Lisini, Brunello di Montalcino, 2015

Lisini, Brunello di Montalcino, 2015

  • icon-type Type

    Red

  • icon-year Year

    2015

  • icon-style Style

    Dry

  • icon-country Country

    Italy

  • icon-alcohollevel Alcohol level

    13.5%

  • icon-grapevariety Grape variety
    Sangiovese 100%

Considered one of the greatest expressions of Italian enology, Brunello di Montalcino is produced exclusively with grapes of the Sangiovese grape variety, which represents a variety of Sangiovese Grosso.

The Brunello di Montalcino of the Lisini Agricultural Company stands out for its truly superior characteristics obtained through continuous care of the vines, cultivated with traditional methods excluding any forcing practice, careful selection and thinning out of the vines during growth and careful sorting of the grapes during the harvest. All this, combined with the most modern winemaking methods, ensures an exceptional level even with not entirely favourable seasonal trends.

Here is how one of the best known Italian winemakers has judged Brunello di Montalcino, Lisini:

Deep ruby ​​red which is refined over the years in bright orange. Perfume slightly ethereal bouquet of extraordinary elegance with hints of goudron, undergrowth, tobacco, violet and vanilla; dry flavour, but at the same time soft, full and harmonious, firm and viperine nerve, consistent and aristocratic fabric. Full bodied.

About Lisini

Azienda Lisini is a leading wine estate in Montalcino, Tuscany, with around 20 hectares (50 acres) of vineyards. It is most famous for its Brunello di Montalcino wines, which it has been making since its first harvest in 1975 and which are considered to be some of Italy's best Sangiovese wines.

The estate has some 20 hectares (50 acres) of vineyards in the southern part of Montalcino, where the free-draining, porous soils are well-suited to Sangiovese. The estate's flagship wine is Ugolaia, a Brunello that is only produced in the best years from a vineyard of the same name. It spends around 42 months in oak plus six months in chestnut, and is aged in bottle before its release. Ugolaia can be cellared for many years. Winemaking is traditional with fermentation in glass-lined concrete tanks and aging in large Slavonian oak casks.

Lisini also makes a generic Brunello di Montalcino and sometimes a Riserva, if vintage conditions allow. A Rosso di Montalcino is made from the same vineyards as the Brunello but aged for less time in cask and bottle, and an IGT Toscana wine made from Sangiovese, San Biagio, completes the line-up of still wines. Lisini also makes two Grappe di Brunello.

Grape variety
Sangiovese

Sangiovese is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin sanguis Jovis, "the blood of Jupiter". Though it is the grape of most of central Italy from Romagna down to Tuscany, Campania and Sicily, outside Italy it is most famous as the only component of Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalcino and the main component of the blends Chianti, Carmignano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and Morellino di Scansano, although it can also be used to make varietal wines such as Sangiovese di Romagna and the modern "Super Tuscan" wines like Tignanello.

Sangiovese was already well known by the 16th century. Recent DNA profiling by José Vouillamoz of the Istituto Agrario di San Michele all’Adige suggests that Sangiovese's ancestors are Ciliegiolo and Calabrese Montenuovo. The former is well known as an ancient variety in Tuscany, the latter is an almost-extinct relic from the Calabria, the toe of Italy. At least fourteen Sangiovese clones exist, of which Brunello is one of the best regarded. An attempt to classify the clones into Sangiovese grosso (including Brunello) and Sangiovese piccolo families has gained little evidential support.

Young Sangiovese has fresh fruity flavours of strawberry and a little spiciness, but it readily takes on oaky, even tarry, flavours when aged in barrels. While not as aromatic as other red wine varieties such as Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah, Sangiovese often has a flavour profile of sour red cherries with earthy aromas and tea leaf notes. Wines made from Sangiovese usually have medium-plus tannins and high acidity.

The high acidity and light body characteristics of the Sangiovese grape can present a problem for winemaking. The grape also lacks some of the colour-creating phenolic compounds known as acylated anthocyanins. Modern winemakers have devised many techniques trying to find ways to add body and texture to Sangiovese - ranging from using grapes that come from extremely low yielding vines, to adjusting the temperature and length of fermentation and employing extensive oak treatment. One historical technique is the blending of other grape varieties with Sangiovese, in order to complement its attractive qualities and fill in the gaps of some of its weaker points. The Sangiovese-based wines of Chianti have a long tradition of liberally employed blending partners—such as Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo, Mammolo, Colorino and even the white wine grapes like Trebbiano and Malvasia. Since the late 20th century, Bordeaux grapes, most notably Cabernet Sauvignon, have been a favoured blending partner though in many Italian DOC/DOCG regions there is often a maximum limit on the amount of other varietals that can be blended with Sangiovese; in Chianti the limit for Cabernet is 15%.

Other techniques used to improve the quality of Sangiovese include extending the maceration period from 7–12 days to 3–4 weeks to give the must more time to leach vital phenols out of the grape skins. Transferring the wine during fermentation into new oak barrels for malolactic fermentation gives greater polymerisation of the tannins and contributes to a softer, rounder mouthfeel. Additionally, Sangiovese has shown itself to be a "sponge" for soaking up sweet vanilla and other oak compounds from the barrel. For aging the wine, some modern producers will utilize new French oak barrels but there is a tradition of using large, used oak botti barrels that hold five to six hectolitres of wine. Some traditional producers still use the old chestnut barrels in their cellars.

Alternative Names: Nielluccio, Sangioveto, Sangiovese Grosso, Sangiovese Piccolo, Brunello, Prugnolo Gentile, Morellino

About Brunello di Montalcino

Brunello di Montalcino is one of Italy's most famous and prestigious wines. In Tuscany, its homeland, it perhaps ranks alongside Chianti Classico. On global markets it seems to command even greater attention.

The wine is typically garnet in colour with aromas of red and black fruit with underlying vanilla and spice, and perhaps a hint of earthiness. The wines are usually full bodied with alcohol levels around 14 or 15 percent abv. Good tannic structure and bright acidity provides balance.

All Brunello di Montalcino wine is made exclusively from Sangiovese Grosso grapes grown on the slopes around Montalcino – a classic Tuscan hilltop village 30 kilometres (20 miles) south of Siena. Sangiovese Grosso is the large-berried form of Sangiovese. Its name here translates roughly as 'little dark one'. The use of this synonym and its inclusion in the name of the wine was part of a clear strategy to differentiate the wine from Chianti.

The first recordings of red wines from Montalcino date back to the early 14th Century. However the all-Sangiovese Brunello di Montalcino style we know today did not emerge until the 1870s, just after the creation of a single Italian state. Its evolution was due in no small part to the efforts of Ferruccio Biondi-Santi, whose name lives on in one of Montalcino's finest estates.

Traditional Brunello di Montalcino winemaking methods involve long aging in large vats, typically made from Slavonian oak. This results in particularly complex wines, although some consider this style too tannic and dry. Modernists began to pursue a 'fruitier' style in the 1980s, when they began to shorten the barrel maturation time and use smaller 225 litre French oak barriques.

DOCG regulations require Brunello vineyards to be planted on hills with good sun exposure, at altitudes not surpassing 600 meters (1968ft). This limit is intended to ensure the grapes reach optimal ripeness and flavour before being harvested. Any higher than 600m and the mesoclimate becomes cooler to the point of unreliability.

According to the disciplinare di produzione (the legal document laying out the wine's production laws) for Brunello di Montalcino, 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.

The "junior" version of Brunello is the Rosso di Montalcino appellation. Fruit from young vines in Brunello vineyards might be used, or perhaps vineyard plots which catch less sun. These wines are designed to be more approachable when young and aging requirements are greatly lowered.

Some producers in Montalcino make small amounts red and white wine under the IGT Toscana designation. The reds usually feature Bordeaux grape varieties from a few well established plots.

Regular price $675.00

Unit price per 

Bottle Size

Case Size

Close (esc)

Follow us

Thank you for

Age verification

By clicking enter you are verifying that you are legally old enough to consume alcohol.

Search

Shopping Cart

Your cart is currently empty.
Shop now