Description
The Montalcino area is steeped in rural tradition where in the past, country families lived in farms of varying sizes. The medieval town of Montalcino is located on a chain of hills lying between Siena to the north and Monte Amiata to the south. The area is famous for its typical wine: “Brunello di Montalcino”.
The small Brunelli farm lies in the midst of the Montalcino hills. It is owned by Mauro Brunelli and Anna Savini, both of whom are descended from farming families that have always lived in Montalcino.
As commonly occurred in the 1960’s, a hard time for the agricultural sector, the Brunelli family left their home and farming life for the city and got involved in other activities. In 1964, the family returned to the farm and with just 3 hectares of land they began to plan the production of wine.
Mauro and Anna’s only son is Luca who decided to farm the property after completing his studies. As a result, the family started to produce wine. In 1998, they bought some more land on which they planted a new 3 hectare vineyard.
The Brunelli farm currently covers 25 hectares of land, 15 of which are vineyards. 6 of them planted under Brunello di Montalcino vine register for D.O.C.G. (Controlled and Guaranteed Origin). Other 4 Ha are part of the property in the Montecucco area, where 3 Ha are planted under vines. The farm also has a few hectares of olives groves and woodland. A small amount of olive oil is also produced.
Unique and very low yields
With one of the highest cellars in Montalcino, not only is the view from Luca Brunelli’s hillside estate breathtaking, but you could catapult a stone from the town’s famous fortress (one of the last to fall in Siena’s wars against Firenze) and be assured a hit. In a bit of sweet irony, along with the altitude come some of the lowest yields in the entire Brunello DOCG. Taking the bonsai approach to his craft, Luca is a master when it comes to sculpting small plants with excruciatingly low yields. His Sangiovese Grosso vines only grow 20 inches high, for example, with the lowest grapes often a mere 6 inches off the ground! Permitting only 4 clusters per plant for his Brunello, it is physically impossible for him to get even 1 bottle from each vine. Just to put things in perspective, this means his Brunello has lower yields than some of the most expensive Right Bank Bordeaux.
Martoccia Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
Brunello di Montalcino is surely one of the most well-known and treasured wines
in the world. It is a red wine of extraordinary elegance and concentration obtained from a long ageing process. It has a full and ethereal fragrance with hints of wild berries, black cherry and vanilla.
Soil: Medium mixture with remarkable skeleton.
Altitude: 300 m above sea level
Production techniques: The grapes were cut and pressed, then the fermentation process takes place. The grape peels and the must fermentation lasts about 20 days. Racked off the wine is stored in containers in tempered rooms, in order to help the malolactic fermentation.
Ageing: Up to 36 months, a part in Slavonian oak barrels and a part in French oak barrique and 8 months in bottle.
