Parallelo 43: a wine tasting in Montalcino without borders

Parallelo 43 is presented as a 90-minute journey through six wines connected by an imaginary line joining territories, cultures and grape varieties that historically developed apart. The experience is not limited to Brunello: it examines relationships among Sangiovese, Vermentino, Verdicchio, Montepulciano and Sagrantino while preserving the identity of their places of origin.

The idea emerged from Roberto Cipresso’s experience in Montalcino and from years of travel, harvests and projects in different regions. Montalcino established his understanding of Sangiovese and terroir, but also prompted him to consider territory as a starting point rather than an enclosure. Latitude became a possible form of proximity among places divided by seas, mountains, borders and traditions.

The 43rd parallel crosses Georgia, the Caucasus and Mediterranean, reaches Tuscany, Marche and Umbria, and continues toward the Basque Country, Languedoc, Oregon and Japan. Within the project, it is both a geographical line and an enological proposition. It does not replace terroir or claim the status of a complete scientific theory; it offers a framework for exploring affinities associated with light and vine cycles.

The philosophy is expressed through encounters that history had not traditionally encouraged. Vermentino and Verdicchio meet in Punto Bianco. Sangiovese and Montepulciano enter the same fermentation in Punto Rosso. Sangiovese, Montepulciano and Sagrantino come together in Quadratura del Cerchio. Origin remains essential, but it is allowed to interact with other identities.

Altrove begins with healthy Sangiovese bunches removed during crop thinning for Brunello. Their freshness and acidity inspired a rosé vinification followed by Charmat refermentation, turning material excluded from one path into a new resource. Punto Bianco brings together the Tyrrhenian character of Vermentino and the Adriatic identity of Verdicchio, followed by eight months on the lees in stainless steel. Punto Rosa combines early-harvest Sangiovese with a saignée component from Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino production, joining the grape’s fresher and more mature expressions.

Punto Rosso demonstrates co-fermentation: Sangiovese and Montepulciano begin transforming together instead of being completed separately and blended later. Pigreco divides one Sangiovese harvest into a more extractive skin-rich portion and a slower, more delicate skin-free portion, reuniting them when the former reaches about 80% of fermentation. Quadratura del Cerchio seeks a common form for Sangiovese, Montepulciano and Sagrantino without suppressing their individual identities.

The six-wine progression moves from freshness and accessibility to increasingly complex experimentation. Montalcino remains the intellectual starting point, while the 43rd parallel connects the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts and the central Italian regions of Tuscany, Marche and Umbria.