Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG

Description

Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino DOCG is the flagship wine of Castello Banfi, a multi vineyard Brunello di Montalcino with 24 months ageing in barrel and casks, 12 months in bottle prior to release. This Brunello is their ‘classic’ production, a combination of Montalcino tradition with wine-making modernity. The first vintage was produced in 1978.

Castello Banfi was founded in founded in 1978 by two Italian-American brothers, John and Harry Mariani. The goal of the two brothers was to create a state-of-the-art winery combined with the most advanced science in the vineyards for the production of premium wines.  Today they have estates in Montalcino, Bolgheri, Chianti and Piedmont. In the last 40 years they have been at the forefront of the revival of Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino,  engaging in significant academic studies into the region’s geology, climate and different Sangiovese clones. They also now own the historic Bruzzone winery in Piedmont (founded 1860).

The Castello Banfi estate is located in Montalcino and is situated at the confluence of the Orcia and Ombrone rivers. The estate extends along the southern slopes of the township of Montalcino across 7,100 acres of land; one third of the property is under specialized vine and the balance is shared between olive groves, wheat fields, plum trees, truffle stands, forest and scrub.

The grapes for Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino are harvested from various estate vineyards. The vineyards are planted on balanced and sandy, yellow brownish soils and are located between 220 and 280 metres above sea level. The average vine age is 8 to 20 years old. The grapes are harvested using a combination of hand and mechanical harvest. A state-of-the-art sorting system allows the selection of the best grapes which are then destemmed. After a gentle crushing the wine is fermented in a stainless steel and hybrid steel-wood vats. After fermentation 70% of the wine is aged in large French oak casks and 30% in French oak barriques (10% new for 24 months).