WINE AND SCIENCE:MONTALCINO SUPERSTAR TERRITORY FOR A 5 STAR BRUNELLO ALWAYS
30/09/2011
Presented by the study of Maracchi, Scienza and Cotarella on the predictability of crops
A scientific model that would enable the vineyard to be programmed, making it possible every year to obtain a wine suitable for prolonged aging and with a high chromatic stability. A result that could only be achieved in Montalcino, where the knowledge of producers has established the territory at the top of world enology. Excellent news for the great reds but above all for producers, consumers and investors who will always be guaranteed a very high quality product.
Anulling alterations in the vineyard beforehand so as to make the best wine possible: in Montalcino with Brunello 2010 it has already been done. And it is excellent news for enology and for the great Italian reds and above all for producers, consumers, restaurant operators and aficionados who see Brunello as not just one of the world’s best wines, but also as an emotion and a status symbol as well as an investment. Not a perfect wine that doesn’t exist but one that because of its terroir characteristics, within the specificity of every cru comes closer year by year to being the ideal wine.
This is the gist of the research presented today, in the course of the Benvenuto Brunello by three experts of international repute: Giampiero Maracchi, Professor of agrometeorologia at the University of Florence and Former-Director of the Institute of Biometereology (IBIMET), Attilio Scienza, Professor of viticulture at the University of Milan and one of the greatest world experts in vine physiology and Riccardo Cotarella, enologist and consultant to some of the most prestigious Italian wineries..
A scientific diagnosis of the 2010 harvest that in essence proves that one can program crops before-hand allowing each producer to optimize the chemical composition of his grapes thereby guaranteeing every year wines that can age avoiding excessive ripening that often deprives wine of delicacy making it too alcoholic. Similarly, a balanced polyphenolic composition (tannins and anthocyans) allows the production of Sangiovese with a high chromatic stability during the course of its aging while it is being kept by the consumer.
«A result - comments the President of the Consorzio del Brunello Ezio Rivella – that confirms our position as leaders of international enology for our capacity of investing on the territory constantly innovating our production so as to guarantee the excellence that a great product like ours should always have».
The analysis started with three types of data of the year 2010 in Montalcino, compared to those of the previous decade: the meteorological data (quantity and character of rainfalls and temperatures) data of the enological and polyphenolic ripening of the grapes, that are gathered by the Consorzio in 6 areas of Montalcino during the pre-harvest phase, and lastly data from the tests on musts and their wines carried out by the Consorzio del Brunello during the month of January. From these data a model was elaborated enabling one to predict the best moment for the harvest thereby avoiding eventual alterations due to the grapes staying too long or too short a time on the vine. Apart from the information regarding the year 2010, the data also proved that Montalcino is an optimum enological area, one of the few places in the world in which it is possible to repeatedly produce high level wines using one single variety, an attribute that Montalcino has in common with very few other places, such as Burgundy with its Pinot Noir and the Rhone Valley with its Syrah. In the last 10 years Brunello has had four excellent vintages and four 4 star ones and only two disappointing vintages.
Montalcino, according to experts “represents an ideal environment for models of prediction: it has at its disposal an important data bank that the Consorzio has patiently amassed in the past years, it cultivates one single variety, Sangiovese and despite its orography made up of varying slopes, altitudes and exposures, it enjoys a temperate warm climate, that on the Val d’Orcia side is continental at least on the higher attitudes, while it is influenced by the sea on the Tyrrhenian side. The presence of a remarkable constancy in the succession of phenological phases is also helped by a physical composition of the soil that never exposes the vines to serious risk of drought. The vintner’s role too is important in that he practices a viticulture in harmony with the environment in his growing methods, foliage management and production controll, and working the land in a way that stabilizes the response of plants to years with weather that can vary considerably from year to year”.