While there is some debate about the worth and quality of Tuscan and “Super Tuscan” wines, it seems no one will debate the merit of a Brunello di Montalcino. This precious wine is world renown, and specifically hails from this small area of Southern Tuscany, in the province of Sienna: Montalcino.
Montalcino
A perfect medieval fairytale town perched atop a hill with surrounding walls and a central fortress. Adorn it with olive groves, rolling hills of flowers, and line the streets with cypress trees. Result? You might just have the perfect village.
Catch it at sunset, and it gets even better.
Brunello di Montalcino
Brunello di Montalcino is a wine only made in the Montalcino region, and is regaled world-wide as one of Italy’s best wines. The wine is made of 100% Sangiovese grapes, though these grapes from the Montalcino region are felt to be unique as they have adapted to the unique terroir of the area. Montalcino is one of Tuscany’s warmest and driest areas, producing a full and age-worthy wine.
What makes Brunello so expensive? For one, the wine must be aged a minimum of 5 years, with at least 24 months in barrels and 4 months in bottles before its release (or the winemaker could face imprisonment for up to 6 years!). It is also generally in smaller production than some of the other better known Italian wines.
Thankfully, Brunello has a baby cousin named Rossi di Montalcino. This wine is also made from 100% Sangiovese grapes but only requires a few months of aging. This allows wineries to release a wine for cash flow while waiting for their Brunello to age, or even to release a Brunello as a Rosso earlier if it’s not aging as expected. The upside? These “baby Brunello’s” are a fraction of the price, yet still very delicious!
Borgo Canalicchio di Sopra
Since this region of Tuscany is known for, and is very proud of, its wine, we decided to spend our week staying at a winery: Borgo Canalicchio di Sopra. This was a real highlight of the trip! The winery has multi-bedroom villas with views of the vineyards and a beautiful pool nestled among the vines. We spent days relaxing by the pool with the kids, who ran among the grape vines and ate fruit off the trees. We cooked local pasta dishes at home, or ventured into Montalcino for some world class dining.
The family-friendly nature of Italy is perfectly summed up in our experience of asking the winery staff for a dinner recommendation for our two families (including three children under the age of 5). They set up the reservation without a word and handed us a note with an address. When we showed up, we entered a fancy wine bar with floor to ceiling shelves of wine bottles surrounding every table. We nervously sat our children as far from the wine bottles as possible, thinking this couldn’t be the right place for us. But, before we knew it, the restaurant staff swooped in, welcomed us happily and started offering us menu recommendations the kids would love while serving us fantastic bottles of wine. No one batted an eye at our gaggle of toddlers at such as sophisticated eatery. We had a wonderful meal and a wonderful time!
Of course there are numerous wineries to visit in the area, but we visited our own at Borgo Canalicchio di Sopra. We were able to learn about and sample the regional wines. I was able to taste their local olive oil, which was also a pleasure to try.
