Baudains: Montalcino’s quiet revolution

A quiet revolution is underway in Montalcino. A reset of vineyard quotas approved at the end of 2024 is destined to dramatically increase the production of Rosso di Montalcino, creating exciting new prospects for what has traditionally been regarded as Montalcino’s second wine.

Rosso di Montalcino is a kind of younger sibling. Like Brunello di Montalcino, it must be made from 100% Sangiovese and its DOC overlaps in toto with that of the DOCG.

Theoretically, yields for Rosso are marginally higher than for the senior wine, at 90 hl/ha as opposed to 80 hl/ha, but in practice yields across the denomination are similar and generally lower.

Notes for 12 excellent expressions of Rosso di Montalcino below

The differences lie in the ageing: Brunello comes out after four years, of which at least two years must be in wood, while Rosso can be released at one year from the vintage, without any requirements for the type of ageing.

The amount of wine which can be produced in a DOC/DOCG zone in Italy is controlled through a vineyard register, which specifies the area allocated to any given denomination.

In the case of Montalcino, up until September 2024, a total of 2,100 hectares were registered for the production of Brunello and less than a quarter of that area, 520ha, to Rosso di Montalcino.

Imbalance

This can be seen as an anomaly. ‘The quality pyramid at Montalcino is untypical’ says the newly-elected president of the producers’ consorzio, Giacomo Bertolomeo, ‘because it is inverted, with the biggest production at the top end of the pyramid and the entry level at the bottom.’

To redress this perceived imbalance, in September last year, the consorzio voted to substantially increase the area allotted to Rosso, adding an extra 352ha to the quota for a total of 872ha.

The consorzio is quick to point out that this increase will not involve any new planting. Rather, there will be a reallocation of existing rights, with vineyards previously registered to other denominations becoming available for the production of Rosso.

This means in theory that a producer can switch from an IGT production to Rosso – although this is the least likely scenario because IGT vineyards are mainly planted to international varieties and hence not available for the production of Rosso – or use vineyards previously allocated to Brunello.

The impact in terms of number of bottles is significant. According to the consorzio’s figures, average annual production of Rosso has hovered around 3.6 million bottles in recent vintages, against the 9 million bottles of Brunello.

Following the opening of the vineyard register, the potential production of Rosso di Montalcino from the 2024 vintage, which is due out in the autumn of this year, will more than double to 7.3 million bottles.

Rosso di Montalcino was originally conceived along the lines of Bordeaux’s second labels; as a way of maintaining the quality of the top cru of the estate by early bottling of parcels of younger vines or less well-sited vineyards, or by declassifying wines which do not come up to standard for long ageing.

An identity of its own

Many producers today reject this ‘deficit’ interpretation. Elisa Sesti from the estate of the same name believes passionately that Rosso di Montalcino ‘is an important expression of the terroir in its own right [which] allows you to put your finger on the pulse of Montalcino’.

Francesco Bufalini from Scopone has the same view. ‘Rosso has an identity of its own, which originates in the vineyard and comes from site selection’.

At Castiglione del Bosco, winemaker Cecilia Leoneschi adopts the same approach, making three single-vineyard Rossos (more than any other producer in Montalcino), each vinified and aged to reflect a specific sense of place.

This policy works for larger properties with vines in different locations. Small estates with single blocks of vineyard, however, often do not have the same options for site selection and in these cases the Rosso comes from a cellar selection.

Luciano Ciolfi at San Lorenzo picks the whole estate at low yields, vinifies all the fruit together, and at the end of the first year of ageing selects barrels ready for early drinking to bottle as Rosso.

Poggio di Sotto, whose Rosso has attained iconic status (and prices to match), follows the same procedure but monitors the lots over a longer period and releases a ‘white label’ Rosso after spending two years in 30hl Slavonian oak casks.

Around 40% of Poggio di Sotto’s total production is dedicated to Rosso, which is one of the highest proportions of any estate at Montalcino.

Communicating terroir

Montalcino is one of the greatest places in the world to grow Sangiovese, but it is limiting to think of Brunello, for all its majestic quality, as the only expression of the terroir.

Rosso di Montalcino is equally capable of communicating the character-defining variations in soils, elevations and topography of the region, but in a way which is immediately accessible.

It is conceived to deliver freshness and fruit aroma on release, with all the vibrant energy of young Sangiovese, but is capable of ageing comfortably over five to six years or more, is decidedly food friendly, affordable – and the good news is that it is due to become much more readily available.

Baudain’s 12 Rosso di Montalcino picks:

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