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Wine: the depths of Brunello di Montalcino

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Brunello di Montalcino remains one of Italy’s rarest wines – not to mention one of the country’s most flavoursome


O n the surface, there’s little to link Lambrusco with Brunello di Montalcino, beyond the obvious: they’re both Italian. But the much-lauded wine of southern Tuscany – dubbed the region’s Barolo by some – has much for which to thank its rather more proletarian compatriot.

Montalcino is a winemaking area with a long history. Just how long is open to debate, but The Oxford Companion to Wine lists a possible reference to ‘Brunello’ as long ago as the 14th century. Until relatively recently, however, it was the exclusive preserve of one family – Biondi-Santi, who bottled the first Brunello in 1888. Even as recently as 1960, there were only 11 registered bottlers of the wine.

Even so, for the cognoscenti, Brunello already enjoyed a stellar status only enhanced by its rarity. The Biondi-Santi family declared only four vintages of its top Riserva wine in the first 57 years of production – 1888, 1891, 1925 and 1945 – and aged it for five or six years, securing a reputation among those in the know as a wine that was not merely elusive, but also ‘difficult’ and only capable of being tamed into drinkability after decades in bottle.

Fast-forward to the 1970s and the entry of Banfi, the American company founded by a family, the Marianis, with Italian roots. At the time, Banfi was surfing the wave of its hugely popular Riunite Lambrusco, launched in 1969 and the best-selling imported wine in the US for 26 consecutive years.

The next Riunite, the company decided, would come from Montalcino – but not Brunello; instead, Banfi bet big on the semi-sweet white Moscadello di Montalcino wine, buying an estimated 13% of the region’s land in 1979 – reportedly, about 3,000 hectares, costing $20m. Some 400ha of Moscadello vines were planted.

It was a disaster. Moscadello bombed, leaving the Marianis with little alternative but to do a quick rethink. By this time, the Biondi-Santi family had company, with close to 50 producers bottling their own Brunello. Banfi followed suit, replanted the vineyards with Sangiovese and, thanks to its huge presence in the US, cemented the reputation of the area there.


Montalcino’s trump card is its different expression of the Sangiovese grape in comparison to the rest of Tuscany


Today, Banfi is the region’s biggest producer, owning more than 2,800ha of land, 850ha of that vineyards, and 170ha devoted to Brunello – comfortably bigger than its rivals.

After a tricky start, the company has become Brunello’s chief flag-waver, leading important viticultural research into the Sangiovese grape (locally known as Brunello) which is the heartbeat of Brunello’s appeal.

Beyond Banfi, a select band of other producers – Biondi-Santi, for sure, but also the likes of Altesino, Argiano, Soldera, Col d’Orcia, Capanna, Caprili and Castelgiocondo – have overseen the transformation of Montalcino from its lowly status as Tuscany’s poorest hill town in the 1970s to its current prosperity.

And the big guys haven’t hogged all the limelight – or, indeed, all of the rewards. Look at Caprili: the Bartolommei family were sharecroppers until two generations ago, scratching a living from the dry, dusty Tuscan soil, before Alfo Bartolommei bought some land and planted a single hectare of vines 50 years ago.

In 1965, as Alfo’s grandson Giacomo says, Brunello di Montalcino was ‘just an idea’ and, at one point, a plan was put forward for the region to join Chianti, subsuming its identity in Tuscany’s dominating wine force. The stand-alone Montalcino appellation was created two years later.

For the Bartolommeis, progress was gradual: they continued to sell all their wine in bulk to other estates until the first bottling under their own name, in 1978.


The Bartolommei family were sharecroppers until two generations ago, scratching a living from the dry, dusty Tuscan soil, before Alfo Bartolommei bought some land and planted a single hectare of vines 50 years ago


Today, they have 18ha of vines in Montalcino and a stunning new winery inaugurated for the 2014 harvest (which, sadly, was a pretty appalling vintage).

And the tale of the Bartolommeis is far from being an isolated one; wine has brought riches to this area, but the transformation was engineered by more than a mistaken sweet wine venture by an American incomer. Montalcino’s own special properties – and their ultimate expression in the most hyped recent vintages – are the chief factors at play.

Montalcino’s trump card is its distinctly different expression of the Sangiovese grape in comparison to the rest of Tuscany, and Chianti in particular.

Crucially, you can’t use anything but Sangiovese to make Brunello, or the region’s junior appellation, Rosso di Montalcino.

While Chianti was being distracted by international grapes such as Cabernet and Merlot, Montalcino stayed ‘pure’ (save a few unscrupulous producers who ignored the rules – but this is Italy, after all).

It’s hard to generalise about Montalcino, simply because prosperity has led to a huge expansion in planted vineyards (production doubled to some 12m bottles in 2009 as a result).

It’s generally warmer and drier than Chianti – protected from southern storms by the extinct Monte Amiata volcano – but with, in the best sites, its more famous rival’s infertile and mineral-rich soils. The ‘Galestro’ stony clay of the northern part of the area is particularly prized.


While Chianti was being distracted by international grapes such as Cabernet and Merlot, Montalcino stayed ‘pure’ (save a few unscrupulous producers who ignored the rules – but this is Italy, after all)


It’s also a bit more open than northern Tuscany’s hilly hinterland, allowing the breeze to get up (the sea is as close as 30km away) and bring fresher conditions and cooler nights to the best vineyards. All these factors are crucial to producing wines of great complexity and balance.

These natural advantages are refined and moderated by a vast number of variables: the southern part is hotter and more humid despite the protection of Amiata, suffering heat stress and higher alcohol in years like 2011. If you like your Sangiovese rich, warm and powerful, this is the place to go.

Further north, the Galestro combines with cooler temperatures and, in the west especially, a stronger maritime influence to produce wines of heady perfume – still powerful, but with a restraint, elegance and refinement which is, for many, the ultimate expression of Montalcino greatness. But, in cool years, the grapes here may struggle to ripen.

The great vintages are where it all comes together and each part of this vineyard patchwork reaches its greatest potential. One such year was 1997 – it really kickstarted the Montalcino craze in the US – and this year sees the release of another: 2010. Taste the best southern Brunellos from 2010 and you’ll find a richer, sweeter profile, for sure, but one with beautiful aromatic character and texture; taste the best northern wines and there’s an understated power to back up the finesse and delicacy.

And the Moscadello? You can still find it – and some of it’s rather good. But we should probably all be grateful that it never quite made it big in America.

Words: Staff

Taste the best southern Brunellos from 2010 and you’ll find a richer, sweeter profile with aromatic character


The Information

Castello Banfi Poggio all’Oro Riserva 2010:
Not released yet, but worth waiting for – marrying the characteristic ripe warmth of a south-facing, southern vineyard with great precision and elegance. A joy with a hearty scottiglia Tuscan stew.

Caprili Brunello di Montalcino 2010
(Around £30, various US stockists). The scandal here is the lack of a UK importer (Caprili used to work with Laytons, but now focuses more on the US). Heady perfume, developed fruit. Smoked meat, spice, followed by mid-palate weight and poise and a supple finish. A big wine – traditional but still precise.

Altesino Montosoli Brunello di Montalcino 2010
(£65, Millésima). Arguably Montalcino’s ultimate single vineyard wine, Montosoli is elegance personified, content to let its underlying power remain in the background while it charms the pants off you with its beguiling fruit and aromatic character.

Capanna Brunello di Montalcino 2009
(£223/case, Fine + Rare). Don’t let 2010 overshadow other Brunello vintages. From this traditional producer – using lots of big Slavonian oak – comes this absolute delight from the (now) overlooked 2009 vintage. Opulent fruit, lifted, fresh character and beautifully integrated. Drink this in a few years while the longer-lived 2010s are still in their infancy.


This article was originally published in Halcyon magazine in 2015


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