🍇 Sangiovese
Italy's most planted grape, the base of Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino.
Sangiovese is a dark-skinned wine grape, the base of Chianti and Brunello di Montalcino. The VIVC catalogue considers it Italian, but scientists have put forward different hypotheses about its parents, so the catalogue gives no full pedigree.
According to the OIV, in 2015 Sangiovese covered 54 thousand ha, almost 8% of Italian vineyards. It was the country's leading variety and the only one above 50 thousand ha. Between 2010 and 2015, however, its area shrank by 27% — much faster than the national total.
VIVC records 115 synonyms for the variety, among them Brunello, Morellino, Prugnolo gentile and Nielluccio. So Brunello is not a separate variety but a local name for the same Sangiovese.
Brunello di Montalcino is made from Sangiovese alone: the wine is aged at least two years in oak and four months in bottle, and it goes on sale no earlier than five years after the harvest.
Why it matters to you. «Brunello», «Morellino» or «Prugnolo gentile» on a label are names of Sangiovese, not other varieties. A variety named on an EU wine means at least 85% of that variety. Red wines are served at 15–18 °C and stored lying down, at 10–16 °C.
How it connects to Wine
🍇 Sangiovese → kind of → 🍇 Grape varieties → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Part of
- 🍇 Grape varieties
- Origin
- 🗺️ Italian wine
- Where it grows
- 📍 Tuscany, 📍 Emilia-Romagna, 📍 Umbria, 📍 Marche, 📍 Corsica, 📍 Romagna, 📍 Chianti, 📍 Montalcino, 📍 Maremma, 📍 Montefalco
- Main grape in
- Italy: 📜 Brunello di Montalcino, 📜 Chianti Classico, 📜 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, 📜 Carmignano, 📜 Morellino di Scansano, 📜 Rosso di Montalcino, 📍 Tuscany, 📍 Chianti, 📜 Maremma Toscana, 📍 Montefalco
and 40 more
📍 Romagna, 📜 Rosso di Montepulciano, 📍 San Gimignano, 📜 Vin Santo del Chianti Classico, 📍 Emilia-Romagna, 📍 Umbria, 📜 Alta Valle della Greve, 📜 Arborea, 📜 Barco Reale di Carmignano, 📜 Colli Martani, 📜 Colli Pesaresi, 📜 Matera, 📜 Montecucco Sangiovese, 📜 Orcia, 📜 Rimini, 📜 Rubicone, 📜 San Ginesio, 📜 Todi, 📜 Botticino, 📜 Capalbio, 📜 Colli del Trasimeno, 📜 Colli della Toscana Centrale, 📜 Grance Senesi, 📜 Montescudaio, 📜 Orta Nova, 📜 Parrina, 📜 Pomino, 📜 Rosso Piceno, 📜 Suvereto, 📜 Torgiano, 📜 Valdarno di Sopra, 📜 Velletri, 📜 Vin Santo di Montepulciano, 📜 Cacc'e mmitte di Lucera, 📜 Colli Romagna centrale, 📜 Elba, 📜 Montecucco, 📜 Riviera del Garda Classico, 📜 Terre di Pisa, 📜 Torgiano Rosso Riserva - Related to
- 🍷 Le Volte dell'Ornellaia, 🍷 Super Tuscan
- Wines made from it
- 🍷 Rosé
- Offspring
- 🍇 Nerello Mascalese, 🍇 Perricone, 🍇 Ciliegiolo, 🍇 Gaglioppo, 🍇 Susumaniello, 🍇 Frappato, 🍇 Centesimino
- Similar and different
- 🍇 Tempranillo, 🍇 Montepulciano
Frequently asked questions
Where does Sangiovese come from?
The VIVC catalogue considers the variety Italian; there are different scientific hypotheses about its parents.
How much Sangiovese is grown?
According to the OIV, 54 thousand ha in 2015 — the leading variety in Italian vineyards.
Is it true that Brunello is a separate variety?
No. Brunello is one of the 115 synonyms of Sangiovese in VIVC, and Brunello di Montalcino is made from Sangiovese alone.
How should Sangiovese wine be served?
Like other reds, at 15–18 °C; a bottle from a warm room is worth half an hour in the fridge.
What to read next
- 🗺️ Italian wine — The country's wine and winemaking: regions, grape varieties, appellations.
- 📜 Chianti Classico — Red DOCG wine from at least 80 % Sangiovese, made between Florence and Siena; Riserva and Gran Selezione are aged 24 and 30 months, and the black rooster mark is compulsory.
- 🍷 Le Volte dell'Ornellaia — Le Volte dell'Ornellaia: red wine from the Ornellaia estate in Bolgheri; vintages 2023, 2022, 2021, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 on the site.
- 🍇 Tempranillo — The most widely planted red grape in Spain and the world's fifth variety by vineyard area.
- 📍 Corsica — A mountainous French island: 355,486 inhabitants, over 2,500 hours of sun a year, and Patrimonio as its first AOC.
Similar
🍇 Ciliegiolo · 🍇 Montepulciano · 🍇 Grechetto · 🍇 Trebbiano Toscano · 🍇 Canaiolo · 🍇 Canaiolo Rosa
Sources
- VIVC (Vitis International Variety Catalogue): passport Sangiovese
- OIV Focus 2017: Distribution of the world's grapevine varieties
- MASAF: Elenco dei vini DOP e IGP italiani e disciplinari di produzione (Chianti, Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Asti)
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33, Art. 49–50 (vintage year, wine grape varieties on the label)
- Simons C.T. Left out in the cold: Serving wines chilled. Temperature, 2019