Ricordando Nello Baricci. Addio a uno dei produttori che ha reso celebre il Brunello di Montalcino – Gambero Rosso

Nello Baricci died in a Siena hospital at the age of 95. He belonged to the generation that initiated the modern history of Brunello di Montalcino.

During the transformation of the Italian countryside in the mid-1950s, the crisis of sharecropping encouraged farming families to buy land they had worked for generations. The former-sharecropper Baricci family acquired Podere Colombaio on Montosoli with financing from the Cassa Contadina. Nello restored and expanded the existing vineyards to 3 ha and renovated the house and cellar.

The estate’s first Brunello was the 1971 vintage. Before its wood maturation was complete, the wine also spent time in memorable bright-pink cement tanks. Vini d’Italia first awarded Baricci Tre Bicchieri in its 1989 edition for the Brunello di Montalcino 1983, recognising a success built gradually from the years before Brunello’s wider fame. The wines retained a measured rustic element while gaining refinement over time.

Giulio Gambelli, charged by the Consorzio with visiting cellars and offering advice, was among Nello’s visitors. In 1967 Nello became one of the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino’s 24 founders and later served the local community as an important point of reference.

Further Vini d’Italia recognition followed for Brunello 2007 in 2013, Brunello 2009 in 2015, Brunello 2010 in 2016 and Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2010 Nello in 2017. Federico and Francesco continue the work of their grandfather as the estate’s third generation.