only in the small town of Montalcino in the province of Siena.
The name Brunello derives from the dark grape varietal cultivated in Montalcino (bruno or brunello is the Italian word for dark), which in the mid 1800s was classified as a variety of Sangiovese (Sangiovese grosso). Between 1865 and 1869, the owners of a few estates perfected the Brunello wine making and bottling process, obtaining excellent results. Producing a 4-5 year old aged red wine was something unheard of in Italy at the time, a feat only prestigious French wines were capable of. A lot of the credit goes to Clemente Santi, a pharmacist by trade and owner of the Greppo estate, a cultured wine connoisseur with the ability to influence the other wine producers, and his nephew Ferruccio Biondi-Santi who continued his legacy.
During the second half of the twentieth century, Brunello went from being a status wine for only a few elite to a worldwide symbol of quality in Italian wines. Nowadays, 7 million bottles of Brunello and 3.5 million bottles of Rosso di Montalcino are produced every year. In 1966 Brunello received the DOC certification, and a year later the producer’s consortium was founded. Thirteen years later, in 1980, it was the first Italian wine to receive the prestigious DOCG certification. Since then, this wine has received countless accolades and prizes: in 1999 Wine Spectator classified Brunello as one of the twelve best wines of the 20th century, and in 2006 the best in the world for that year. In 2010, Brunello was again crowned best red in the world during the International Wine Challenge in London.
Brunello di Montalcino is clear, bright, and an intense garnet color. It has a strong lingering smell, broad and ethereal. You’ll smell notes of underbrush, fragrant wood, fruits, light vanilla and marmalade. Taste is elegant and harmonious, vigorous and pure, dry but persistently aromatic.
Because of these characteristics, Brunello di Montalcino has ability to withstand long years of aging, improving greatly as time goes by. It’s hard to say how many years it takes for this wine to reach it’s peak; it depends on the year it was produced. A minimum of 10 years up to 30 years, but it can be aged even longer. Naturally, it must be preserved correctly; in a cool cellar, with a constant temperature, dark, without sounds or smells, the bottle laid horizontally on its side. Time will work its magic.
Here are some technical details, taken from the DOCG Brunello production rule book:
Production zone: Montalcino, province of Siena
Vine variety: Sangiovese grosso (“Brunello”)
Maximum grape yield: 800 kilos per acre
Maximum wine yield: 68%
Minimum aging in oak barrels: 2 years
Minimum aging in bottle: 4 months (6 months for Riserva)
Color: intense garnet red, depending on age
Smell: Intense and characteristic
Taste: dry, warm, slightly tannic, robust and harmonious
Minimum alcohol by volume: 12.5%
Minimum acidity: 5 g/lt
Minimum dry extract: 24 g/lt
Bottling: can only be done in the zone of production
Released for sale: after 5 years from harvest (6 years for Riserva)
Bottle: Brunello di Montalcino can only be bottled in high-shouldered “Bordeaux” style wine bottles.
Taste this and more on our delicious bike tours of Tuscany!
Heart of Tuscany
Assaggio Toscana
The name Brunello derives from the dark grape varietal cultivated in Montalcino (bruno or brunello is the Italian word for dark), which in the mid 1800s was classified as a variety of Sangiovese (Sangiovese grosso). Between 1865 and 1869, the owners of a few estates perfected the Brunello wine making and bottling process, obtaining excellent results. Producing a 4-5 year old aged red wine was something unheard of in Italy at the time, a feat only prestigious French wines were capable of. A lot of the credit goes to Clemente Santi, a pharmacist by trade and owner of the Greppo estate, a cultured wine connoisseur with the ability to influence the other wine producers, and his nephew Ferruccio Biondi-Santi who continued his legacy.
During the second half of the twentieth century, Brunello went from being a status wine for only a few elite to a worldwide symbol of quality in Italian wines. Nowadays, 7 million bottles of Brunello and 3.5 million bottles of Rosso di Montalcino are produced every year. In 1966 Brunello received the DOC certification, and a year later the producer’s consortium was founded. Thirteen years later, in 1980, it was the first Italian wine to receive the prestigious DOCG certification. Since then, this wine has received countless accolades and prizes: in 1999 Wine Spectator classified Brunello as one of the twelve best wines of the 20th century, and in 2006 the best in the world for that year. In 2010, Brunello was again crowned best red in the world during the International Wine Challenge in London.
Brunello di Montalcino is clear, bright, and an intense garnet color. It has a strong lingering smell, broad and ethereal. You’ll smell notes of underbrush, fragrant wood, fruits, light vanilla and marmalade. Taste is elegant and harmonious, vigorous and pure, dry but persistently aromatic.
Because of these characteristics, Brunello di Montalcino has ability to withstand long years of aging, improving greatly as time goes by. It’s hard to say how many years it takes for this wine to reach it’s peak; it depends on the year it was produced. A minimum of 10 years up to 30 years, but it can be aged even longer. Naturally, it must be preserved correctly; in a cool cellar, with a constant temperature, dark, without sounds or smells, the bottle laid horizontally on its side. Time will work its magic.
Here are some technical details, taken from the DOCG Brunello production rule book:
Production zone: Montalcino, province of Siena
Vine variety: Sangiovese grosso (“Brunello”)
Maximum grape yield: 800 kilos per acre
Maximum wine yield: 68%
Minimum aging in oak barrels: 2 years
Minimum aging in bottle: 4 months (6 months for Riserva)
Color: intense garnet red, depending on age
Smell: Intense and characteristic
Taste: dry, warm, slightly tannic, robust and harmonious
Minimum alcohol by volume: 12.5%
Minimum acidity: 5 g/lt
Minimum dry extract: 24 g/lt
Bottling: can only be done in the zone of production
Released for sale: after 5 years from harvest (6 years for Riserva)
Bottle: Brunello di Montalcino can only be bottled in high-shouldered “Bordeaux” style wine bottles.
Taste this and more on our delicious bike tours of Tuscany!
Heart of Tuscany
Assaggio Toscana
