Brunello di Montalcino

At an altitude of 6 or 700 metres (1,800 or 2,100 feet), the town of Montalcino in Tuscany dominates an area of vineyards which seem all to be exposed to the intense sun. Brunello is one of the grand wines of Italy and the Cooperativa dei Coltivatori di Brunello makes sure that all the wines bearing the name are worthy of it. Every year they present the new vintage to the national press and it is remarkable how every producer of Brunello would go to the barricades to defend the reputation of the wine. The Sangiovese Grosso grape used for making Brunello gives a very aristocratic wine able to age for a long time, up to fifty years. Due to the care they take to make it and to the esteemed (and valuable) reputation, the wine is produced only in the best years, omitting a year if the quality of the wine wasn’t good enough. To be saleable the wine has to be at least 4 years old, of which 3 is spent in wooden barrels. The Brunello aged for 5 years can have the name riserva added to the label. This is an ideal and very fine wine to drink with roast and grilled meat of any kind, especially game -locally wild boar is abundant.