Montalcino towards a new course for Rosso, no longer the younger brother, but different, of Brunello

On the one hand, the sumptuous Brunello di Montalcino, the first standard bearer and first choice of the territory, with its austerity, its five years of minimum aging, from the harvest, with its complexity and its unquestionable charm, not immediate, but to be understood and appreciated in its nuances, and its value, which has also driven the enormous growth of land values, with a resounding + 1,962 in the last three decades, as recounted in this in-depth study by WineNews, and thanks to which the territory is the one in which the most is invested in Italy, so much so that, between 2016 and 2022, it has “magnetized” 16% of all business between the rows of Italy, according to a Cbre study; on the other hand, Rosso di Montalcino, capable of expressing, as early as September 1 of the year following the harvest, in full modern and contemporary spirit, more fruit, freshness, immediate pleasantness, as a changing market also requires.
Two different wines (also in value, since that of Brunello di Montalcino, as of December 31, averaging the vintages on the market, was 1,075 euros per hectolitre “unpacked” according to the price lists of the Chamber of Commerce of Siena, but which on the market goes even further, and that of Rosso di Montalcino is 375 euros per hectolitre, ed.), albeit 100% Sangiovese that, so far, and certainly for the immediate future, sometimes may arise from the same vineyards, the peculiar inverted pyramid scheme of quality that is Montalcino, where the “first wine”, Brunello, is on average produced in more than double the quantity of the territory’s “second wine”, which is Rosso, as even the most recent numbers tell us. Looking at the state bands delivered (which include multiple vintages among those on the market, data updated to December 2022, according to data from Valoritalia and the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino), in fact, in 2022 there were 9.7 million for Brunello di Montalcino, of which 93% for the vintage type and 7% for “Riserva” (with the mention “Vigna”being claimed, overall, on just 3% of the bottles, whether they are Vintage or Riserva), while for Rosso di Montalcino, as of December 31, 2022, 4.6 million bands had been distributed (again spread over several vintages). Numbers that, compared to those of the mid-1980s, moreover, tell of how the territory veered decidedly towards higher-value wine, given that, around 1985/1986, production, according to the brands then distributed by the Consortium, when there were still no state bands, was much less unbalanced. In particular, in 1986, data tell of 1.3 million bottles of Rosso di Montalcino Doc and 1.4 million bottles of Brunello di Montalcino Docg. And now that people are beginning to talk in a somewhat less veiled way than in the past about a possible opening of the Vineyard Registers dedicated only to Rosso di Montalcino (as of today 510 hectares, as opposed to 2,100 of Brunello, ed.), it is perhaps time to do some real reflection on a wine, Rosso di Montalcino, whose growth, if real and supported by an ad hoc organic development project, compared to Brunello, may be the key that opens up new prospects for the territory, but which, perhaps, in times when consumers increasingly want to know where the bottle they are drinking comes from. Because as of today, Rosso di Montalcino, in fact, can originate from the same vineyards as Brunello di Montalcino, which, from year to year, within the limits imposed by the Register and by the winery’s rights, are claimed on the total Sangiovese vineyards of each winery (since 2013 there are no more “cadastral” distinctions between Brunello or Rosso vineyards, but are all in Sangiovese, and then each one claims the share in Brunello or Rosso that it owns, ed.) and, above all, as the disciplinary provides, Rosso di Montalcino can also be born from the “surplus” of Brunello production. Because if for Brunello the maximum yield per hectare is set at 80 quintals of grapes, in exceptional years and in a justified way, the Consortium, can ask the Region to exceed the yield by 20%. In practice, reaching 96 quintals of grapes per hectare for the first hectare (and then with scaled-down, lower quantities from the second onwards), of which a maximum of 80 will be destined for Brunello di Montalcino, 10 for Rosso and 6 for Igt. With Rosso di Montalcino that, as of today, therefore, although meeting with an emerging success on the markets, and at the center of the territory’s desire to enhance it more, seems almost a younger brother, a wine almost of “result” (and which may also derive from Brunello di Montalcino downgraded to Rosso, ed.), rather than a wine with its own philosophy and precise physiognomy that, instead, could have great momentum.
Theme discussed, in recent days, at “Red Montalcino 2023”, the event dedicated to the DOC in the Montalcino Fortress, scheduled for July 15, with 70 wineries present, desired by the Consorzio del Brunello and organized by Opera Laboratori (which also manages the “Temple of Brunello”, in the 14th-century monumental Complex of Sant’Agostino in Montalcino, an immersive and emotional museum that combines history, starting with the story of that of Brunello, archaeology, art, culture and landscape).
Arrived, moreover, at a time when the red wine market, according to all national and international analyses, in this first half of 2023, is in difficulty, for a whole series of reasons, economic (with still very high inflation undermining the purchasing power of families), stylistic and health-related, with the evolution of the moment in terms of taste, and the growing attention to health protection, which leads to a preference for fresher and less alcoholic wines as they are, generally, whites and sparkling wines, compared to reds. And the great red territories throughout Italy, including such as Montalcino, are not escaping this trend.
With a 2023 slow start both for Brunello di Montalcino, with 30,431 hectoliters placed on the market in the first half of 2023, at -6% on the same period in 2022 (32,308 hectoliters), and -6.6% on the average of the last ten years (32. 436 hectoliters), and even more for Rosso di Montalcino, at -24% (14,938 hectoliters entered) over 2022 (19,657 hectoliters) and -19.72% over the average over the last decade (17,884 hectoliters). This was revealed by the report on the main Tuscan wine appellations by Avito, the association that brings together the wine consortia of Tuscany. Numbers that, especially for Rosso di Montalcino, mark a sharp turnaround on 2022 by the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino, according to which, last year, sales of Rosso di Montalcino grew, in value, by 19%, with an average price growth of +9% (at least according to the elaborations of the Consorzio del Brunello’s Price Observatory, which is based on the collection of turnover data provided voluntarily by the wineries that account for 28% of the denomination’s sales).
Even from these numbers and this contrast of numbers, therefore, a real reflection for a new path can start. “Rosso di Montalcino has passed its evolutionary age and is now at a turning point”, declares the president of the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino, Fabrizio Bindocci, “the product is well positioned in the premium segment and comes from a two-year period of important results: the average price is increasing (+13% over the two-year period), the horeca demand is responding very well both in Italy and abroad, direct sales are increasing sharply for a wine that has reached its full identity. The task of the Consortium is now to support its growth while not losing sight of the balance of the denomination, and for this reason we have started a discussion with the members to define the next guiding strategies”. Also according to President Fabrizio Bindocci, the affirmation of Rosso di Montalcino, although 2023 is off to a more lukewarm start, requires reflection on the possibility of increasing the production of Rosso, unchanged since 1997. “The average bottled wine, over the past 5 years, equals 4.4 million bottles per year: for some, this is too few - given the increase in the market - to hold stock in the cellar of a product, the bulk of which reaches 4.5 euros per liter and whose downgrades on release are now zero”. The vineyard, which has been quotaed at 510 hectares for 26 years, is 98% managed by producers/bottlers, with only 2% of the marks distributed to pure bottlers.
Going back to 2022, among the main foreign countries, the Brunello Consortium’s Price Observatory reports growths of over 40% for demand from the United States (30% of the international market) and Sweden (top European buyer); well above average also exports to Switzerland and Germany, with Uk, Belgium, and Denmark in positive signs. Exploit of France, which exceeds 50% increase, while Canada, Norway, Brazil and the emerging South Korea fall, after the boom in demand in recent years. Overall, the American continent is the leading outlet for Rosso di Montalcino, accounting for 50% of total exports, with the United States by far the world’s leading demand. In Italy, the North accounts for 48% of demand; among the regions, Tuscany Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna are the best places for Doc di Montalcino. Among channels, foreign distributors and horeca represent the main slice, with direct sales given a strong increase, with cellar stocks at an all-time low, double-digit growth in exports. “The secret of our red DOC”, said Bindocci again, “is versatility, over the years refined by the technique of our winemakers and the terroir in the vineyards. Today Rosso di Montalcino is able to express itself in a double guise: on the one hand, the producers who have worked on a ready-to-drink, crisp, lively wine, a real “petit vin” that is immediate and simple; on the other hand, the opposite school of thought, which bets more and more on the aging of a Sangiovese made intriguing by the work in the vineyard and in the cellar but also by the biodiversity of the territory. An important wine”, concluded President Bindocci, “to be uncorked even after twenty years”.
But the clear message, also coming from producers and managers of some of the most important wineries in the area, both historic and younger, is that Rosso di Montalcino should no longer be considered as a “little brother” of Brunello, but a brother tout court, equally important but with a different personality, role and target. “Rosso di Montalcino must be increasingly untied from Brunello, so that it does not pass for a second wine, or as a second-rate wine, but must be a wine with its own personality and its own story to tell”, says, for example, Giovanni Neri of the famous Casanova di Neri winery. “Until now, Rosso di Montalcino has never found its clear identity”, reiterates Alessandra Angelini on behalf of Caparzo, one of the estates in the area led by Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini, “we have always believed in it very much because it is the wine of Montalcino that expresses Sangiovese in its youth, in its freshness, in its more fruity expression, which is the one that people are perhaps looking for more today”. “Rosso di Montalcino should no longer be the “unfortunate brother”, but the younger, more carefree, gastronomic brother, but it is essential that wineries identify its own market positioning”, adds Riccardo Bogi of the historic Argiano, one of Montalcino’s finest wineries. “Rosso must be detached from its “big brother” Brunello di Montalcino, which inevitably hides it a bit, and must be proposed more and more as a wine of the territory, simpler, fresher, to be consumed young, on more friendly occasions than Brunello”, says Lorella Carresi, communications manager for Banfi, a reference reality and one that has marked the commercial success of Brunello di Montalcino. “Rosso di Montalcino is definitely more versatile and dynamic than Brunello. Montalcino has the ability to give many expressions of Sangiovese, and Rosso can be very multifaceted, different from area to area, and it is important to enhance it”, adds Alex Bianchini, who represents one of the jewels of the territory as Ciacci Piccolomini d’Aragona. “First and foremost, we need to give this wine its own identity, and expand a bit the production, which today is limited compared to Brunello di Montalcino, we have an inverted pyramid, and we need to focus on a younger audience than the classic Brunello audience, also to bring them to know our territory, and then, maybe get to Brunello di Montalcino”, Gianni Bernazzi (Bellaria) emphasizes, instead. “In my opinion, more focus should be given to the figure of this wine as an expression of the territory, and also to expand the number of vineyards suitable to produce it to give it more importance”, adds Lorenzo Laviano (Camigliano).