Brunello di Montalcino

Brunello is the local name for Sangiovese, and the wine is made from it alone, from vineyards no higher than 600 metres cropped at up to eight tonnes a hectare. It may not be sold before the first of January of the fifth year after the harvest, after at least two years in oak and four months in bottle; a Riserva waits a further year and spends six months in bottle.

Montalcino's wine was famous long before its name. Medieval statutes set the start of the harvest; during the siege of 1553 the French commander Blaise de Montluc is said to have reddened his pale face with it. The first Brunello is credited to Clemente Santi, whose 1865 "vino scelto" won a silver medal in 1869. It became a DOC in 1966 and was among the first DOCGs, in 1980.