Brunello di Montalcino, the king wine of Tuscany!

Steps towards better wine quality production in Italy began in the 1980's with the creation of the DOCG, denominazione di origine controllata e garantita.  This designation had stricter regulations for producers to make wines in order to be granted this status.  The first wine granted the DOCG was Brunello di Montalcino.  The others DOCG's to follow included Vino Nobile di Montepulciano from Tuscany, discussed in the prior blog, and the Piedmont regions with the wines known as Barolo and Barbaresco.  

About Brunello wines

Brunello is made from a clone of Sangiovese, but it is not blended  with other grapes though as Vino Nobile and Chianti can be. It also requires additional aging requirements, four years with at least two of those years in oak barrels.  Brunello Riserva wines requires five years of aging with at least half of that in oak. In this part of Tuscany, Montalcino tends to be a little warmer, creating wines that have a deeper, richer flavor profile showing fuller bodied versions of Sangiovese.

Biondi Santi of Montalcino

One of the biggest producers in this region that helped to make Brunello what it is today is the producer Biondi Santi, which I'm hoping I'll be able to stop and visit while there. In the late 19^th century he planted Sangiovese in his vineyards. At this time many folks were only drinking light style Chianti and sweeter wines. He let the skins macerate with the juice and then aged the wines at a time when this was unheard of. They didn't even have a road out to Montalcino until the 1960's. Due to his efforts he paved the way for this amazing wine to be what it is today.

The ageworthiness of Brunello

Brunello is a highly ageworthy wine.  These wines can age over 40 years! I myself have some that I brought back to the states years ago that have been aging at least 15 years at this point.  It is recommended you don't drink Brunello for at least 10 years, but if you did it sooner you will definitely want to decant it. These wines need the time to settle down from their youth and develop further in the bottle. As a society we typically don't have the patience and are  usually grabbing a bottle to enjoy that night.  

 

The best part about opening these bottles years later are the memories that are revisited from the times spent at the winery. Do yourself a favor and splurge one day, hold on to the wine and open it years from now for a special occasion and you will experience a treat.

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Pictures copyright of Consorzio Tutela Vini Soave 

All about Chianti including laws, sangiovese and territorities

Probably one of the most known wines in all of Italy is Chianti. If you have ever been to Tuscany you have experienced utter beauty with it's rolling hills, cypress trees, olives groves and never ending row of vines.   

Chianti, along with it's many different mutations, is definitely one of my favorites, along with the wines from Piedmont that I will cover another time. Chianti been around since B.C. and has changed so much over the years, especially in recent decades. Some of you may remember Chianti from the old straw bottles known as fiasco, but some say to stay clear from those as it demonstrates some of the older production of Chianti and it has come so far over the years that there are many better wines to explore.

For those of you that don't know, Chianti is made up of the sangiovese grape, but there are many other mutations of sangiovese such as Brunello, known for making one of the highest quality wines in all of Italy, Brunello di Montalcino. Prugnolo Gentile is another, typically known for making Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, as well as some other mutations such as, Morellino and Sangioveto. The variety of these styles along with different soils and elevations throughout the region produce many different styles of Chianti.

There are a couple different designations like Chianti Classico DOCG, which are all the wines produced in the regions between Florence and Siena. The Chianti Classico area's main communes are Greve, Radda, Gaiole and Castellina. There is also Chianti DOCG, which are for all the other winemaking regions that come from 6 subzones. If it's outside those zones it will just say Chianti, otherwise you'll see these subzones listed on the label: Chianti Colli Pisane (Pisa area), Chianti Colli Fiorentini (Florence area), Chiantii Colli Senesi (Siena area), Chianti Colli Aretini (Arezzo area), Chianti Montalbano (NW area of Tuscany) and the most popular and known to be the best quality, Chianti Rufina.

Chianti can be made up of 100% sangiovese, but at least 75% must be sangiovese. The rest can be up to 15% red with canaiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and up to 6% white, usually malvasia and trebbiano. Chianti riserva have a requirement of aging at least 27 months and being 12.5% without any white grapes blended. Most Chiantis are medium bodied, with a lot of cherry notes and tartness. There is usually mid to high acidity along with some tannin. You may even get some tobacco notes.

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Rosso di Montepulciano from Dei winery

As many of you know I am getting married in Italy in October.  I  wanted to write about some of the various towns that I will be visiting, including Montepulciano featured today.

Piazza Grande - Montepulciano

Last weekend I went out to eat in the seaport at Salvatore's in Boston and enjoyed a bottle of Dei Rosso di Montepulciano.  Two famous wines produced in this area include Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Rosso di Montepulciano. 

Rosso di Montepulciano and Vino Nobile are made up of at least 70% of the Sangiovese grape clone, Prugnolo Gentile. For those of you that don't know, Sangiovese is the primary grape used in making Chianti. Don't confuse these wines today with the grape Montepulciano. That actually comes from the Abruzzo region.

What are the differences between Vino Nobile di Montepulciao and Rosso di Montepulciano?

Some of the biggest differences between Vino Nobile and Rosso di Montepulciano are the aging requirements and yields.  Rosso di Montepulcianno is aged in a much shorter time for about 6 months where Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is required to be aged at least 2 years with at least 6 months in the bottle. Riservas age for 3+ years. There are usually larger yields for Rosso compared to Vino Nobile and the vines are typically younger. With that comes cost as typically Rosso di Montepulciano are less money than Vino Nobile.  Vino Nobile earned DOCG status back in 1980 while Rosso is DOC status. 

Some big producers to keep an eye out from this region are Avignonesi, Poderi Boscarelli, Contucci, La Braccesca, Dei and Poliziano. I have visited a couple of these estates in the past and their quality was fantastic! 

Pairings with Rosso di Montepulciano and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

 

Tuscany in general, especially around this area, is known for

their Bistecca alla Fiorentina. It's from the white chianina cows and is served rare. I'm not one for rare meat, but it's phenomenal. Enjoy it with some of these great wines and the experience is a complete joy!

bistecca alla fiorentina -  sourced from Flickr

If you have visited this region leave a comment with where you have been and what you have enjoyed. I love to hear of recommendations and experiences.

alleys of Montepulciano

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