The enchanting hills overlooking Mount Amiata, the history of one of the most beautiful villages of Tuscany and the extraordinary Brunello, the excellence of Italian wines.
The hilly area that hosts the village of Montalcino is considered one of the most extraordinary ones in the world. From its 600 m of height, it dominates the Ombrone and Asso valleys and it is one of the most interesting Tuscan centres where in medieval times there was a great number of factories for the manufacturing of leather.
Land of olive trees and vineyards, Montalcino is famous all around the world for its wines and most of all for the extraordinary Brunello di Montalcino, a DOCG (controlled and guaranteed designation of origin) red wine together with the Piedmontese Barolo, the most prestigious Italian red wine. The Sangiovese grapes, situated on the hills of the area at a maximum of 600 m of height, then become Brunello.
After undergoing a period of at least two years of ageing in durmast containers and after at least another four months in the bottle, this wine cannot be consumed before January 1 of the year following the five years after the grape harvest. In the version “Riserva” of the wine, January 1 is at the end of the six years after the grape harvest, always after ageing two years in durmast containers and six more months in the bottle. With a ruby red colour that tends to garnet red, with an intense smell and with a dry, tannic and full-bodied flavour, the Brunello is a must have on the tables of this corner of Tuscany. It is great if combined with particularly strong dishes like red meat, game and even better if accompanied with truffles and mushrooms. It is also great with aged toma cheese and local pecorino but it is also a meditation wine, to be served at a temperature not exceeding the 20 degrees.
Montalcino is represented by its great wine, its gastronomy but also by its enchanting landscapes, pure poetry views and a lot of history. You cannot leave without having visited the fortress, the Duomo dedicated to San Salvatore, having strolled in Piazza del Popolo with its Palazzo dei Priori, visited the thirteenth-century walls and without having bought, of course, a bottle of Brunello.
