Brunello di Montalcino: Wine guide and tasting notes

Brunello di Montalcino is a big, Italian red wine known for its full body, rich texture and long finish. It comes from a small hilltop city in the central Italian region of Tuscany and has dark notes of black cherry, raspberry and currant, with aromas of wild herbs and leather in its flavor profile. This is a delicious Sangiovese based wine that you’ll often find has hints of oak as well. That’s because Brunello has the longest minimum aging requirements of any red wine produced in Italy.*

Brunellos are excellent wines for pairing with steak and other meat dishes including the Italian Bistecca Fiorentina, a thick cut T-bone steak, traditionally served rare with salt, pepper and olive oil. You can also pair Brunello di Montalcino with veal and lamb dishes, but it’s not the best wine for lighter food like pasta and pizza, which would go better with a medium-bodied red.

Because Brunello di Montalcino is higher in tannins and has more structure, it’s a wine that ages well and can be put in your wine cellar for 10-15 years or more, depending on the vintage (the most recently released vintages are 2018 and 2019). Of note, it was one of the first wines from Italy to receive a DOC, followed by a DOCG Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita quality standard certification.

Look for Brunello in fine wine shops and large retail stores. You can usually get a quality bottle in the $55 to $90 range. Brunello is not a large, commercially produced wine and you’ll find most bottles come from smaller estates and hillside vineyards, where the local terroir influences the unique character of the wine.

*Most Brunellos spend a minimum of two years in oak and four years total between oak and bottle before release.

The latest on Brunello di Montalcino

The rigid wine laws relating to Brunello production and labeling have changed a bit in recent years thanks in part to Poggio Antico. An elite producer of Brunello, they started experimenting with part of their stock, giving the wine one less year in the barrel. The goal was to retain more freshness and fruit in the wine. Originally, the Brunello consortium ruled the wine could not be sold as Brunello, that was until the fresher style proved highly popular within the wine market! Eventually, the law was changed, lessening the amount of time required in wood prior to bottling.

Brunello vs Chianti

You may be familiar with Tuscany because of Chianti and Chianti Classico, two of the most famous red wines from Italy which are also Sangiovese-based and come from a neighboring area. The difference with Brunello, is it is made from a mutation of the Sangiovese grape that has larger and thicker-skinned berries than the traditional varietal. It follows that Brunellos are fuller and bigger bodied wines than Chiantis, with more tannins and a deeper color. Brunello di Montalcino also has to be 100% Sangiovese, whereas Chiantis can have other varietals in the blend.

More on the Brunello di Montalcino region

The part of Tuscany where Brunello di Montalcino comes from is a bit further inland and slightly south from Chianti. It has a warmer climate too, which gives the wine deeper fruit notes.

Some vineyards are higher up, as this wine is grown on the slopes surrounding the hilltop city of Montalcino. There are also vineyards in the surrounding lowlands. The location of a vineyard can influence how much wind and sunlight the grapes get, as well as average temperatures and moisture levels. Soils can also vary between limestone, sandstone and clay, which gives subtle differences to the wines

You won’t necessarily know by examining a bottle label where the grapes came from. That’s why we recommend exploring different wines from a variety of producers and noting down their unique qualities. Some will be more elegant, others lean with firm tannins, and still others with lower acidity and concentrated fruit. These variations are all due to differences in the local terroir.

More on Sangiovese Grosso

Brunello is made from a mutation of the Sangiovese grape. The exact varietal is called Sangiovese Grosso with grosso meaning large in Italian. Sangiovese Grosso is a late-ripening varietal with good tannins, high acidity and flavors of red and black cherries, black raspberry, strawberries and plums. It also tends to give earthy tones of violet, herbs and leather.

3 Reasons to try a Brunello di Montalcino

1. You’d be hard pressed to find a bad bottle. What we like most about Brunello di Montalcino is its consistent quality among producers.
2. These wines aren’t overly tannic. They have a good balance of fruit and acidity and are full bodied and full flavored.
3. They’re the perfect choice for a dinner out – especially if you’re going to a steakhouse!

Brunello Riservas

A Riserva wine is the highest quality tier of Brunello and has longer aging requirements, with a minimum of five years total, and two in oak, before release. Producers tend to hold onto Riserva wines longer before release, so current vintages range from 2015 – 2018. It’s also not a given that every year will have a Riserva as these wines are only made with the best grapes from exceptional years. Riservas have a rich texture and may be higher in alcohol with more deeply concentrated fruit.

Are there differences between producers?

Some use large slovenian barrels for aging their wines, which is the more traditional method. Others use French barriques, which are smaller. Castello Banfi is one of the easiest Brunello di Montalcinos to find in the US and they tend to rely on a combination of both approaches for their wines.

DOC and DOCG Certification

Italy’s wine certifications of DOC and DOCG are clearly stated on a wine bottle’s label and refer to both the classification of the region, as well as the growing and production standards applied to the grapes themselves. When you buy these wines, you know they’re highly regulated and will be of a certain quality standard. DOCG is reserved for the highest quality wines and has more rigid standards that winemakers must meet.

Rosso di Montalcino

Rosso means red in Italian and a Rosso di Montalcino is no surprise, a red wine from the Montalcino region of Tuscany, Italy. It’s related to and has some of the characteristics of a Brunello, but is a younger wine meant for drinking early. In fact, Rosso di Montalicino tends to be the second wine of the estate and is usually made up of fruit that doesn’t quite meet the standards a producer might have for a Brunello. The grapes can come from younger vines where the concentration isn’t as intense and wouldn’t stand up to the oak aging requirements of Brunello.

Top Wine Tip: Rosso di Montalcino is an easier wine to drink and is released a year after harvest. You can also find it at a lower price point. Expect to pay $20-30 for a Rosso di Montalcino.

Food pairing suggestions

Brunello di Montalcino is a big wine that complements grilled and braised meat, from steak to short-ribs, lamb chops and lamb shank. It makes an excellent pairing for veal or lamb osso buco, which is a traditional dish from Italy where meat is slow-cooked so the marrow blends into a red wine sauce (the sauce is cooked with herbs and a touch of citrus peel). After American Cabernets, Brunellos are the second most popular wines sold in steakhouses across the US.

Other big reds from Italy

Brunello di Montalcino from Tuscany is often referred to as one of Italy’s three kings of red wines, the other two being Barolo from the Piemonte and Amarone from the Verona area.

• Barolos are made from the Nebbiolo grape and tend to be more tannic and need longer aging times before drinking. They’re lighter in color and are more medium-bodied than a Brunello di Montalcino.
• Amarones are made from partially dehydrated grapes (a process known as ripasso) and the resulting wine is richer, higher in alcohol and has more heavy and concentrated cherry fruit than a Brunello.