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March 2021

A Vinophile’s Guide to Brunello di Montalcino Wines

Posted on March 24, 2021

In the 1970s, the Tuscan municipality of Montalcino was home to some 30 wineries producing DOC-level red wines sold primarily within Italy. Now, the region boasts well over 200 producers and bottlers. Elevated to the coveted DOCG status in 1980, Brunello di Montalcino wines are among the most sought after Italian wines today.

Side note: This Brunello di Montalcino wines article was also produced as a sponsored video (in partnership with the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino). To watch, just scroll down to the bottom and click play. If you enjoy the video, consider subscribing (click here) to my YouTube wine education channel so you never miss an episode.

Montalcino lies forty kilometres south of Siena and roughly 50 kilometres inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea. This fortified, medieval town is perched atop a lone hill that rises from the gentle pasture lands of the Unesco World Heritage Val d’Orcia region. It is from the vineyards that surround Montalcino that the fabled Brunello di Montalcino wines are produced.

Among the rolling pasture lands of the Val d’Orcia, rises a lone hill. Perched near the top is the medieval village of Montalcino.

Montalcino enjoys a warm, dry Mediterranean climate. The region is sheltered from rain and hail by Mount Amiata to its south east. Conditions are cooler at higher elevations. From mid-slope to the higher reaches, a significant difference in day to nighttime temperatures slows down vine ripening. This results in ripe, concentrated, tannic wines ably balanced by fresh acidity.

Many millions of years ago most of Italy was underwater. Tuscany lay under a shallow sea with the top of Montalcino emerging like a small island in its midst. Over the span of numerous geological eras, the oceans receded and returned in the area around Montalcino, causing massive landslides pulling soils from the summit toward the middle of the hill.

These influences, coupled with volcanic activity from the now extinct Mount Amiata, created an incredible diversity of soils in the region. Lower lying vineyards have lighter, more fertile, alluvial soils for the most part, whereas higher vineyard sites tend to be rockier, with limestone and marl-rich soils.

Many millions of years ago Tuscany lay under a shallow sea, with the top of Montalcino emerging like a small island in its midst.

The commune of Montalcino spans over 31 000 hectares, with a mere 15% devoted to grape vines. Forests, olive groves, and seeded crop lands cover much of the territory. While international demand is high, the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino (the grower and winery consortium for Brunello di Montalcino wines) only permits a 3% annual increase in total vineyard acreage so as to protect the region’s rich biodiversity.

Whereas many Tuscan Sangiovese strongholds allow blending in of secondary grape varieties, Brunello di Montalcino wines are made exclusively from Sangiovese. Historically, one specific group of Sangiovese clones (referred to locally as ‘Brunello’, or more specifically ‘Sangiovese Grosso’) was planted. This is no longer the case.

Sangiovese Grosso grapes have a high pulp-to-skin ratio. Given that the highest concentration of phenolic (colour, tannins) and flavour compounds are found in the skin, a higher skin-to-pulp ratio is favourable for truly concentrated, complex wines. Nowadays, a large variety of clonal selections exist in Montalcino; a boon to both quality and stylistic diversity.

Whereas many Tuscan Sangiovese strongholds allow blending, Brunello di Montalcino wines are made exclusively from Sangiovese.

Brunello di Montalcino wines are aged for 5 years before release (with a minimum of 2 years in oak casks). Even more premium, are the Brunello ‘Riserva’ wines which see a full 6 years’ maturation. Traditionally, large Slavonian oak botti (one to ten thousand litre casks) were used for ageing. Nowadays, Brunello producers use both Slavonian botti and French oak barrels of varying sizes.

Brunello di Montalcino wines offer red and dark fruit aromas, underscored by dried herbs, and balsamic notes. They are fresh and full-bodied on the palate, with concentrated, ripe fruit flavours, and muscular tannins. Due to their complexity and structure, Brunellos have excellent ageing potential, softening and developing attractive dried floral, fig and leather flavours over time.

Due to their complexity and structure, Brunello di Montalcino wines have excellent ageing potential, softening and developing attractive tertiary flavours over time.

While waiting for Brunello di Montalcino wines to mature, enthusiasts can sip on the region’s “second wines”; namely Rosso di Montalcino DOC. Made from younger plantings of Sangiovese, or from less favourable vineyard sites, Rosso di Montalcino wines are aged for just one year before release.

Dubbed “baby Brunello” by many producers, these early-drinking reds are a great foreshadowing of the potential of a Brunello vintage. They have similar aromas and flavours, but are lighter in body and structure, with softer tannins.

In preparation for a series of masterclasses on the region, I had the great pleasure of chatting with a number of Montalcino winemakers and winery owners. The impression I got was of a dynamic region, with a firm focus on sustainable viticulture and winemaking practices, and a growing contingent of women in leadership positions.

Donatella Cinelli Colombini shared her story of hiring an oenologist back in the days where male winemakers were in high demand while their female counterparts were decidedly not! That realization led her to create an all women winery team; an initiative that has inspired women throughout the region.

Il Paradiso di Frassina winemaker, Federico Ricci, spoke of their Mozart in the vineyards project (see more here). Castello di Banfi general manager, Enrico Viglierchio, detailed the important clonal research the winery has undertaken to isolate top quality Sangiovese clones.

Many more fascinating tales were told, and at the heart of each discussion, were the themes of increasingly organic vineyard practices and measures undertaken to reduce vineyard and winery carbon footprint.

The best way to experience Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino wines is glass in hand, wandering through the vineyards on a sunny day in Tuscany. Unfortunately, for now we must use our imagination and travel through our tastings.

The Montalcino region has been blessed with a number of excellent to outstanding vintages in recent years. Our masterclass wines included the highly varied 2012, 2014, and 2015 vintages of Brunello di Montalcino wines, as well as the 2018 and 2019 Rosso di Montalcino vintages.

2012: 5-star vintage. Rich, concentrated wines that show a fine balance between ripe fruit flavours and vibrant acidity. Exceptional cellaring potential. Hold.

2014: 3-star vintage. Cool, rainy growing season that produced a smaller than average crop. Light, finely chiselled wines with bright fruit and tangy acidity. Drink now.

2015: 5-star vintage. Warm summer with cool overnight temperatures resulting in ripe, rich wines with balanced freshness, and powerful tannic structure. Hold.

2018: 4-star vintage. Summer heatwaves followed by cooler, rainier weather near harvest. The wines are shaping up to be elegant and silky, with a charming, upfront fruit profile. Rosso: drink now. Brunello: not yet released.

2019: 5-star vintage. A warm season with slow, even ripening. The wines look to be very fruit-forward, with ripe tannins, and lots of finesse. Rosso: drink now/hold 1 year. Brunello: not yet released.

Check out these excellent Brunello producers: Altesino, Caparzo, Il Paradiso di Frassina, Carpineto, La Poderina, Castello Romitorio, Campogiovanni (San Felice), Col d’Orcia, Castello Banfi, Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Fornacina, Fattoria dei Barbi

Photo credit: Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino

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It’s Time to (Re)Discover German Pinot Noir

Posted on March 10, 2021

Photo credit: German Pinot Noir vineyard, Ahr Valley Tourism

Germany is the third largest producer of Pinot Noir world-wide. This fact surprises many wine lovers, more familiar with its racy, aromatic white wines. Pinot Noir, referred to as Spätburgunder in Germany, was brought to the region from Burgundy in the 4^th century. Despite this long history, international acclaim for German Pinot Noir is a recent phenomenon.

Why was this Recognition so Long in Coming?

Until the late 1980s, less than 5000 hectares of Spätburgunder was planted in Germany and domestic demand was high. What little volume left the country was resoundingly panned by international critics.

This negative quality perception arose for a variety of reasons. The most obvious of which was Germany’s cool climate, where the late ripening Pinot Noir often struggled to achieve balanced sugar and phenolic maturity.

After the second world war, German Pinot Noir clonal selections focused on high yields and high must weights. These vigorous clones, prone to fungal infection, produced large grape berries whose thin skins and abundant pulp resulted in wines lacking in structure and concentration.

The largest producers of German Pinot Noir in the 1970s and 1980s were the regional cooperatives. These wineries prioritized quantity over quality, using techniques like thermovinification to produce easy drinking, commercial wine styles that were often slightly sweet.

What Changed?

According to research carried out at Berlin’s Humboldt University, over the past 40 years Germany has experienced an average increase in air temperature of 1.4°C. These warmer conditions facilitate Pinot Noir ripening.

That being said, the real upswing in German Pinot Noir quality is generally attributed to a small band of determined, quality-minded producers. Winemakers like Baden’s Bernhard Huber, the Knipser brothers from the Pfalz, and Rudolf Fürst of Franken, began traveling to Burgundy and implementing techniques learned there.

Around this time, more qualitative German clones started to emerge, and many producers/regions began planting Burgundy’s famous Dijon clones. Certain producers took a different approach, using massal selections of old, low-yielding German Pinot Noir clones.

This quality revolution started attracting global attention in the late 1990s. By 2010, Spätburgunder acreage had doubled. Producers were harvesting earlier and focusing more on freshness and aromatic purity, rather than body and alcohol. The use of new oak also declined significantly during this period. Mainly seasoned French oak barriques became more common place, as did a return to large, traditional German fuders.

What is the Status of Spätburgunder Today?

The quality of German Pinot Noir is a source of unabashed national pride. Wines of Germany writes: “the Spätburgunder is to red wine what the Riesling is to white wine: the cream of the crop.”

There are now 11,800 hectares of Pinot Noir vines planted in Germany, making up 11% of the country’s total wine grape plantings. The first German Pinot Noir revolutionaries have been joined (or replaced) by a second generation. These newcomers have access to far superior red winemaking educational resources in Germany, and many have also completed harvests abroad.

Critics praise the vibrant acidity, aromatic purity, balance, and sense of terroir imparted by top German Pinot Noirs. However, both producers and international observers are quick to point out that there is no one catchall German style when it comes to Spätburgunder.

Significant variation in soil type, climate conditions, orientation, and so forth from one region to another, and across vineyard sites results in wide stylistic diversity. The use of German vs. French clones also has a major impact on wine style. German Pinot Noir clones are said to give more intense red fruit flavours and herbal undertones, whereas the Dijon clones often impart darker fruit notes and a deeper, more savoury nuance.

Where is Spätburgunder Grown in Germany?

Most Spätburgunder is planted in Germany’s southernmost vineyards of Baden and Württemberg. The Baden region alone has more Pinot Noir planted than New Zealand or Australia. The sub-region of Breisgau is particularly prized for its cool mesoclimate and limestone soils, yielding pure, elegant wines.

Despite its northerly location, the Ahr is also a key production region for German Pinot Noir with 65% of its vineyard area dedicated to the grape. This sheltered valley with its heat absorbing slate and graywacke soils, produces distinctive cassis-scented, smoky, flinty Pinot with lively acidity, and silky tannins.

Ripe, full-bodied Spätburgunder is produced in the Pfalz, ranging from fruit-forward and rounded to firmer, and more tannic, depending on the site. Small volumes of top-quality Pinot Noir is also produced in the Rheingau and the Mosel Valley.

German Pinot Noir Producers to Seek Out:

Baden: Bernhard Huber, Ziereisen, Schwarzer Adler, Bercher, Dr. Heger, Holger Koch, Salwey

Pfalz: Friedrich Becker, Knipser, Christmann, Rebholz, Rainer Lingenfelder

Württemberg: Graf Neipperg, Dautel, Graf Adelmann, Haidle, Schnaitmann

Ahr: Meyer-Näkel, Adeneuer, Deutzerhof, Kreuzberg, Jean Stodden

Franken: Rudolf Fürst, Am Stein, Castell, Knapp

Rheingau: Franz Künstler, JB Becker, August Kesseler, PJ Kühn

Mosel: Markus Molitor

*** This German Pinot Noir article was written for SOMM360 Want to learn more about wine & spirits? Check out their excellent learning platform for articles, audio capsules, and loads of fun quizzes to test your knowledge. ***

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FLOR POWER: The Effects of Biological Ageing in Wine

Posted on March 1, 2021

Photo credit: Biological ageing in wine, Vinos de Jerez

Flor is the Spanish or Portuguese word for flower. In wine terms, flor refers to a layer or film of yeast that forms on the surface of wines after alcoholic fermentation, under certain winemaking conditions.

When these yeast cells coalesce to form a continuous layer on the top of the wine, they create a protective barrier that inhibits oxygen exposure. This phenomenon is referred to as biological ageing.

Fino style Sherries are famous for their maturation under flor. Vin Jaune from the Jura region in France is another well-known example of wine aged sous voile (a French term which means, under a veil) – although here, the yeast layer is often thinner and not totally hermetic.

How does Flor form?

The yeast responsible for alcoholic fermentation in wine, mainly strains of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae, generally die off once all fermentable sugars have been consumed. However, some strains can spontaneously transition to an oxidative mode, metabolizing glycerol, alcohol, and volatile acids in wine. These yeast cells float on the surface of the wine and develop a waxy coating. As they multiply, the cells spread out across the surface, forming a continuous layer.

For this to happen, certain conditions must be met:

Firstly, a specific alcohol range must be reached and/or maintained for the yeast to thrive (and for undesirable microbes to die off). For flor yeast in Sherry, this range is generally between 14.5% to 16% abv and is achieved by fortification. In the Jura, the voile yeasts tolerate slightly lower alcohol levels and are thus, not fortified.
Secondly, a sufficiently oxygen rich environment is needed. In Sherry, maturation occurs in oak barrels – which are only filled to 5/6^ths capacity to encourage flor formation.
Flor yeast also prefers cooler, wetter conditions. In these environments, the flor layer will generally be thicker and give more pronounced freshness and yeast-driven aromatics.

Each vessel will have a different composition of flor yeast strains. When sampled individually, these barrels have quite distinctive aroma and flavour profiles, each bringing complexity to the final blend.

What does the Biological Ageing Process Bring to Wine?

Biological ageing protects wine from oxidation. Wines aged under an unbroken layer of flor will be very pale in colour with fresh acidity and youthful vibrancy. Where the flor layer is not continuous, as is often the case with the voile in Vin Jaune, this effect is negated.

As it consumes the alcohol in wine, the flor yeast produces acetaldehyde. This compound gives off distinctive bruised apple and nutty aromas.

The flor yeasts also feed off the wine’s glycerol. As glycerol diminishes, the round, smooth mouthfeel of a wine diminishes making it far lighter and somewhat sharper on the palate.

Flor yeast activity also leads to the increase of an aromatic compound called sotolon. At low levels, sotolon gives notes of maple syrup or caramel. At high concentrations, it gives off exotic spice aromas like curry or fenugreek.

Flor Wines to Try

Winemaking experiments with flor are happening all over the world now. From California, to Australia, to Argentina wines labeled sous voile are cropping up – using a range of techniques from strict, reductive biological ageing to a more oxidative approach.

South Africa has a long history of making biologically aged fortified wines, however many producers are now producing flor aged table wines.

*** This Biological Ageing in Wine article was written for SOMM360 Want to learn more about wine & spirits? Check out their excellent learning platform for articles, audio capsules, and loads of fun quizzes to test your knowledge. ***