Il Marroneto

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Country of Origin: Italy
Location: Montalcino
People: Alessandro Mori & son Iacopo Mori, Owners & Winemakers

Items

Il Marroneto 2020 'Madonna delle Grazie' Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Login AG 98 WA 98 Please inquire
Il Marroneto 2020 Brunello di Montalcino DOCG Login AG 96 WA 96 Please inquire

If there’s a region of Italy where fame and greatness often exist on different planes, it’s Montalcino. There’s no greater evidence of this than the wild disconnect between the extent to which the Il Marroneto name is worshipped by insiders and the fact that the estate is not at all well-known by the public. Il Marroneto is, after all, the property that Antonio Galloni once called “the single most important yet under-the-radar estate in all of Montalcino. As for Il Marroneto flying under the radar, that's about to end. With utterly singular wines that transcend variety and appellation, Il Marroneto is finally parlaying its elite status in Italy into a global market following.”

Il Marroneto was founded in 1974 by Giuseppe Mori on the cool, steep slopes just north of Montalcino, the sector that boasts many of the region’s most elegant Brunello wines.

The timing of Il Marroneto’s founding placed Giuseppe firmly in Brunello’s second wave of producers who established estates before the Brunello boom of the 1980s and 1990s. Along with Gianfranco Soldera and Cerbaiona’s Diego Molinari, these pioneers launched their estates despite the pittance that Brunello sold for at the time.

The first Marroneto vines went into the ground on the estate’s steep 400-meter elevation galestro clay and sand slopes in 1975, followed by subsequent plantings in 1977, 1982 and 1983. Giuseppe's son Alessandro joined him in time for the 1980 vintage, the first to be bottled. Long before it was fashionable, Alessandro eschewed the usage of artificial fertilizers, herbicides, or pesticides in his vineyards.

Father and son were aided in their early efforts by two of Montalcino’s legendary names, first Mario Cortevesio and then his best friend, Giulio Gambelli. Giuseppe was close friends with the two “Sangiovese Whisperers,” and he adopted their distinctly traditional philosophies at Il Marroneto.

By 1990, Alessandro was ready to forge his own path for the estate’s wines, but he never forgot Gambelli’s imperative to “listen to the wine.” Over the years, Alessandro has adapted his winemaking incrementally to realize each wine’s unique identity more fully. Extended fermentations, long macerations and lengthy maturation in large format barrels are the norm at Marroneto. These hands-off methods ensure greater transparency of site and allow for excellent structure in each wine Il Marroneto produces, from its entry-level wines to its top cuvée.

Reviews

  • Il Marroneto 2020 'Madonna delle Grazie' Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
    Vinous
    Rating: 98 (11/1/2023)

    The undeniably elegant 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie is amazingly fresh and vibrant on the nose, cascading from the glass with a burst of crushed cherries, rose petals, blood oranges and cloves. This displays exceptional elegance and grace, soothing the palate with its silken feel and ripe red and blue fruits. Hints of sour citrus add contrast, a mix of iron-borne minerals and fine tannins that mount towards the close. A saturation of primary concentration remains, offset by residual acidity as this finishes structured and impossibly long, leaving a sour cherry tinge and masses of violet pastille. The 2020 is a showboat yet complex and harmonious from start to finish. It's easily one of the absolute top wines of the vintage.

  • Il Marroneto (1.5 L) 2020 'Madonna delle Grazie' Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
    Vinous
    Rating: 98 (11/1/2023)

    The undeniably elegant 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie is amazingly fresh and vibrant on the nose, cascading from the glass with a burst of crushed cherries, rose petals, blood oranges and cloves. This displays exceptional elegance and grace, soothing the palate with its silken feel and ripe red and blue fruits. Hints of sour citrus add contrast, a mix of iron-borne minerals and fine tannins that mount towards the close. A saturation of primary concentration remains, offset by residual acidity as this finishes structured and impossibly long, leaving a sour cherry tinge and masses of violet pastille. The 2020 is a showboat yet complex and harmonious from start to finish. It's easily one of the absolute top wines of the vintage.

  • Il Marroneto (1.5 L) 2020 Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
    Vinous
    Rating: 96 (11/1/2023)

    The 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is an understated beauty, slowly emerging with a delicate blend of rose petals, fresh mint, crushed rocks and vividly ripe black cherries. It hovers across the palate, lifted and finessed yet spry, with ripe red berry fruits and hints of lavender, taking on a liquid floral concentration toward the close. Pleasantly chewy and long, the 2020 leaves the senses stained in primary concentration, with a tinge of bitter cranberry and pretty inner florals that resonate over a bed of classically dry tannins. This is a more concentrated and intense yet wonderfully balanced rendition of Il Marroneto's Brunello.

  • Il Marroneto 2020 Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
    Vinous
    Rating: 96 (11/1/2023)
    The 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is an understated beauty, slowly emerging with a delicate blend of rose petals, fresh mint, crushed rocks and vividly ripe black cherries. It hovers across the palate, lifted and finessed yet spry, with ripe red berry fruits and hints of lavender, taking on a liquid floral concentration toward the close. Pleasantly chewy and long, the 2020 leaves the senses stained in primary concentration, with a tinge of bitter cranberry and pretty inner florals that resonate over a bed of classically dry tannins. This is a more concentrated and intense yet wonderfully balanced rendition of Il Marroneto's Brunello.
  • Il Marroneto 2020 'Madonna delle Grazie' Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 98 (11/21/2024)
    The Il Marroneto 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie (tasted once in the winery and again in my office) is another classical expression of Sangiovese from vintner Alessandro Mori and his son Iacopo. This vintage is best described as more charming compared to the stacked 2019 vintage or the powerful 2016 edition. This is a very pretty wine, elegant and finessed, with pretty floral highlights of rose and violet that lean into a subtle menthol note. There is caramelized sugar and candied orange. The wine lives in oak for 46 months with just a brief time in steel before going into bottle (at the end of July 2024). This vintage is a little closed or tight in terms of mouthfeel, which suggests it needs more time in bottle to spread its wings.
  • Il Marroneto (1.5 L) 2020 'Madonna delle Grazie' Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 98 (11/21/2024)
    The Il Marroneto 2020 Brunello di Montalcino Madonna delle Grazie (tasted once in the winery and again in my office) is another classical expression of Sangiovese from vintner Alessandro Mori and his son Iacopo. This vintage is best described as more charming compared to the stacked 2019 vintage or the powerful 2016 edition. This is a very pretty wine, elegant and finessed, with pretty floral highlights of rose and violet that lean into a subtle menthol note. There is caramelized sugar and candied orange. The wine lives in oak for 46 months with just a brief time in steel before going into bottle (at the end of July 2024). This vintage is a little closed or tight in terms of mouthfeel, which suggests it needs more time in bottle to spread its wings.
  • Il Marroneto (1.5 L) 2020 Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 96 (11/21/2024)
    The Il Marroneto 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is a wine of special depth and elegance. Alessandro Mori tells me that fermentation in 2020 proceeded nicely with what he describes as a "primordial stew" of grape must, resulting in high pressure "geysers" or "liquid bombs" that rip right through the cap because of pressure build-up. Someone is having tons of fun in the winery. High temperatures (between 36 to 38 degrees Celsius) serve to fix the wine's ruby color and the elegance of its perfumes, which are more floral than fruity. At the end of fermentation, he manages the skins with light wetting by hand with a tube. This vintage offers softness and a silky texture that feels glossy to the palate.
  • Il Marroneto 2020 Brunello di Montalcino DOCG
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 96 (11/21/2024)
    The Il Marroneto 2020 Brunello di Montalcino is a wine of special depth and elegance. Alessandro Mori tells me that fermentation in 2020 proceeded nicely with what he describes as a "primordial stew" of grape must, resulting in high pressure "geysers" or "liquid bombs" that rip right through the cap because of pressure build-up. Someone is having tons of fun in the winery. High temperatures (between 36 to 38 degrees Celsius) serve to fix the wine's ruby color and the elegance of its perfumes, which are more floral than fruity. At the end of fermentation, he manages the skins with light wetting by hand with a tube. This vintage offers softness and a silky texture that feels glossy to the palate.