Brunello di Montalcino is arguably the pinnacle of what can be achieved with the Sangiovese grape.

Sangiovese Grosso is the local name for the particular clone of Sangiovese grape that grows on the slopes around the hillside town of Montalcino. While intense and quality wines have been made here since at least the early 14th Century, the style of single grape variety wine featuring Sangiovese dates back to the 1870s.  The common practice at the time was to co-ferment all the local grape varieties together, regardless of colour, variety, or clone.  The first pioneer Biondi-Santi was to vinify the Sangiovese separately, and age it for considerable time in oak barrels. There were only a handful of producers that followed suit, and by the 1960s there were perhaps a dozen producers in the Montalcino area making this Brunello style. This was the start of a path to international recognition and is now considered one of Italy's greatest wines.

Montalcino has one of the driest and warmest climates in Tuscany, allowing reliable peak ripeness of the fruit and full flavour. Curiously the DOCG rules require the vineyards to be no higher than 600m in elevation. Brunello must be made from 100 percent Sangiovese and aged for at least four years (five for Riserva wines). Two of these years must be spent in oak, and the wine must be bottled at least four months prior to commercial release.

Melini is a large winery in the Chianti Classico hills, its 'modern' winery carved out in the 1970s next to the old facilities founded in 1705 - 11 years before the boundaries of Chianti were established. It has four floors designed to separate the winemaking for each vineyard. They control more than 500 hectares across several towns in Tuscany.

The Brunello is made traditionally, an intense ruby colour with a deep nose of roasted coffee, hints of jam, perhaps a hint of blood and rust mixed with dried tobacco. Roasted nuts, leather, ripe cherry and black plum, epic length and superb fine tannins.  Enjoy now with generous decanting or cellar for further evolution.