Montalcino

Montalcino, forty kilometers south of the city of Siena, is a stunning hilltop town in the heart of Tuscany. With rolling hills and farmland of rare beauty, it has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2004.

The area where the wines of Montalcino are made coincides with the historical borders of the Municipality of Montalcino, covering a surface area of 24,000 hectares, only 15% of which occupied by vineyards. The zone is roughly a square bordered by the rivers Ombrone, Asso, and Orcia.

The range of slopes with different exposure, the extremely hilly terrain, and the varying heights from 120 to 650 meters above sea level between the valley areas and the highest zones, create distinctive microclimates, even in close proximity.

The exceptional quality of Brunello di Montalcino starts in the vineyard – with meticulous manual labor, dry pruning, and the selection of the best shoots, and from canopy management to elimination of bunches – all the processes share the goal of producing and harvesting the best fruit.

Brunello di Montalcino traces its roots to the 19th century when local farmers began experimenting with a native grape variety cultivated in the surrounding territory.
This grape, known as "Brunello" or “Brunellino”, was identified as a variety of Sangiovese.
Brunello di Montalcino is made from the Sangiovese grape, a variety traditionally referred to as Brunello in this area. The regulations governing wine production dictate that the maximum production of grapes per hectare must be less than 8 tons/ha (approximately 52 hl/ha of wine). It also dictates the date of the wine being released onto the market, which is January 1st of the fifth year after harvesting. During this long period, the wine must spend at least two years in wooden barrels and age at least four months in the bottle. The Riserva wine must age at least 6 months in the bottle, and is released a year later onto the market.

Brunello di Montalcino is a visibly limpid, brilliant wine, with a bright garnet colour. It has an intense perfume, persistent, ample and ethereal. One can recognize scents of undergrowth, aromatic wood, berries, light vanilla and jam. To the taste the wine has an elegant harmonious body, vigorous and racy, it is dry with a lengthy aromatic persistence; because of its characteristics, Brunello can be aged for a long time, improving as the years go by.

Rosso di Montalcino DOC is proof of the great versatility of the Montalcino terroir, as it is made from the same Sangiovese variety, but is a red wine to be enjoyed earlier. In fact, Rosso di Montalcino is introduced to the market on the September 1st following the year of harvest.

Rosso di Montalcino, a younger wine that combines with its superb structure, attributes of particular vivacity and freshness; is harmonious, elegant, sapid, not overly exacting but a pleasant accompaniment. To look at is brilliant and limpid with a composite ruby colour; to the nose it has a good intensity and fragrance, in which one recognizes scents of fresh fruit.

To the taste it is harmonious and dry, with vigour and freshness and a good persistence. It is a particularly tempting wine ready to be drunk. Not to be kept for long, a wine that prefers to be drunk in its youth even if it can be aged.