2020 Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino

Its Origins

"Il Marroneto was founded in 1974 by Giuseppe Mori on the cool, steep slopes just north of Montalcino, the sector that boasts many of the region’s most elegant Brunellos. The timing of Il Marroneto’s founding placed Giuseppe firmly in Brunello’s second wave of producers who established estates before the Brunello boom of the 1980s and 1990s. The first Marroneto vines went into the ground on the estate’s steep 400-meter elevation galestro clay and sand slopes in 1975, followed by subsequent plantings in 1977, 1982 and 1983. Giuseppe's son Alessandro joined him in time for the 1980 vintage, the first to be bottled. Long before it was fashionable, Alessandro eschewed the usage of artificial fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides in his vineyards. Father and son were aided in their early efforts by two of Montalcino’s legendary names, first Mario Cortevesio and then his best friend, Giulio Gambelli. By 1990, Alessandro was ready to forge his own path for the estate’s wines, but he never forgot Gambelli’s imperative to “listen to the wine.” Over the years, Alessandro has adapted his winemaking incrementally to realize each wine’s unique identity more fully. Extended fermentations, long macerations and lengthy maturation in large format barrels are the norm at Marroneto. These hands-off methods ensure greater transparency of site and allow for excellent structure in each wine Il Marroneto produces, from its entry-level wines to its top cuvée" (Rare wine Co.). Vinous, Eric Guido: "Standing on the balcony of the Il Marroneto winery, looking out across the Madonna di Grazie vineyard and beyond that, all of Montalcino’s north hill puts the magic of this place and this wine into perspective. This is not your average Montalcino sight or terroir. In fact, it’s difficult to compare this location to nearly any other place. Owner and winemaker, Alessandro Mori explained to me, “We are standing on a beach.” This is when things get really interesting, as most producers on the north hill have a combination of soils that mix the deposits of an ancient sea with the deteriorating shear rock of the Montalcino hill that has slowly crumbled down into their vineyards over the centuries. However, at Madonna di Grazie, we are on the “beach”, at the water line, and these high-elevation vineyards are growing in much sandier soils, laced with marine fossils and minerals. This mix also means that they retain less water which, when combined with these old vines, creates fruit of extraordinary character."