When talking about Italian wine there is one grape that is grown across the country that is hugely important to the wine culture, Sangiovese. Sangiovese is a grape that goes by many different names and can make a range of wines. The grape is most famous in Tuscany for being the primary grape in the wines of Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Brunello di Montalcino.

The last wine, Brunello di Montalcino, Brunello for short, is widely considered to be the best form of Sangiovese across the Italian peninsula. Hailing the sunny hills of south-central Tuscany around the village of Montalcino, Brunello is a wine that highlights a more powerful side of Sangiovese. While some Chianti and other Sangiovese based wines can show off a light and almost ephemeral side of the grape, Brunello is about strength. These are wines that have a lot of structure behind them, typically high in tannin and acid, they show off darker fruit aromas and can be incredibly long lived. Brunello can be a great transition into Sangiovese and Italian wine in general for folks who are used to drinking Napa Valley Cabs.

Brunello also has one of the longest aging requirements of any wine, wines must legally be aged for four years at the winery, two of which must be in barrel. That means that the youngest Brunello you will find on the market today is a 2019 vintage (typically wines arrive in the US in spring of what would be the fifth year of aging). Now, these Brunellos may already be aged for you a bit, they can live much longer. Many Brunellos are expected to peak in quality around the fifteen to twenty year mark, with many capable of aging for even longer! Don’t let that dissuade you, young Brunello can be a wonderful drinking experience, just try to give your wine some time to open, whether that is in a decanter, or just by popping the cork a bit early.

So, you’ve gone through the whole process, you’ve either aged your Brunello or are letting it open up in a decanter, now what to pair it with? Brunello is certainly a wine to go with hearty food, mushrooms, red meat and game are particularly popular. There is an adage "what grows together goes together" so we would suggest a great Italian inspired dish like a ragu with beef, or venison, but as always drinking what you like, with what you enjoy eating!

No matter the plan, whether it is to lay down a few bottles, or crack it tonight, the next time you are looking for a nice bottle of wine we’d suggest reaching for a great Brunello!