Montalcino Mastery at Il Marroneto

3 min read

“Do you know where wine is born, really?” Alessandro Mori asked me with a quizzical squint in his eye. We were standing next to his winery, Il Marroneto, a stone house dating back to 1246 where nuns used to dry chestnuts. Atop the hill overlooking his property stood a singular chapel, the Chiesa della Madonna delle Grazie, from which comes the name of Mori’s famed vineyard. It seemed stoic but forgotten. And in the distance, the famous cypress-lined fields of the Crete Senesi were flush with new greenery. Tiny white ground-cover flowers bloomed in the vine rows around us.

For four straight days it had rained — the first precipitation in more than three months — and it was about to rain again. You could feel it in the air. But before the clouds could open up and quench the quick-drying, sandy soil of the Madonna delle Grazie vineyard, I could sense another shift in the climate. Alessandro was about to rain some truth down upon me.

Where is wine born, really? I thought I knew where this was going. “In the vineyard,” I said confidently. Because that’s what every winemaker says. Besides, just look around you.

“No. In the cellar,” Mori promptly responded.

I had a feeling I was about to be shown the gate.

“In the vineyard is born the grape. Here, things are different, and that’s what I want to transmit to you today.” Then, his mood softened a bit, and a twinkle showed in his eye. “Relax,” he said.

With that, he told me and my travel companion — a wine-loving friend from my college days named Adam — to wait while he entered the building. Through a separate door he emerged, and along with his son and protégé, Iacopo, he ushered us in. Class was now in session.

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A Fully Formed Taste

Later that evening, we tasted the bottled 2019 “Selezione Iacopo” Rosso di Montalcino as well as the 2017 “Madonna delle Grazie” Brunello di Montalcino.

For notes on these wines, paying subscribers can visit Il Marroneto’s Essential Winemakers of Italy page.

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