Producer profile: Salvioni

A plot recognised as one of the great ‘crus’ of the village....

Producer profile: Salvioni

Giulio Salvioni is bonhomie personified; happy to cordially chat away a Sunday morning in the cellar.

The cellar in question is behind the unassuming door of a house in the centre of the village.

The whole of Salvioni’s highly sought-after production ages in six medium-sized barrels in the domestic cellar of his family home.

The barrels are of Slavonian oak, made by the Veneto-based cooper who has supplied his casks to Tuscan producers for generations: a classic choice for one of Montalcino’s most classic wines.

Salvioni owns La Cerbaiola vineyard in the southeast of the commune, a plot universally recognised as one of the great ‘crus’ of the village.

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His Brunellos have a reassuring warmth about them, but also an underlying structure that comes from old vines and extremely low yields.

They are among the most recognisable of the denomination, with a consistency guaranteed by the winemaking of long-standing consultant, Attilio Pagli, and by rigorous selection in the cellar.

Anything that does not come up to Salvioni’s exacting standards is declassified.

The downside of this policy is that in some vintages the already small production shrinks even further; however, the good news is that there’s now one of the best Rosso di Montalcino wines in circulation.

Richard Baudains is the regional chair for Veneto in the Decanter World Wine Awards.