Montalcino
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Il Castello di Montalcino |
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Montalcino Sagra del Tordo - Festival of the Thrush
This festival takes place on the last weekend of October with drums, trumpets, costume parade etc on Saturday, followed by a day-long feast in the castle on Sunday. This feast is open to the public and a good range of food, including roast thrushes needless to say, plus the excellent local wines are available. During the morning there is another costume parade, and celebratory lunches are held in the four quartieri of Montalcino - Pianello, Travaglio, Ruga and Borghetto. Similar feasts are held in the evening. A limited number of visitors can book for these feasts - ask your host if you are staying in town. The main parade takes place in the afternoon, leading to the archery field, and is followed by the longbow tournament in which two archers from each quartiere compete. Tickets are required for the competition which a major annual event for the citizens of Montalcino. Unusually for Tuscany, the competition is for long bowmen although there are plenty of crossbows in evidence during the parades. Bus loads of tourists, mainly Italian, arrive on Sunday so if you plan to participate, arrive early or face a long uphill walk from where you park.
Click here for a brief history of Montalcino
Abbey
of S. Antimo
More about Sant'Antimo
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Brunello di Montalcino
The Biondi-Santi family remained the only producer of Brunello until after World War II and the estate only released the wine on rare occasions in the greatest vintages. Between 1888 and 1945, only four vintage declarations qualified. As recently as 1960, less than a dozen estates bottled Brunello di Montalcino but today there are 220 growers and over 150 bottlers (up from 100 in the late 1980s). The Consorzio of Brunello producers, incorporating virtually all of the winemaking estates, was established in 1967, just after Italian authorities declared Brunello one of the country's first DOC classified wines in 1966. This group plays a vital role in helping establish and administer production codes (by a decree passed in 2001, it actually controls production protocols for the zone down to the most basic details) as well as leading in the marketing and promotion of Brunello abroad. Unlike the consorzio in the neighboring
Chianti Classico
region, the group in Montalcino enjoys almost unanimous participation among the region's producers and has been quite effective in helping develop Brunello's reputation as a unique "brand."
The "second wine" of the zone is Rosso di Montalcino and this
generally sells for a modest price considering its high quality. One of the DOCG regulations which is strictly enforced entails "de-classification" of at least 30% of the production each vintage from Brunello, with its longer aging requirements, to earlier maturing Rosso, which is a DOC that must age for only a year prior to release.
Because of the mandatory "de-classification", Rossos from a great house are often spectacular in a great vintage, and they can be extremely good in lesser years (when the house makes little if any Brunello, and uses
its best grapes for Rosso production).
