In the sign of Sangiovese. The variety of the population of `The Blood of Jove' is quite irregular, with biotypes that are distinguished by the size or shape of the bunch, the dimensions of the grapes, the shape of the leaves or the vigorousness of the vine. In the territory of Montalcino, it has found expression in a genetic sequence that has enlarged the grapes and made them more sparse, and the name has been changed to Sangiovese grosso, or Brunello. In the immediate vicinity, it may also be called Prugnolo gentile, Morellino or Sangioveto, demonstrating the vine's great adaptability to the territory chosen for cultivation. Eighty-six percent of the vineyards dedicated to the cultivation of Sangiovese were planted in the sixties, as part of the national and regional programmes to launch the qualitative conversion of vineyards. Since the eighties, thanks to contributions from the most important Tuscan universities, research campaigns and vine shoot growing and selection operations of selected clones have produced re-planting material that is increasingly oriented towards the traits of resistance to pathologies and vigorousness of the vine, with the production of smaller bunches and grapes of different weights. In general, Sangiovese presents the traits of a vigorous vine with average germination, having robust vines with internodes of average length. It suffers to a small degree from chlorosis, and has a preference for terrains that are not fertile, where it produces grapes of good quality; it requires dry climates tending to warm, to guarantee appropriate maturation of the grapes. It adapts well to the different growing methods, where both short and long pruning is used. The vines are easy to train, but require green pruning to avoid cryptogams attacking the bunches. The production of grapes is always constant and abundant, but the load of buds must not be excessive, to avoid banalizing the enological potential, the expression of which, in any case, is tied to the great care utilised in all agricultural and wine-making phases. The vine produces a harmonious, tannic wine that is of an intense ruby red colour, with good body and a pleasantly bitter aftertaste. When young, the wine has a fruity taste, while it releases considerably refined perfumes when aged. So the pleasingly fresh and slightly bitter aftertaste, as demonstrated in many tests carried out on different types of Brunello during the phase of refinement in wooden casks, is a varietal characteristic that the vine confers to the wine and which may accompany it for a long period of time in the bottle. It is therefore not a defect, but a quality that permits certain palates to identify the product and place it more correctly within the ambit of research for typical traits.

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FROM THE ORIGINS TO THE MIDDLE AGES
The industriousness of the inhabitants of the territory of Montalcino is neither new nor recent. Archaeological research carried out locally starting in the fifties revealed the presence of prehistoric settlements that were fairly large in size. On a terrace overlooking the Ombrone River valley, testimony of a prolonged `industrial' lithic activity came to light; a veritable 'factory' of stone tools, processed with percussion methods, where over 2,000 pieces belonging to various prehistoric ages were recovered. In the surrounding areas, within a radius of 15 kilometres, Neolithic-type settlements have come to light – simple burial grounds of agricultural villages, or better organised sites in the form of circular castles, such as the ones in Poggio Civitella, Poggio Castellari or Poggio dell'Arna. The latter two were also equipped with military-type megalithic-style defensive structures.
The populations of these centres contributed to the birth of the new Etruscan civilisation, of which this land is dense with testimony and memories. Scientific research conducted in the nineties on the DNA of the population in these areas identified the greatest number of Estruscan genes extant in Italy in the present-day inhabitants of the village of Murlo, a few kilometres north of Montalcino.
Starting from the II century B.C. on the other hand, the area was overtaken by Roman expansion. The Romans were very sensitive to the attraction of pleasant and productive areas. With their organisation based on roadway communications and the rational exploitation of agriculture and forestry, they changed the face of the lands surrounding Montalcino through a system of farms for agricultural production to be marketed in the cities.The decline in the economic power and prosperity created by the Roman empire was felt especially at the beginning of the middle ages, in decentralised areas such as this, hard to reach and distant from the cities, which were also increasingly isolated due to continuous invasions and wars.
Life became difficult for the rural population.In the meantime the population of Montalcino dedicated themselves to various economic activities, all of which were oriented towards nature, and the increasing cultivation of vines was not
the least of them. In areas at higher altitudes, there were small installations for the production of chestnut flour, and even the gathering of mushrooms, albeit with the prudence suggested at the time by the scarce knowledge on the subject, emerged from time to time among the archaic productive activities in the area. And the wood, or the vast forested area that it covered - now almost entirely substituted by vines - was home to every type of wildlife: thrushes, storm-cocks, wild doves and woodcocks, as well as wild boars, which were everywhere, and a few deer. It was an ideal environment to go hunting in, which is today reduced to organised teams for the hunting of wild boar.