Wine route
Brunello and Rosso loop
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Open the driveTuscany · DOCG
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Tuscany's Long-Aged Sangiovese Red Wine
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG is Tuscany's long-aged Sangiovese, from the hills around Montalcino. It is built for structure, savoury cherry fruit and patient cellaring. Oak ageing and a late release give it a firm, polished frame. It belongs in the company of Barolo, Taurasi and Chianti Classico Riserva.
251
Wines live now
£23-£1,850
Price range today
28
UK retailers
Decode the label
What the label tells you
One word on the front changes the ageing, the strength and the price.
On the label
Brunello di Montalcino
the Annata, five years in the making
From 1 January of the fifth year after harvest
12.5% minimum alcohol
Sangiovese alone, two of its five years in oak: morello cherry, leather and tea, built to keep going.
In stock from £22.90 See the 175 bottles ↓On the label
Brunello Riserva
a sixth year before release
From 1 January of the sixth year after harvest
6 months in bottle, against the Annata's 4
The same oak minimum with an extra year of patience: kept for the vintages a cellar believes in.
In stock from £25.60 See the 56 bottles ↓The boundary
Where it is
Everything on this page, the estates, the bottles, the sub-zones, sits inside this line.
Estate 1
Castello Banfi
Visit →Montalcino · Southern slope
Tastings available
Denomination
Grapes Used
Estate 2
Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona
Visit →Montalcino · Castelnuovo dell'Abate
Tastings available
Denomination
Grapes Used
Estate 3
Castello di Camigliano
Visit →Montalcino
Tastings available
Denomination
Grapes Used
Estate 4
Ridolfi
Visit →Montalcino
Tastings available
Denomination
Grapes Used
Estate 5
Sesti
Visit →Montalcino
Tastings available
Denomination
Grapes Used
Estate 6
Tenute Silvio Nardi
Visit →Montalcino
Book online
Denomination
Grapes Used
Estate 7
Il Valentiano
Visit →Montalcino
Tastings available
Denomination
Grapes Used
Estate 8
Tenuta Fanti
Visit →Castelnuovo dell'Abate
Tastings available
Denomination
Grapes Used
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG zone
Estates you can visit Wine route in the zoneOutside the zone
One commune, one hill: the zone is the territory of Montalcino alone, some forty kilometres south of Siena, ringed by the valleys of the Ombrone, Asso and Orcia. The hill climbs from river plain to woodland, so a single estate can pick weeks apart between its lowest and highest rows: the northern slopes run cooler and more perfumed, the southern side around Sant'Angelo riper and broader. That spread inside one boundary is why producer and position matter as much as the DOCG initials.
Inside the zone
1
Commune
24
Months in oak, minimum
8 t/ha
Maximum yield
4+
Years before release
Click or tap a pin for its estate. The numbered pins match the estate cards below.
Towns worth knowing
Montalcino
Sant'Angelo in Colle
Castelnuovo dell'Abate
Torrenieri
The hill town and its frazioni are the whole map; Sant'Antimo's abbey marks the south-east corner of the vineyards.
In the glass
What it tastes like
Black cherry
Forest berries
Liquorice
Violet
The disciplinare
The rules that define it
The same table on every denomination page, straight from the production rules.
Grape & its role
Share of the blend
050100%
SangioveseAlone, by law: Montalcino's brown-tinged clone gave the wine its name100%Solid means the rules demand it. Striped means optional, up to that amount. The words on the right say the same rule.
Two years in oak, of any size the rulebook fixes the time, not the barrel: botte grande and barrique both qualify.
No Brunello before 1 January of the fifth year counted from the harvest; Riserva waits until the sixth.
Bottling must happen in Montalcino vinification, ageing and bottling are all confined to the one commune.
A lesser year can step down the same wine may be declassified to Rosso di Montalcino by the cellar's own choice.
A vigna name carries obligations the named vineyard is registered, claimed at harvest, and enrichment is banned.
Ageing and alcohol minimums per tier are in the label guide above.
Editor's cellar
Bottles to try, and what Brunello di Montalcino costs in the UK
Every live Brunello di Montalcino listing, cheapest to dearest
231 wines · 28 retailers
By style, today
Annata
from £22.90
Riserva
from £25.60
Vigna
from £55.82
Live prices, compared across 28 UK retailers.
Cellar doors · inside the zone
Estates you can visit
8 working estates with their gates open, numbered to match their pins on the map above.
Only show
No estates match these filters. Clear a filter to see more.
Experiences in the Brunello di Montalcino zone
Cellar experiences here average around €76. These are the strongest fits for this page.
Tasting & tour
The Cru challenge
Tenute Silvio Nardi
Private tour of the company with visit to the vineyards and aging cellars. Tasting of 6 wines: 2 vintages of Manachiara (Brunello Cru) 2 vin…
1 h 30 From €75 pp
Book via
Winalist
Tasting & tour
30 Years of Brunello
Tenute Silvio Nardi
Private tour of the company with visit to the vineyards and aging cellars. Tasting of 7 wines: -6 vintages of Brunello di Montalcino from th…
2 h From €150 pp
Book via
Winalist
Tasting & tour
Welcome to Tenue Silvio Nardi
Tenute Silvio Nardi
Short tour of the vineyards followed by a visit to the cellars. Tasting of 4 wines, including 2 vintages of our Brunello di Montalcino
1 h From €35 pp
Book via
Winalist
The years
Brunello di Montalcino vintages, 2011-2020
2011
Consorzio: annata ottima
2012
Consorzio: annata eccezionale
2013
Consorzio: annata ottima
2014
Consorzio: annata pregevole
2015
Consorzio: annata eccezionale
2016
Consorzio: annata eccezionale
2017
Consorzio: annata ottima
2018
Consorzio: annata ottima
2019
Consorzio: annata eccezionale
2020
Consorzio: annata eccezionale
Reading the years
2012
Exceptional · 5/5
Consorzio: annata eccezionale
The short version: Five stars for 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2020; 2014 is the one to pass over.
Tap a year for its note.
How Brunello di Montalcino is made
Brunello di Montalcino DOCG must come from Sangiovese grown inside the historic boundaries of the Montalcino town district. The rules allow no other grape, and in Montalcino the vine is called Brunello. The harvest is capped at 80 quintals per hectare, which is 8 tonnes of grapes. No more than 68 percent of that fruit may become wine. Put another way, 100 kilos of grapes may give at most 68 litres. The wine needs at least two years in oak and at least four months in bottle. A Riserva needs six months in bottle. The wine cannot be released before 1 January after five years from harvest, and a Riserva is held one further year. Minimum alcohol is 12.5 percent, and bottling must take place in the production area.
In depth
Montalcino sits south of Siena, on a single hill system between the Ombrone, Asso and Orcia rivers. The growers' consortium describes a production territory of 24,000 hectares, which is 240 square kilometres. Vineyards take only about 15 percent of that land. Woods, olive groves and grain fields keep the hills mixed farming country. That matters in the glass. Sangiovese ripens here across many different slopes and heights. The soils are galestro and alberese. Mediterranean warmth, the distance from the Apennines and the shelter of Monte Amiata all play a part. Together they shape wines with ripe fruit, acidity and firm tannin.
The name Brunello began as the local name for a Sangiovese vine grown around Montalcino. In the 19th century growers started making it as a single-grape wine and ageing it in cask. Clemente Santi's 1865 wine won recognition in 1869. The Biondi-Santi family at Tenuta Greppo then became the reference point for the long-lived style. The estate cellar still holds the 1888 vintage.
Brunello became DOC in 1966. The growers' consortium followed in 1967. In 1980 it joined Italy's first group of DOCG wines. The contrast with Rosso di Montalcino is useful today. Both are Sangiovese from Montalcino. Brunello's longer time in oak and in bottle pushes the wine towards savoury depth, grip and long cellaring.
On the table
What to eat with Brunello di Montalcino
The home country leads; global pairings that genuinely work follow.
In-depth guide
Brunello di Montalcino, answered
Brunello di Montalcino is made from 100 percent Sangiovese. In Montalcino the grape is traditionally called Brunello. The DOCG allows no other grape in the wine.
Brunello di Montalcino cannot be released before 1 January after five years from harvest. It must spend at least two years in oak and at least four months in bottle. A Riserva waits one further year and needs six months in bottle.
No, they are two different wine names. Both use Sangiovese from Montalcino, but Rosso is released earlier and drinks younger. Brunello is aged longer, which gives it more structure and cellar life.
Brunello di Montalcino is dry, structured and tannic, with savoury Sangiovese fruit. Expect cherry and berry fruit, undergrowth, scented wood, a leather-like maturity and a firm finish once the wine has bottle age.
Serve Brunello di Montalcino at about 18 to 20 degrees Celsius. The Consorzio recommends large glasses. Very old bottles should be decanted gently, so that the wine shows clearly.
Yes, Brunello di Montalcino is built for long ageing. The growers' consortium notes that its ageing potential depends on the vintage. Many bottles improve for 10 to 30 years when they are stored correctly.
Explore more Tuscany
Same region only: the denominations Brunello di Montalcino drinkers reach for next.
