Friday, December 9, 2011

San Carlo - a boutique winemaking family of brunello

San Carlo is a family run winemaker located on the favourable southern slopes of Montalcino. 
 The family make fabulous Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalcino.





The San Carlo Brunello di Montalcino 2006 is characterised by an intense ruby red colour and a fresh bouquet of spice, berries, tobacco and pleasant hints of vanilla. It has great structure with noteworthy mature tannins and good length on the finish.

Wine expert, Jancis Robinson, rated the 2006 Brunello 16 points which puts it into the "distinguished" category and ahead of most of the other Brunelli of that year. Comments included "Deep ruby, compact but not one dimensional. Lots of tannic grip and fragrant juicy sweet fruit"




Three generations of the Marcucci family,  Fulvio (centre), Giancarlo (right) and Gemma (left)

Fulvio and Renata started the vineyard in 1965 with the first Brunello in 1974.




Everyone gets involved. The grapes are culled in the maturing stage to ensure maximum growth and ripening opportunities for the remaining fruit. Only the finest and freshest grapes are selected for the Brunello.





The vines with the grapes approaching maturity. The hillside terroir has good sun exposure and sits at 400 metres above sea level. The estate produces a low yield of healthy grapes characterised by concentration and high levels of colour and tannins.





The grapes are harvested manually and placed in small crates. Fermentation with the skin lasts for between 15-18 days in stainless steel vats at a temperature of 28c or below. The wine is then aged in in 30 HL Slavonian oak barrels for three years. It is released in the fifth year after harvest.





Giancarlo, Luigi (a friend from Montalcino) and Alan share a joke together at the vineyard.





Sunset over the San Carlo vineyard


The San Carlo Brunello di Montalcino 2006 and the San Carlo Rosso di Montalcino 2009 will be released for the first time in Australia in January 2012 through sole importer, Italian Wine Importers.
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