Bravo, Brunello

October 29, 2022

Montalcino, Italy

The Montalcino region yields many premium products: truffles, olive oil, honey, pecorino cheese, ancient grains, and saffron. But the most important product is wine. We were told there are over 200 wineries in the Montalcino region. Most of them are small, family-run operations. Most of them grow Sangiovese grapes.

When we arrived in Montalcino, we noticed that 40% of the local businesses in this small town were wine shops. Another 40% were wine bars (or enotecas), and the final 20% was everything else. It was hard to believe how many wine shops there are here. This town is truly all about wine. All about Brunello, to be exact. There seems to be a Brunello mania in the air here.

The most famous of the local wines is Brunello di Montalcino, a red DOCG wine made from 100% Sangiovese grapes. It is very highly regarded in Italy, and we kept hearing about it, so we decided a wine tour would be just the thing. 

We managed to connect with Nadia, a guide who lives in Montalcino, for our tour. We started out at the nearby Canapaccia Winery. Nadia filled us in on the Montalcino region and its wine-producing history. She then explained to us the history of Brunello, its rise to fame, production methods, and more.

Next, the owner of the winery  gave us a tour and explained each step of the wine-making process. It is a very labor-intensive series of steps. The vines are carefully nurtured and only a small number of bunches of grapes are permitted to grow to maturity on each vine. They are hand-picked and must be processed within a few days. It takes at least 5 years to produce each vintage of Brunello, but it may take longer. During that time the wine is carefully checked to make sure the temperature is correct. It starts out in stainless steel tanks, but is moved to barrels for a short time. Before it absorbs too much of the oak flavor from the barrels, the wine is moved to large oak casks, so that the area with which the liquid comes in contact is relatively smaller. This keeps the liquid from absorbing too much of the oak flavor.

Then we enjoyed a real treat. We had lunch on the deck of the winery. The view was spectacular.

Ken and I were the only guests, so we had excellent service. And the food was amazing.

Bruschetta

A happy camper

“Pici” - hand-made pasta with beef

Some delicious beef pot roast with an Italian name and wine-flavored sauce

This was also our chance to drink as much Brunello as we wanted. We were also served some Rosso di Montalcino. It turns out that Rosso is the same grape as Brunello, but it’s allowed to be bottled and sold after aging for only two years.

Ken and I both liked the Rosso better than the Brunello. Both were very smooth, but the Rosso had less of the tannin bitterness.

Next up, Piombaia, a “biodynamic” winery. Biodynamic is a step or two above organic. In addition to not using chemical fertilizers and insecticides, this farm has adopted additional measures to reduce carbon footprint and minimize waste.

• They use compost to fertilize their vines. 
• They plant various greens and grasses between the vines. Some of the greens have deep roots that help to break up the soil and allow water to penetrate. Some are good at adding nitrogen.
• Horses are allowed to graze between the rows of vines. They provide manure, they manage the greens, and their hooves turn over the earth more gently than a much heavier tractor.
  
  
  
• Only natural yeast is used in fermentation.
• Fermentation vats are not temperature-controlled.
• At some point in the process, an earthenware vat is used, but I did not catch the details.
  
  
  

This is a relatively new winery, and it seems they are still figuring things out. Their Rosso and Brunello were more expensive than those produced by Canapaccia, and a lot less smooth.

Our final stop was a saffron business. It was quite interesting. Saffron comes from the stamen of the crocus flower. The owners of the business grow thousands of crocus bulbs and pick the flowers by hand.  The harvest season is going on now, so we were able to see the flowers and the process of removing and drying the stamens. Again, this was something that had to be done by hand. We also got to taste some saffron-flavored honey. It was so good.

Thanks for a wonderful tour, Nadia.

 

Today’s color is Burgundy.