Tag: Brunello

Brunello di Montalcino: the wine that made Italy unique – Italian cuisine reinvented by Gordon Ramsay

La Cucina Italiana


It’s the turn of the Brunello di Montalcino. There is no country in the world with so much richness and variety of productsnatural as the territory gives them or worked by expert hands in simple ways, which are ancient and at the same time the most contemporary. Continues voyage to discover our goodness, from the best known to the lesser known ones far from the production area. With Brunello di Montalcino, holder of prestigious records, our culture of food and wine remains unbeaten on the world podium of taste.

Brunello di Montalcino

From the 1865, the year in which Brunello di Montalcino debuted with the first vintage produced by Clemente Santithis Tuscan red continues to collect successes: it was the first Italian fine wine exported to the United States in 1930the first served at a reception between heads of state (the President of the Republic Giuseppe Saragat and Queen Elizabeth II) and the only one included among the twelve labels of the century according to the magazine Wine Spectator. Since 1966 it has been protected with the DOC and since 1980 with the DOCG (the first in Italy, together with the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and the Barolo). The territory also played its part: in 1941 the first public wine shop for the sale of local wines was inaugurated in Montalcino, in 1948 a cellar opened its doors to visitors for the first time, giving rise to the development of wine tourism. Today, the Protection consortium brings together 219 producers and the hectares intended for the production of Brunello are 2100 (with a value of almost one million euros per hectare), spread across an area rich in biodiversity, with 50% of the land occupied by woods and 10% allocated to olive groves, without counting the pasture and arable areas; with almost 50% of the vineyards grown organically, Montalcino boasts a percentage three times higher than the national average. Who are the main admirers of Brunello? Stands out Italy, followed by the United States, Canada, Germany and Switzerland.

Brunello di Montalcino Identity Card

VINES – Sangiovese, in Montalcino called brunello.

CHARACTERISTICS – Has a lively garnet red colour and an elegant and complex aroma which recalls, in young wines, the small berries and the plum, the spices and the balsamic aroma. The taste is harmonious, persistent, structured, appropriately acidic and tannic. It is a wine that ages very well, even for decades.

SERVICE – Uncork it at 18°C ​​and choose large glasses to favor oxygenation; in the case of very old bottles, let it decant in the carafe for a couple of hours before serving it.

COMBINATIONS – With dishes based on red meat and game (it is excellent with wild boar), also seasoned with tomato, mushrooms or truffles. It goes well with mature cheeses, such as tome and Tuscan pecorino.

Brunello Vigna Schiena d’Asino 2015 and Comtes Taittinger 2008 – Italian Cuisine


Two great wines that tell of a precious synergy desired and built over time by Illy, Taittinger and Mastrojanni in the sign of a project that makes high quality the start and the finish

A project that looks far ahead. The passion for taste and the continuous desire to be excellence. These are some of the elements they share Riccardo Illy is Clovis Taittinger, the enlightened entrepreneurs who enchanted the guests of the Relais Mastrojanni on 8 October with the presentation of two highly anticipated wines: Brunello di Montalcino Vigna Schiena d’Asino 2015 by Mastrojanni and the Comtes Taittinger 2008. Two Crus, two varieties known and appreciated all over the world.
To unite the two great wines, Polo del Gusto, the great project signed by Illy was born with the mission of becoming a reference point for culture and excellence of taste in the gourmet / superpremium segment worldwide, of which Mastrojanni is part and which is the exclusive distributor of Taittinger in Italy.

In 2004, the Illy Group was established with the intention of diversifying production and investments: chocolate (Domori and Prestat, official supplier of the Queen of England), Tea Damman Fréres and Agrimontana jams in Piedmont. The Illy family started investing in wine in 2008, when they became the owner of Mastrojanni.

Between present and future

"This is a particular year, very difficult, but it has also been an important year for us, the first full year of activity of Polo Del Gusto (the subholding set up in June 2019, for the non-coffee activities of the Illy group.) to invest in new businesses, despite the difficult period. My grandfather Francesco did so too, who set up the National Coffee and Chocolate Industry in Trieste in 1933, in the midst of the depression of 1929. Mastrojanni was acquired in 2008 in full Brunellopoli, the Brunello scandal. Nevertheless, the Illy group decided to make the acquisition. This year, despite being a difficult year, sees us retreat – but not too much – compared to 2019. We have invested in the wine sector and we have done it twice: the first time by acquiring this company (Mastrojanni 2008) and making it grow: from 24 hectares to the current almost 40 hectares of vineyards and more than 100 of land in total. And with new investments: the Bottaia, the part of the vinification and all the Borghetto, which has become a Relais with its 11 rooms, the Spa and the restaurant. Invested, through Domori, in the distribution of Taittinger and made a choice on what I like to call the Universal Wines, wines that have a long history behind them. Ours is a family business that thinks in intergenerational terms. We prefer to aim for long-term projects, in Universal Wines. In Italy with two important grape varieties: Brunello di Montalcino and Barolo. After Brunello, the next step will be thinking about Barolo, we have been thinking about it in recent months says Riccardo Illy.

Riccardo Illy.
Riccardo Illy.

Back of Donkey, a magical vineyard

"The Schiena d’Asino is a very old vineyard, the portion of the first vineyard purchased by the lawyer Gabriele Mastrojanni in 1975, the Brunello that is produced (about six thousand bottles) only in the great harvests, the Cru of Tenuta Mastrojanni. Only one hectare of extension and 3600 vines. Mastrojanni is one of the few realities in Montalcino that manages to replace the vineyards with the same clone and in the same place where the previous one died. It is a work of careful selection, which has allowed, over the years, to maintain a very typical personality. 2015 is an important vintage, each company in Montalcino has produced its own wine, a wine with a well-defined character. Brunello Vigna Schiena D’Asino is a very balanced wine, with great aromas; we waited to collect and this gave results. When everyone had already harvested we still had to start: when the soil cools down, ripening slows down and the aromas are accentuated. Sure, it's risky. We don't want to make wines for the market, but wines that we like first of all and that the market has always favored; we have never chased the great structure in wine, wine piacione it's not for us. Brunello Vigna Schiena d’Asino 2015 is a year of structure, but of great finesse and elegance. For this wine we prefer a longer aging, and these results are obtained only if you have the patience to wait. The right steps, without haste: it must be aged in wood, but also in the bottle; then he waits. The 2015 vintage is one of the best ever. We are now on the market with a year that the others have already finished. It is a magical vineyard explains Maurizio Castelli, Mastrojanni oenologist since 1992.

The power of confrontation

«During the lockdown, in the long months of closure, with Andrea Machetti (Mastrojanni), Clovis Taittinger and Riccardo Illy, we always felt in touch; we confronted each other, we always continued to work and plan for the future, while all of Italy was blocked. Working with excellence, providing our agents with products of excellence, exclusive, but which have a great family history behind them, not just business. This is what characterizes Domori and the Polo del Gusto, the perception of solidity, of compactness, of us as a company, but above all as people who work together. In addition to Taittinger, of which we have been the exclusive distributor since 2017, from this year we have become the exclusive distributors of Mastrojanni and its wines "comments Andrea Macchione AD Domori.

Since 1734, the history of champagne in the world

"I love the vineyards, all of them, and these of Mastrojanni in Montalcino were truly a discovery, it is a magnificent area, vineyards and hills as far as the eye can see. The vineyard always excites me. Champagne is above all a wine to dream, to escape with the mind far away. It is the pleasure of meeting, of sharing. Champagne is a way of seeing, a common vision of sharing life. Our family is passionate about the culture of wine and the culture behind the wine, the territory, the people who work in the vineyards. This means giving importance and respect to wine, everything, not just champagne. The 2008 vintage is for us one of the best ever, hot and fresh at the same time. The chalky terroir of the Grands Crus de la Côte des Blancs is intense. Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs is a great champagne, made exclusively from Chardonnay. The grapes come from five towns of the Côte des Blancs classified as Grands Cru: Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Mesnil-sur-Oger and Oger. This unique terroir extends over a strip of land of just 20 km. To be able to judge it better you have to drink it. And for Mr Clovis the most suitable glass for drinking champagne remains the cup, ”says Clovis Taittinger.

In Argiano to discover Brunello – Italian Cuisine

In Argiano to discover Brunello


A tour of one of the most representative estates in Montalcino, among the rows, the barrels, the newly restored historic cellar and the flavors of the Val d'Orcia accompanied by the elegance of Argiano wines

A castle, the vineyards, the barrels, the cellar, then the Brunello and a starred lunch. All this is the top of the experience that can be lived in the Val d’Orcia, precisely in Argiano, a stone's throw from Montalcino, where it is based one of the oldest and most renowned wineries in Brunello. Cellar since 1580, Argiano is the seat of Villa Bell’Aria, defined as "the most beautiful country palace in the State of Siena": a noble country residence that has just been restored at the behest of the new owner, Andrè Santos Esteves, a Brazilian tycoon passionate about author wines and in love with the sweetness of the Tuscan hills.

Vine rows and film scenarios

Scenarios so beautiful and characteristic that they can be defined as “from film”. And it is no coincidence that more than one film set has passed through these places: first the Tuscan stage of Julia Roberts in Eat, pray, love, most recently Liam Neeson, together with his son Micheál Richardson (son on the set and in life) was a guest of the Argiano cellar to shoot his Made in Italy, forthcoming film that tells the story of an American who inherits a farmhouse with a vineyard in Tuscany and makes it a project to restructure both the farmhouse and the relationship with his son, eventually also producing a wine called Made in Italy.

The historic cellar just restored

The walk among the rows precedes the visit of the cellars, first the operational one, where the bulk of the Brunello vintages in preparation rests, then the historical cellar, a real jewel of architectural recovery. It is the same curator of the project, the Sienese architect Filippo Gastone Scheggi, who shows us the photos of what it was like before the works, to better appreciate the result. To guide him in his work, respect for the place, for the ancient wisdom in the construction of cellars made to house wine, with the restoration of the air vents that let the precious nectar breathe in the barrels, therefore the skilful recovery of elements of the castle like the shards of the ceiling which, properly treated, become a magnificent herringbone floor, with all the ancient incrustations and the wonderful irregularity.
The restoration is played on material elements, on the ancient which marries the modernity of the integrations, such as the dizzying spiral staircase in corten that descends into the cistern, built following the succession of Fibonacci. It is a real journey into Brunello's past: "Each step is different from the other, laser cut to fit the millimeter", explains the architect, while going down the stairs you cross the ages. Here, as in the Tachis case, there is a wealth of unobtainable bottles, not only from the Argiano winery, but also from other producers who have made the history of Val d'Orcia, Montalcino and its fine wine.

Where the wine rests

And then there are the barrels, the wood, where Brunello rests. Strictly barrels, they are keen to specify, why Montalcino wine must be wide, while barriques have a smaller size and the contact between wine and wood is greater. "Brunello rests in barrels ranging from 60 to 7.5 hectoliters, but we have smaller barrels to refine our Supertuscan", says Bernardino Sani, general manager of the winery and young winemaker with great experience. This is the Solengo, which is an even more sought after product, brought back to its splendor by Sani who dusted off the recipes of the great Giacomo Tachis, king of enology and father among others of Sassicaia and Tignanello, as well as, precisely, the Supertuscan of Argiano.

The whole Val d'Orcia in food and wine

Finally we arrive at Dimore, the farmhouse of the estate. In recent months the lockdown has interrupted the hospitality business, but an experience like the one we have lived can be organized: the chef arrives at home, the kitchens of these delightful apartments overlooking the Tuscan hills are used and also subjected to a conservative and respectful restoration of the territory in which they are located, we eat a lunch (in our starred experience), we combine the excellent reds of the Argiano cellar with the winemaker.
In our experience at the stove there was the chef Roberto Rossi del Silene, the only starred in the Val d'Orcia, as well as the kitchen professional who best interprets the combination of Tuscan traditions and the richness and elegance of Montalcino wines. His is a frank kitchen, apparently without frills, but with a refined research in the raw material. From the homemade bread (and even the panettone), whose mother yeast was perfected with the collaboration of a professor from the University of Siena, to the meat of the tartare, passing through the duck egg that holds the dough of the fabulous ones ravioli and the pigeon which best represents the local cuisine.
Each dish was also a crescendo in the wines, chosen and presented by Bernardino Sani who is the author: if a fresh tartare goes well with a younger Rosso di Montalcino, when it comes to the pigeon it's time for Brunello, with a few years of aging to support such blood. A concentrate of Tuscany in one bite and one sip, looking at the hills with the glass in hand.

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