Brunello di Montalcino is made from the Sangiovese grape, a variety traditionally referred to as Brunello in this area. The regulations governing wine production dictate that the maximum production of grapes per hectare must be less than 8 tons/ha (approximately 52 hl/ha of wine). It also dictates the date of the wine being released onto the market, which is January 1st of the fifth year after harvesting. During this long period, the wine must spend at least two years in wooden barrels and age at least four months in the bottle. The Riserva wine must age at least 6 months in the bottle, and is released a year later onto the market.

Rosso di Montalcino DOC is proof of the great versatility of the Montalcino terroir, as it is made from the same Sangiovese variety, but is a red wine to be enjoyed earlier. In fact, Rosso di Montalcino is introduced to the market on the September 1st following the year of harvest. Starting with the 1984 vintage, it attained DOC status. Rosso di Montalcino is particularly fresh and fruity, and a valid alternative both for the cellar master and the consumer.

A decisive step toward completing the Montalcino production pyramid was taken when the last DOC was introduced: Sant'Antimo. Starting with the 1996 vintage, this DOC includes both white and red wines and must include the grape variety.
Moscadello di Montalcino is a white DOC dessert wine.

This wine has been produced for many years in Montalcino; even the 18th century Neoclassical Italian poet Ugo Foscolo mentioned it in one of his letters. Thanks to some enthusiastic vignerons, it is experiencing a new season. All of the varieties of Moscadello – Tranquillo (Still), Frizzante (Sparkling), and Vendemmia Tardiva (Late Harvest) – are made from Moscato grapes.

Brunello di Montalcino is a visibly limpid, brilliant wine, with a bright garnet colour. It has an intense perfume, persistent, ample and ethereal. One can recognize scents of undergrowth, aromatic wood, berries, light vanilla and jam.
To the taste the wine has an elegant harmonious body, vigorous and racy, it is dry with a lengthy aromatic persistence.

Because of its characteristics, Brunello can be aged for a long time, improving as the years go by. It is not easy to determine exactly for how many years it improves. It depends on the vintage. It varies from a minimum of 10 years to around 30 years, but it can be kept for even longer. Naturally it must be kept in the right way: in a cool cellar, but above all with a constant temperature, in the dark, without noises and smells; the bottles should be laid horizontally.

Production area
Historical borders of the Municipality of Montalcino   
Variety
Sangiovese (also called “Brunello” in Montalcino)
Maximum yield of grapes
80 quintals per hectare
Ratio of grape yield to wine
68%
Minimum aging in wood
2 years in oak. Minimum aging in bottles: 4 months
(6 months for the Riserva)
Colour
intense ruby red tending towards garnet as it ages
Odour
characteristic intense perfume
Taste
dry, warm, lightly tannic, robust and harmonious

Minimum alcohol content
12.5% Vol.
Minimum total acidity
5 g/lt
Minimum net dry extract
26 g/lt
Bottling
can only be done with the production area
Ready to be sold
cannot be released for consumption before 1 January of the year following the end of the fifth year calculated in consideration of the year of harvest (6 years for the Riserva)
Packaging
Brunello di Montalcino can only be sold if it is in Bordelaise shaped bottles

The elegance and the harmonious body of this wine allow for accompaniments of well structured and composite dishes such as red meats, game – both feather and fur, possibly accompanied by mushrooms and truffles. It also goes perfectly together with international cuisine dishes with a base of meats and sauces.

Brunello is also an excellent accompaniment for cheeses: seasoned tomes, Tuscan pecorino, structured cheeses. Moreover, because of its characteristics, it can be enjoyed as a meditation wine.

Brunello di Montalcino wine should be served in ample shaped rounded crystal glasses, so as to gather its composite harmonious bouquet. It should be served at a temperature of 18°C-20°C. The very old bottles should be decanted into a crystal jug, in order to oxygenate them better and offer the wine in its total purity.

Montalcino, a land dedicated to quality, does not stop at Brunello in the field of prize wines. Perhaps for this reason, for the first time in Italy, producers from this area were allowed to obtain from the same vineyards, two denomination of origin wines, based on precise technical evaluations: Brunello, destined to age for a long time, and Rosso di Montalcino, a younger wine that combines with its superb structure, attributes of particular vivacity and freshness.

Already appreciated and known with various denominations, Rosso di Montalcino acquired a precise identity and official recognition with its passage to DENOMINATION OF CONTROLLED ORIGIN (D.P.R. 25/11/83 and subsequent modifications).

A valid alternative for the producer, it is also one for the demanding consumer.
Rosso di Montalcino is harmonious, elegant, sapid, not overly exacting but a pleasant accompaniment. To look at is brilliant and limpid with a composite ruby colour; to the nose it has a good intensity and fragrance, in which one recognizes scents of fresh fruit.

To the taste it is harmonious and dry, with vigour and freshness and a good persistence. It is a particularly tempting
wine ready to be drunk. Not to be kept for long, a wine that prefers to be drunk in its youth even if it can be aged.

Its features are exalted by Tuscan dishes with their pure, clear-cut taste, but, equally, it can accompany and enhance the most varied dishes of international cuisine.

It goes well with dishes of medium structure, such as pasta with meat sauce, poultry, mushrooms or truffles, composite risottos; main courses of pork or veal with sauce.

It should be served in crystal glasses for red wines at a temperature of about 18°C.

This dessert wine, as old as it is pleasant and unexpected, comes from a grape that has been grown in Montalcino since time immemorial. Redi praised it in his dithyramb: “That so divine and light moscadelleto of Montalcino”. Numerous historic references in the words of famous figures, testify to the appreciation of Moscadello di Montalcino in Italy and abroad.

Moscadello di Montalcino is produced in three types: Still, Sparkling and Late Harvest. In our day this wine is much appreciated for its characteristic harmony And for its Muscat aroma, which can be expressed in the three types, produced.

The peculiarities of this rare and precious wine have been codified in the disciplinary rules of the DENOMINATION OF CONTROLLED ORIGIN (D.P.R. 13/11/84 and subsequent modifications).

To look at, Moscadello di Montalcino is a faded straw yellow colour for the Sparkling type, which tends to become darker in the Still type and more light golden in the Late Harvest type.

Characteristic odour: it manifests an aroma of balanced, fresh Muscat, with floral nuances for the Late Harvest type. The palate is pleasantly quenched by the sweetness and aromatic harmony of the Still type while the Sparkling type provides the tempting vivacity of a light perlage. The Late Harvest type boasts the velvety elegance and embrace of a dessert wine.

The Still and Sparkling Moscadello di Montalcino should be drunk young, while the Late Harvest type develops its best expression as the years go by.