Home Great Trips Brunello wine and truffles in Montalcino

Brunello wine and truffles in Montalcino

Writes: Mónica Uriel - Argentine journalist

Among landscapes of hills and cypress trees that border on perfection in the famous wine region of Toscana. Montalcino It is a paradise for lovers of gastronomy of excellence. In it it is possible to visit the cellars of the appreciated Brunello. Also accompany in his work through the forest a 'tartufaio' (a truffle hunter) with his dogs. After tasting them and helping in the elaboration of Pecorino cheeses.

Gastronomic and landscape richness in Montalcino

We are in the most photographed and painted agricultural landscape in the world, the Orcia Valley, a World Heritage Site. With gentle hills, vineyards, olive and cypress trees, all in perfect harmony and dotted with picturesque villages.

No one would say that Montalcino, disputed in medieval times between Florence y SienaIt was a very poor area in the 70s. People migrated north of Italy or out of the country. The large landowners sold their land because there were no people to work it.

Castello Banfi, a must-visit winery

It was then that the Italian-American brothers John and Harri Mariani They took the opportunity to buy very cheap land. Thus, in 1978 the wine cellar Castello Banfi, with 2.830 hectares, of which 850 are vineyards.

Predominates the Sangiovese variety, the native grape to elaborate the Brunello. Its objective - achieved - was to produce Brunello wine not only in quality, but also in quantity. To be known to the world.

La wine cellar It was also at the forefront for the time in which it was built, as it was designed for visits. It was actually the first to do it in the area. Also practice a sustainable agriculture (a broader concept than the ecological one) with intelligent irrigation.

Castello Banfi nowadays produces 10 million bottles a year, of which 600.000 are of Brunello. It receives 60.000 visitors a year. During the visit you can see some very special vats, developed by this winery. They are half steel -which allows to control temperatures- and half wood -for oxygenation-.

In the call 'Brunello Cathedral' there are huge tubs of up to 90 hl. Its best-selling wine, exported in 90 countries, is the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG (red wines) Castello Banfi. One of its jewels is the Poggio all'Oro, which goes on the market only in the best harvests. The latest is from 2010.

Besides being well represented with Chianti wines, this winery elaborates Muscat. The historic wine of Montalcino that currently only 13 producers do. Castello Banfi also has a raft (vinegar). There are produced in limited quantities the so-called Etruscan sauce after aging for 12 years.

La Raft

La Raft is located under the Banfi Castle, XNUMXth century. Inside is the Museum of the bottle and glass. Contains one of the largest private collections in the world these objects of ancient Roma. A journey through history is made of how the use of the wine container has changed.

The old stone village at the foot of the castle where the peasants lived has become a luxury hotel. It has 14 rooms, one for each house, with splendid views of the Tuscan countryside. In what was a wine cellar today there is a restaurant. In addition to cooking and oil courses, the chef offers surprise dinners to those staying at the hotel.

El castle It is seen in the distance from the Nature train. It is a restructured steam train that circulates 19 times a year. Even many of them coincide with gastronomic fairs. Its route goes between hills and vineyards of the Tuscany

The reputed Brunello de Montalcino

In the municipality of Montalcino there are a total of 250 wine producers, all small. 90 of them are members of the Montalcino Canteen, the only cooperative, founded in 1975. Every year 500.000 bottles are produced, of which 100.000 are Brunello. This (which comes from "bruno", dark) is made after the fifth year of harvest of the Sangiovese grape.

While the Rosso di Montalcino, which uses the same variety, comes out after the first year of harvest. The Brunello, among the most precious wines of Italy along with the Barolo and Amarone, it is only done in Montalcino.

While the Chianti It is made throughout the Toscana. The visit to the cooperative allows to know the different types of land that are in Montalcino. The modern shape of the winery, restructured in 2011, does not leave indifferent those who circulate on the road from Val di Cava.

Casato prime donne, a feminine winery

Very close to the cooperative is Casato Prime Donne. The only Italian winery in which tronly women go down, including the oenologist. For this he has received several awards. Its owner, Donatella Cinelli Colombini, was named last year National President of the Women of Wine. The visit to the winery is also a walk through history, that of Montalcino and the Brunello came.

The stay at the hotel offers classes wine and cooking, treatments wine therapy, excursions by bicycle and horseback between vineyards. In short distances it is a must visit in the area Montepulciano, also seated on a hill. Like Bagno Vignoni, old spa town, and Pienza, Heritage.

A paradise for 'trufiturismo'

The gastronomic wealth of the Toscana encompasses a product hidden in their land, the coveted truffles. The White are among the best of Italy along with those of Piedmont and Umbria.

And a highly recommended experience for the visitor is to accompany a 'tartufaio' with their trained dogs hunting for the truffle. They are covered all year round, because in addition to the White, which are between October and December, there are also black.

One of them occurs in summer. One of the truffle hunters that offers tours is Mario vannini. Makes it close to San Giovanni D'Asso (belonging to Montalcino). This town every year celebrates the Mercato del Tartufo Bianco show.

Here in the zone Crete Senesi, there are curious hills of bare clay divided by deep crevices where bushes grow forming a lunar landscape adored by photographers. There are forest reserves where only those registered in the Tartufai Association. En Italy there are an estimated 100.000 truffle hunters but few make a living from it.

The culture of the white truffle

La white truffle, which needs moisture, can not be cultivated. It can be helped, for example, by preventing water from accumulating, for which the ground is cleaned of weeds. "For dogs it is a game to look for truffles and they find them by the smell of the earth," he tells Great Products, in a forest of poplars, Mario, from whom his dog is not separated Benedict, whom he trained since he was a puppy.

His nose leads him to dig here and there, after which Mario check if you are dealing with a truffle or there was one in the past and the smell remained on the ground.

They were traditionally used pigs, but the risk is that they eat the truffles, so now on Italy leaves with trained dogs. The truffles They take between five and six months to mature and are normally about 70 centimeters deep. Although they can reach up to two meters.

Mario he starts looking for truffles at 6 in the morning. It does not stop until eight hours later after having walked about 15 kilometers. "I don't even tell my wife where I'm going," says Mario, who also never reveals how many he has caught..

He only says that the largest he found weighed 700 grams. A decade ago he started looking truffles. Those that are in the tour can be tasted later in your osteria Cane & Gatto, from Siena. Other 'tartufaio' going to look for them, this one very close to Sienait's Alessandro Pellegrini. Accompanied by his bitch Nugget, then he does the tasting in his truffle-based products shop.

An exquisite Pecorino

El Pecorino cheese It is one of the foods to which the truffle can be added and in whose preparation it can help. You can milk sheep while you are housed in the country house garden, Near San Giovanni d'Asso.

In fact, in this oasis of tranquility, the sheep can be seen from the apartments, to which their sound reaches. gardenOnce famous for saffron, it had 400 inhabitants in the XNUMXth century, and today around twenty people live.

All the 650 sheep, who feed on fodder from the farm itself, give 400 liters of milk a day. With five liters of milk a kilo of cheese, as you can see in the cheese factory, open to visitors.

El Pecorino Tuscan is distinguished by the fact that the salt is put on top of it after the rennet and not before, so that it only takes what it needs. The Pecorino cheeses Roman and Sardinian are on the other hand more salty. Pecorino serum is what is used to make the Ricotta cheese, which is obtained by giving it heat.

La truffle is added to pecorino cheese at the time of placing it in the mold. In the same way, the cheeses that are made with chilli, pepper or saffron. At the request of an American guest, a Pecorino 'pizzaiolo' It had dried tomatoes and oregano.

La it would was launched in 1960. It was when the Sardinian grandfather of Elisa, the young chef of the restaurant The Locanda di Vergelle, came to this area, abandoned then. He worked as a pastor and managed to get it back.

Montalcino

Montalcino oil

The landscape of Montalcino it is difficult to imagine without its olive trees. From these comes a oil that transmits the aromas and the Tuscan tradition. Like the high quality The Romita, whose oil mill, from the 90th century and restructured in the XNUMXs, can be visited. It also has a rural house and a restaurant with traditional cuisine. He went to Federico Fellini, he was going to eat on his travels around the Tuscany

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