2017 Brunello di Montalcino, Il Marroneto, Tuscany, Italy
Critics reviews
The 2017 Brunello di Montalcino wafts up with vibrancy and spunk, showing woodland berries and herbs with crushed wet stone and undergrowth in an incredibly fresh and lively expression. It’s soft and pliant upon entry, enveloping with its saturating raspberry fruits and inner spice, as mineral tension builds, giving way to sweet, elegant tannins and inner florals. The 2017 shows a more slender yet well-muscled interpretation of the 2017 vintage, but it remains remarkably pretty and balanced throughout. Due to the vintage conditions and severe selection, production was down by 12%.
Drink 2024 - 2031
Eric Guido, Vinous.com (October 2021)
Mid ruby. At first a tiny bit chalky and with a hint of gingerbread on the nose, then opens up to perfumed, sweet cherry with minerally, stony notes. Concentrated and mouth-filling cherry fruit with formidable tannins. Bold structure that befits the gorgeous fruit. Not ready yet
Drink 2024 - 2032
Walter Speller, JancisRobinson.com (March 2022)
Alessandro Mori's Il Marroneto 2017 Brunello di Montalcino opens to a very distinguished and unique character that makes this wine easy to recognize in a lineup of Brunello. This hot and dry growing season made for more powerful aromas and sometimes riper flavours in the appellation, generally speaking. But this magically lean-bodied wine follows its own path, and the warmth of the summer seems to have cemented almost exotic aromas of bay leaf, crushed flower, campfire ash and iron ore. The wine is exceedingly silky and elegant, but instead of opulence, you get streamlined tension accompanied by lifted, immediate aromas of fruit, flowers and light spice.
Drink 2024 - 2040
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (February 2022)
Just north of Montalcino, sitting at over 400 metres, Il Marroneto’s vineyards benefit from cooling north breezes. Proprietor Alessandro Mori maintains a generous canopy to protect the grapes from hail and, above all, sunburn. With a lightness of structure yet concentration of flavour, this is beautifully midweight in presentation. Lifted fragrances of wild broom and mandarin are countered by earthier ash and roasted chestnut nuances. There's a sweet/sour sensation to the red cherry palate, and fine, powdery tannins impart a distinguishing tactile, layered texture. A finale of gingerbread lends further intrigue.
Drink 2022 - 2030
Michaela Morris, Decanter.com (November 2021)
About this WINE
Il Marroneto
Il Marroneto winery is located in Montalcino, Tuscany, and is renowned for producing high-quality Brunello di Montalcino, one of Italy's most celebrated red wines. The estate has a long-standing history in winemaking, with roots dating back to the late 1970s.
The vineyards, which predominantly grow Sangiovese grapes, are carefully cultivated and sit around 400 meters (1312 feet) above sea level. The altitude, combined with the terroir of Montalcino, plays a crucial role in producing high-quality grapes with excellent ripeness and concentration.
Il Marroneto specializes in the production of Brunello di Montalcino, a renowned DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) wine made exclusively from Sangiovese grapes. Brunello di Montalcino is known for its complexity, elegance, and ability to age gracefully. It must be aged for at least five years before release, with at least two years in oak barrels.
The winery adheres to traditional winemaking techniques, emphasizing sizable Slavonian oak barrels for aging. This approach allows the wines to develop slowly and retain the purity of fruit and the distinctiveness of the terroir.
Organic farming practices are crucial to the estate's commitment to sustainable farming practices, which prioritize environmental stewardship and the well-being of the vineyards.
Brunello di Montalcino
Along with Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino is Tuscany's most famous DOCG and the region's boldest expression of Sangiovese. Located 30 miles south of Siena with the hilltop town of Montalcino as its epicentre, its 2,000 hectares of vines are naturally delimited by the Orcia, Asso and Ombrone valleys. Brunello is the local name for the Sangiovese Grosso clone from which Brunello di Montalcino should be made in purezza (ie 100 percent).
The Brunello di Montalcino DOCG has a whale-like shape: at its head, at 661 metres above sea level on ancient, stony galestro soils facing east and southeast lies the town of Montalcino, where the DOC was founded. As you follow the spine south towards the tail, the vineyards lose altitude – those around Colle Sant'Angelo are at 250 metres – while the soils become richer with iron and clay. Further east, in the shadow of the 1,734 metre Mont'Amiata lies the village of Castelnuovo dell'Abate where the vineyards are strewn with a rich mix of galestro, granitic, volcanic, clay and schist soil types.
Historically, the zone is one of Tuscany's youngest. First praised in 1550 by Leandro Alberti for the quality of its wines, it was Tenuta Il Greppo who bottled the inaugural Brunello di Montalcino in 1888. By 1929, the region had 925 hectares of vines and 1,243 hectares of mixed crops, while in 1932 it was decreed that only those wines made and bottled within the commune could be labelled as Brunello di Montalcino. Since then, the number of producers has risen from 11 in 1960 to 230 in 2006, while over the same period the vineyards have expanded from 1,000 hectares to 12,000. The region earned its DOC in 1966, and was upgraded to DOCG in 1980.
Brunello di Montalcino cannot be released for sale until five years after the harvest, or six years in the case of Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. During this time the wines should be aged for at least two years in oak, followed by at least four months in bottle (six months for Riservas); maximum yields are 55 hl/ha.
Rosso di Montalcino is declassified Brunello di Montalcino, released for sale 18 months after the harvest.
Recommended producers: Costanti, Fuligni, Lisini, San Giuseppe, Soldera, Cerbaiona
Sangiovese
A black grape widely grown in Central Italy and the main component of Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano as well as being the sole permitted grape for the famed Brunello di Montalcino.
It is a high yielding, late ripening grape that performs best on well-drained calcareous soils on south-facing hillsides. For years it was blighted by poor clonal selection and massive overcropping - however since the 1980s the quality of Sangiovese-based wines has rocketed upwards and they are now some of the most sought after in the world.
It produces wines with pronounced tannins and acidity, though not always with great depth of colour, and its character can vary from farmyard/leather nuances through to essence of red cherries and plums. In the 1960s the advent of Super Tuscans saw bottlings of 100% Sangiovese wines, as well as the introduction of Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blends, the most famous being Tignanello.
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Description
Alessandro Mori's Il Marroneto 2017 Brunello di Montalcino opens to a very distinguished and unique character that makes this wine easy to recognize in a lineup of Brunello. This hot and dry growing season made for more powerful aromas and sometimes riper flavours in the appellation, generally speaking. But this magically lean-bodied wine follows its own path, and the warmth of the summer seems to have cemented almost exotic aromas of bay leaf, crushed flower, campfire ash and iron ore. The wine is exceedingly silky and elegant, but instead of opulence, you get streamlined tension accompanied by lifted, immediate aromas of fruit, flowers and light spice.
Drink 2024 - 2040
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (February 2022)
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