Il Marroneto

Why Il Marroneto is Essential

You many have heard the cliché that "great wine is born in the vineyard." It is a rather tired phrase that I've heard trotted out by winemakers of many different stripes; the sort of thing that has been uttered so many times that it has lost meaning. Yes, great terroir is an absolute necessity ... but just because you say it, doesn't mean you have it.

What Alessandro Mori and his son and protégé, Iacopo, represent is a steadfast addendum: Great wine may start with quality grapes from a vineyard, but its greatness still needs coaxing, fostering and diligence in the cellar. At Il Marroneto, Sangiovese reaches its brilliant apex because both conditions are fulfilled.

Mori is undeniably a master of what he does. For more than 40 vintages in Montalcino, he has refined his methods to such an extreme level that his wines are among the most coveted in the world. You will pay handsomely for the estate's flagship Madonna Delle Grazie Brunello di Montalcino, but in the end, there is good reason for the cost. The wine is rare, and so profoundly precise that any Italian wine lover ought to taste it at least once in their life.

The beauty of Il Marroneto's wines begins high on the north-facing slopes of the town — in particular, a vineyard residing below the 13th century Chiesa della Madonna delle Grazie — a small, wooded chapel that faces Siena in the distance. The elevation, the sandy soils, the interplay with the wind, and the north-facing aspect has helped Mori's Sangiovese ripen to a distinctively elegant profile.

But it is in the cellar that Mori really hones the vision for these wines. Regarding his most fundamental winemaking principal, he likes to say "slowly, slowly, slowly," a reference to the maturation of the wine in 26hL oak casks known as botti. Many of his botti date back to the beginning of the winery in the late 1970s ("Never exit the one barrel from this cellar," he told me. "Only enter, because every barrel is perfectly functioning.")

Slowness may be the modus operandi for the wine's life in the cask, but Mori himself never sits still. In fact, he is a bit of a tornado, channeling his passion and energy into moving the wines from one cask to the next every four months, a process he calls "seasoning." Each cask fosters its own unique environment, and Mori does his best to cycle them through these ecosystems of oak so they can pick up as much nuance as possible. Given the 39 to 41 months of oak aging, "seasoning" may seem like speed-dating for Brunello, but it is an exceedingly difficult task to accomplish without ruining the wine by over-agitating it and exposing it to too much oxygen.

But Mori is insistent on the process, and his faith in the system is rewarded. The end result is a fleet of wines that are among the greatest I have ever tasted.

Wines to Seek Out

Like many producers in Montalcino, Il Marroneto only works with the Brunello clone of Sangiovese in service to the two wines of Montalcino — Brunello di Montalcino, and the earlier-to-release Rosso di Montalcino. There are no white wines, no rosato and certainly no sparkling. You will also not find a riserva of Brunello di Montalcino, only a main Brunello di Montalcino and a strictly selected single-vineyard called Madonna delle Grazie.

However, it is best to suspend your preconceived idea of what Brunello tastes like. The estate's wines reside in their own orbit within this category.

Il Marroneto "Selezione Iacopo" Rosso di Montalcino

How epic are Il Marroneto's wines? Well, the entry-level Rosso di Montalcino is more elegant and complex than 95% of the Brunello di Montalcino wines on the market. Perfumed and brilliant in its radiant ruby color, the wine has vaporous floral tones that lilt across the senses. This is everything one can hope for in Sangiovese: the juiciness, the tart cherry fruit, the energetic tension between bitter and sweet elements, as well as pitch-perfect tannins. Named after Alessandro's son, and composed of a selection of wines at his choosing, this is a testament to Iacopo's skill and the many things he has learned from his father.

Il Marroneto Brunello di Montalcino

The high-wire act of Alessandro Mori's precise methods in the cellar are on full display with this Brunello di Montalcino, a wine of supreme tension and complexity. If you are used to Brunello's dark fruits, potent alcohol and searing tannins, this wine is the exact opposite, with citric acidity and a silken finish that endures with great length after every sip.

Il Marroneto "Madonna delle Grazie" Brunello di Montalcino

One of Italy's greatest wines, and worth tasting at least once in your life. Here, the Brunello clone of Sangiovese finds its perfect form even while young, conveying a precision and elegance that ardent wine lovers might only taste a few times in their life. Rather than explore its tasting notes as fruits and flowers, or savory and earthy elements, it is best to simply enjoy the falsetto, tenor and baritone voices as they align in perfect harmony. Only about 5,000 bottles are made each year.