Consorzio del Vino
Brunello di Montalcino®

VINO: BRUNELLO CUCINELLI SIGNS THE 31st ‘BENVENUTO BRUNELLO’ TILE WITH DIONYSUS LAYING OF THE TILE THIS EVENING AT 7 P.M. IN MONTALCINO

 

14/11/2022

(Montalcino – Siena, 12 November 2022). Brunello Cucinelli, cashmere designer, worldwide symbol of ‘Made in Italy’ and enlightened entrepreneur, is the author of the tile commemorating the 2022 vintage of the ‘prince of Tuscan reds’, Brunello di Montalcino. An essential tile on a totally white background, reminiscent of classic taste and dominated by Dionysus, divinity of the grapevine and the wine of Greek Olympus. A tribute “to Brunello di Montalcino”, reads the entrepreneur’s dedication, “the famous wine in which I recognise myself by name, near to the wisdom of Dionysus.”

“Brunello Cucinelli is a protagonist of ‘Humanistic Capitalism’ aimed at the enhancement and exaltation of relationships between man and territory, fully interpreting the values of our ecosystem,” explains Fabrizio Bindocci, Chairman of the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino. “His pragmatism, united with his constant search and exaltation of the beauty of Creation, and the necessary reconnection with the land, make him a true ambassador of authentic Italian spirit. In choosing the signature designer of the thirty-first tile - dedicated to a grape harvest sure to amaze – the selection of Brunello Cucinelli was thus superbly natural. In his creations, as well as in our wine, the symbiosis between history, territory, culture and humanity becomes a key identifier, recognised and appreciated both nationally and internationally."

“I am sincerely moved and grateful to the Consortium for inviting me to this captivating initiative,” Brunello Cucinelli comments. “The words of the Chairman, Fabrizio Bindocci, honour me most deeply for my efforts in favour of the human person, in work and in life, and for the environment in harmony with Creation. It will be a great thrill to find myself in such a prestigious context, rich in history and art, as the splendid Teatro Astrusi, a sparkling gem of this beautiful and noble town, so successful in exporting the excellence of a brand known world-wide: a ‘prince of wines’ to which I feel so close, since so many call me ‘Prince of Solomeo’, adding in a further degree of amiable affinity as, with great pleasure, I am bound by name to Brunello di Montalcino.”

The laying of the Brunello Cucinelli tile on the wall of the Municipal Palazzo of the Tuscan village will take place this evening (7:00 p.m.), Saturday 12 November, at the closing of the second day of Benvenuto Brunello. The event will be preceded by a public meeting with the entrepreneur at the Teatro degli Astrusi in Montalcino (starting 5:00 p.m.), moderated by the deputy editor of the Corriere della Sera, Luciano Ferraro.

As for the 2022 vintage (subject of dedication for the traditional Benvenuto Brunello tile), according to Gabriele Gorelli - Italy’s first and only Master of Wine - this was characterised by the hottest and driest year ever, which resulted in an early harvest of grapes that were rich in polyphenols.

This edition of Benvenuto Brunello features nine days of tastings, with 137 wineries launching the 2018 vintage and Brunello Riserva 2017, as well as Rosso di Montalcino 2021. The appearances also include the designation’s other two wines: Moscadello and Sant'Antimo. New for the 2022 edition will be Brunello Day (17 November), simultaneously bringing the new vintages to London, New York, Los Angeles and Toronto.

Brunello Cucinelli. Born in 1953 in Castel Rigone, a small village dating to the 15th century in the province of Perugia, Bruno Cucinelli is one of Italy's best-known designers and entrepreneurs. In 1978 he founded a small business and immediately amazed the market with his ideas of colouring cashmere. Ever since he was a boy, witnessing the painful trials of his father’s work and as a budding observer of the world, he developed the dream of labour capable of respecting the ‘moral and economic dignity of man.’ In 1985 he bought the 14th-century ruined castle in the village of Solomeo and made it the company's headquarters. In 2012, the company was listed on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2014, the Brunello and Federica Cucinelli Foundation unveiled the ‘Project for Beauty’, creating three immense parks in the valley at the foot of the village of Solomeo (Agrarian Park, Lay Oratory Park and Park of Industry), by recovering part of the territory formerly occupied by disused factories in favour of trees, orchards and meadows.
Brunello Cucinelli has received an extraordinary number of national and international awards for his ‘humanistic capitalism’: in 2010 he received the prestigious investiture as Knight of the Order of Merit for Labour, at the hand of the President of the Italian Republic. In 2017, from the influential Kiel Institute, he won the Global Economy Prize, with the comment that he was able to “...represent the figure of the honourable merchant at its best”. The following year, in 2018, Brunello Cucinelli received another prestigious title with his investiture as Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. In September 2021, in London, he received the Designer of the Year award from ‘GQ’, the leading United Kingdom men's fashion magazine, in confirmation of his constant humanistic commitment as a fashion designer and entrepreneur, and for various human sustainability projects. In October of the same year, he was invited to attend the G20 in Rome, bringing his conceptions of ‘Humanistic Capitalism and Human Sustainability’ to the presence of world leaders and His Majesty King Charles III of England.