Casisano farms on the southern side of Montalcino, the warmer half of the hill, and bottles this as the estate's younger expression of Sangiovese. Rosso di Montalcino was created in the 1980s as a wine the region could release earlier than its more famous neighbour, from the same grape and the same hills, with less time in the cellar before it leaves.
- Sangiovese, the grape of Montalcino.
- Rosso di Montalcino DOC, Tuscany.
- 2020, a warm and generous vintage.
- Medium body, high acidity, medium tannin.
- 14% alcohol, dry.
How it is made
Rosso di Montalcino is the appellation's answer to Brunello: the same Sangiovese grown on the same hills around the town, but released younger and with fewer years required before it can be sold. Where Brunello must age for years before release, Rosso is meant to show the grape earlier, with the fruit still forward and the structure not yet closed in on itself.
How it tastes
Red cherry leads, with dried herbs, leather and a touch of tobacco behind it. The tannins are firm but not heavy, and the acidity runs high, which keeps the fruit bright rather than sweet. Dry through the finish, medium in weight, with the savoury side of Sangiovese sitting just under the fruit.
Where it comes from
Montalcino sits in the hills of southern Tuscany, well south of Chianti and closer to the coast. The zone is warmer and drier than most of the region, and the wines tend to be fuller and more structured than Sangiovese grown further north. The appellation covers the slopes around the town itself and nothing outside them.
Good to know
Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalcino are the same grape from the same registered zone. The difference is the ageing the rules demand and the wine's ambition, not the vineyard. That is why Rosso often shows the purest, most direct version of Montalcino Sangiovese, without the oak and the years that Brunello carries.
