Additional Information
| Goes well with | Beef, Cheeses, Lamb, Pasta, Roast Turkey |
|---|---|
| Country/Region | Italy, Italy/Tuscany |
| Grape type | Sangiovese Grosso |
| Drinking style | Complex, elegant, concentrated |
Details
While they can't legally call this a Brunello (because of the addition of small quantities Bordeaux varietals), it pretty much is, made on the revered hills around Montalcino, south of Siena.
Cristina Mariani-May, co-CEO of Banfi, describes it thus,
"Our initial goal was to build a better Brunello, but we learned that Brunello is just one expression of the Sangiovese grape as a varietal; Belnero, to us, is the ultimate expression of Sangiovese as a terroir-based wine".
The grapes for Belnero were painstakingly hand picked, carefully selected after two sortings, and then fermented in hybrid wood and stainless steel fermenters developed and patented by Banfi.
The wine was then aged for an additional two years in custom made French oak barrels. Produced in a different way to a traditional barrique, these are toasted more gradually over a lower flame to reduce charring and they're also larger to minimise the direct influence of the oak and allow the wine to develop its inherent flavours.
Soft tannins, beautifully round fruit, and a really refreshing acidity all combine in a splendid fashion to give a real crowd pleaser. It is, as Cristina Mariani-May intended, a fine expression of Sangiovese, neither the bright charming style of Chianti Classico nor the rich broodiness of Brunello, but somewhere pleasantly in between with the best of both.
