What is Brunello di Montalcino??
About Italian wine, there are many labels and its own tradition. Today we would like to introduce one of the Kings of red wine in Italy: Brunello di Montalcino.
Brunello di Montalcino is one Italy's most famous and prestigious wines. In Tuscany, its homeland, it shares the top spot with only the highly-prized.
All Brunello di Montalcino wine is made exclusively from Sangiovese grapes grown on the slopes around Montalcino – a classic Tuscan hilltop village 20 miles (30km) south of Siena. In the Montalcino terroir Sangiovese vines grow particularly large berries, which led it to be dubbed Sangiovese Grosso ('fat Sangiovese'), and later Brunello (hence the official name of the modern-day wine).
In 1980, Brunello di Montalcino was awarded the first Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) designation and today is one of Italy's best-known and most expensive wines
Brunello Taste Profile
Tasting Notes: Preserved sour cherry, dried oregano, aged balsamic, red pepper flake, brick, and, with age, fig, sweet tobacco, espresso, and leather.
Brunello is has a much darker in color than Barolo with a rich brilliant red hue on the rim. It is at first juicy and spicy, with herbaceous notes of oregano, and balsamic that lead into flavors of cherry and leather. The tannin is high, but not quite as high as Barolo. And, with time, Brunello softens out and becomes pale and brick red with aromas of fig, carob, sweet tobacco and espresso. For this reason, most professional tasters recommend drinking Brunello after 10 years, but there is also a Riserva Brunello that is aged at least 6 years before release.
Brunello di Montalcino must be bottled in the Bordeaux-styled bottle.
