What to Expect from New York’s First Brunello Week

From June 14-20, winemakers from Montalcino will pour their wines at many of New York City’s top Italian restaurants in celebration of all things Brunello.

While travel to Italy was forbidden during the pandemic, a consortium of some of Italy’s finest winemakers dreamed up Brunello Week to bring a taste of Italy to America. The Consorzio del vino Brunello di Montalcino first launched the “Finally Brunello” campaign with the intention of raising awareness in the mecca of New York City of two world-renowned wines from the tiny town of Montalcino and its glorious surroundings in southern Tuscany. At the same time, the consortium aimed to bolster a New York City restaurant industry that was severely affected by COVID.

The program launched in February with the first of 15 webinars and events that included tastings, interviews, masterclasses, premiers, and parties. Each affair, online or in person, featured Brunello di Montalcino and its younger variation, Rosso di Montalcino. Both wines are made from 100% Sangiovese grapes and aged accordingly (two years in oak and three in the bottle for Brunello; no oak required for baby brother, with one year in the bottle), and both wines are the beneficiaries of the special microclimate, terroir, and topography that grows a distinct sangiovese grape: a thick-skinned berry that births a sophisticated, complex wine, high in both tannin and acidity.