Tuscany

DOCG for dry red wine in the wine-growing region of Tuscany in Italy. The zone includes the slopes around the town of Montalcino, which is picturesquely located on a hill, 40 kilometres south of Siena in the province of the same name. The wine consists of 100% of the Brunello grape, a variant of Sangiovese, which was created by selection of specific vines on the Il Greppo estate owned by the Biondi-Santi family, beginning in 1870. Clemente Santi was the first to produce a wine from these grapes in 1865, „Vino Rosso Scelto“. Ferruccio Biondi-Santi – the grandson of the „inventor“ – continued selecting vines, and planted most of his vineyards with them. He first produced a wine called „Brunello“ in 1888 and 1891, however documents show that this name was actually already used in the 14th century. He left the wine to mature in large barrels of Slavonian oak for several years. A few bottles of these legendary vintages are still available in the cellar. The next two generations of the family (Feruccios son Tancredi, and his son Franco) proceeded to make the wine world-famous. It also gained its cult status from the fact that by 1945 only four vintages had been produced, the initial vintages of 1888 and 1891 mentioned above, as well as 1925 and 1945. Apart from the outstanding quality, this was another reason for the exorbitantly high prices. The estate had the exclusive privilege of producing this wine for many decades, the name Brunello was only used by the Biondi-Santi family until after the Second World War. There were no more than 25 producers until well into the 1970’s, and most of the production still came from the original estate. Today there are some 200 producers of Brunello di Montalcino. The total vineyard area was only around 60 hectares in 1960, this expanded to just on 700 hectares by 1980, the current figure is around 1.500 hectares of vineyards. This expansion has also contributed to the current situation in which there is a wide range of variation in the quality produced.

Together with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano (also from Tuscany) it is one of the two wines to bet he first to be awarded DOCG status in 1980. Brunello is one of the most famous and most highly rated red wines in Italy. The specific climate is an important quality factor, as it is both warmer and dried than in the nearby Chianti areas, and the nichts are cooled. The regulations require a minimum alcohol content of 12,5% vol, but for most producers 13,5% are much more usual. In the past 50 years, the required minimum maturation time has been drastically reduced. In 1960, 42 months maturation in large barrels of Slavonian oak were still prescribed, this was reduced to 36 months in 1990, and further reduced to 24 months in 1998. The total maturation time in barrel plus bottle is still set at a minimum of 48 months. This means that the wine is released to the trade on the 1st of January of the fourth year following on the harvest (used to be the sixth year), while Riservas are now released as of the beginning of the fifth year (used to be the seventh year). Together with a trend to reduced yields comes a trend towards increased amturation in barriques, a fashion not appreciated by all experts. The wine has an intense ruby colour, a bouquet of aromatic wood, frui, vanilla and jam, it has a dry taste dominated by tannins. In its youth, the wine is hard and not approachable, it takes years to develop. It has an extemely long maturation potential, in a Riserva it will often only reach ist peak after 25 years. Well-known producers include Abbadia Ardenga, Altesino, Argiano, Castello Banfi, Barbi, Biondi-Santi, Campogiovanni, Caparzo, Caprili, Casanova di Neri, Castelgiocondo (owned by Frescobaldi), Ciacci Piccolomini d´Aragona, Col d´Orcia, Coldisole, Costanti, Ferrero, Fuligini, La Serena, Lisini, Martinozzi, Piccolomini, Pieve Santa Restituta, Poggio Antico, Poggio di Sotto, Poggione, Salvioni, Scopetone, Siro Pacenti, Talenti, Tenuta La Fuga, Tenute Silvio Nardi, Valdicava and Vasco Sassetti. Other DOC wines produced in the Montalcino area are Moscadello di Montalcino (white wine), Rosso di Montalcino (red wine) and Sant´Antimo (red and white wine).