Geography

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG sits around the hill town of Montalcino, about 25 miles south of Siena. The vineyards run between 150 and 550 metres of elevation across a complex geology of clay, limestone, schist, and galestro (a friable shale). The climate is significantly warmer and drier than the rest of Tuscany — Montalcino sits in a rain shadow created by Monte Amiata to the south. The combination of warm sun, dramatic diurnal temperature swings, and varied soils produces concentrated, structured Sangiovese.

The aging rules

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG mandates 100% Sangiovese (locally called Brunello, an older synonym) and at least five years of aging before release — including a minimum two years in oak. Brunello Riserva requires six years of aging. This makes Brunello one of the most strictly regulated long-aging appellations in Italy, and a typical Brunello on the shelf is already five years old by the time you buy it.

Style of the wines

Brunello di Montalcino: dark red and black cherry, plum, dried fig, leather, tobacco, espresso, sometimes a graphite-and-iron mineral spine. Compared to Chianti Classico Riserva (the other great Sangiovese expression), Brunello is more concentrated, more structured, and more age-worthy. Tannin is firm; acid is bright; alcohol typically 14-15%. Top examples need at least a decade to integrate.

How they age

Brunello from a great vintage ages thirty years routinely. Brunello Riserva from a top producer can run forty-fifty. The 2010, 2007, 2006, 2004, 1997, 1990, 1985 are legendary. Biondi-Santi — the family that effectively invented Brunello as a category in the late 19th century — produces wines that age longest of all.

Producers we know

Biondi-Santi (the historical and stylistic reference — the family’s Tenuta Greppo is the spiritual home of Brunello), Soldera (the cult biodynamic producer, technically outside the DOCG since 2012 and bottled as IGT — we have a small allocation), Poggio di Sotto, Casanova di Neri, Cerbaiona, Salvioni, Conti Costanti, Il Marroneto.