Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
The Town Of Montalcino & Brunello
Brunello di Montalcino the hills around the Tuscan town of Montalcino produce some of the most expensive and sought after wines in Italy, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. In fact, in 1980, Brunello became the first ever area to be awarded DOCG status (if you’re not sure what this means look at my post on Italian Wine Terms.
Brunello, Mainly Small Producers
The area in which Brunello di Montalcino can be grown is a rough square shape with Montalcino located in the north east of the square, it is about 16km across, there are around 250 producers, of whom one third own less than three hectares of vineyard. The production is limited, around 6.5 million bottles are produced each year.
Sangiovese Grosso
The grape used to make Brunello is a particular sangiovese clone, brunello or sangiovese grosso, which has a high level of polyphenols and tannin in the skin.
The Soil Around Montalcino
The soils here are chalk and schist, a combination of grape, microclimate, soil and elevation mean that the wines here are highly structured and suitable for lengthy ageing.
What Are The Rules For Making Brunello di Montalcino?
Brunello is made from 100% sangiovese grosso grapes, has been grown in the DOCG area, has to spend at least two years in oak and cannot be released until 50 months after the harvest. If you come across a bottle labelled Riserva, it will have spent three years in oak.
Within The Brunello DOCG Zone
There are four distinct areas within the DOCG zone, north, east, south and west.
The Northern Brunello Zone
The north facing slope has the widest change in temperature and limestone soil known as crete. The wines made here are robust and packed with aroma, in the mouth they have noticeable minerality and acidity.
The Western Brunello Zone
The western facing slope has a warm climate mitigated by winds blowing in from the Mediterranean, the wines here are noted for their minerality and longevity.
The Eastern Brunello Zone
The eastern slopes are the coldest and the grapes take longer to mature on the vine, producing wines that are highly structured with lively acidity and decisive tannins.
The Southern Brunello Zone
The southern slopes produces wines with the highest alcohol content thanks to the lower rainfall and higher temperatures.
Brunello Winemaking Styles
In addition to the variation caused by terroir, there are two distinct winemaking styles, some producers opt for ageing in botte, the traditional larger barrels, which give a more subtle oak influence whilst others use smaller barriques.
The Traditional Brunello Style
Traditional style Brunello di Montalcino has a intense garnet colour (an orange tinted red) with earthy aromas along with leather and tobacco. In the mouth it has a good acidic backbone and important tannins.
The Modern Style Of Brunello
Modern Brunellos have a deep ruby colour with intense aromas of fruit and sweet spice, they tend to be softer and less austere. As I mentioned above, they are aged in smaller barrels called barriques.
Rosso di Montalcino
The other red wine that you’re likely come across from Montalcino is Rosso di Montalcino DOC, this is made with 100% sangiovese grosso but aged for less time than the Brunelloi.
Other Montalcino Wines
Sant’Antimo DOC is a very flexible denomination that allows for several types of wine including red and white wines. It seems that was introduced in 1996 so that local winemakers could experiment with grapes other than sangiovese grosso without releasing such wines under the IGT or VdT classifications. Moscadello di Montalcino is DOC, a sweet wine made with moscato grapes.
Chianti Colli Senesi DOCG?
The Brunello DOCG area overlaps with a part of Chianti Colli Senesi DOCG, however, you are unlikely to find a wine made under this denomination as most producers will be attracted by the high price of Brunello di Montalcino DOCG.