Giuseppe Gorelli (Montalcino, TOSCANA)
Giuseppe Gorelli is one of the living legends of Montalcino — now on his 40th vintage of Brunello, and one of the last working producers who spent real time alongside Giulio Gambelli, the consultant most consider the greatest palate Sangiovese has ever had. For seventeen years, Gorelli and Gambelli served a client list of the region's essential estates: Montevertine, Biondi Santi, Poggio di Sotto, and Gianfranco Soldera's Case Basse. That apprenticeship — reading Sangiovese by taste alone, knowing when to intervene and when to disappear — is winemaking as an exercise in wu wei, the Taoist principle of acting through non-action. It shows up in every bottle Gorelli makes today.
I found his wines the way you're supposed to: by accident. While visiting my favorite Osteria in Southern Tuscany, I rolled the dice on a red I'd never heard of and discovered the Rosso di Montalcino of Giuseppe Gorelli — a truly handmade Sangiovese that recalled the excitement of opening one from Poggio di Sotto, or Soldera. I didn't wait to finish our lunch before asking the proprietor to help connect me to the winemaker for an appointment.
Gorelli is no newcomer to the region. His first Brunello vintage was 1986, under his grandfather's label, Due Portine-Gorelli. A decade later, his family sold the estate to Il Palazzone so that Giuseppe could start his own project with his wife Gigliola Gianetti. Leaving her post at Biondi Santi, together they created Tenuta Le Potazzine, which over the following decades collected some of the highest praise awarded to any classically-styled grower of Brunello di Montalcino.
Gianetti and Gorelli split a few years ago, with their daughters taking over the reins at Le Potazzine, and Giuseppe keeping 6 hectares of their old vines (5ha on the north side of the city of Montalcino, plus one south-facing hectare in Sant'Angelo in Colle) to continue farming himself. His unique situation on the North side of the hill of Montalcino, combined with an immaculate dedication to organic farming, gives freshness and fine aromas to his wines. The new cellar he built for this final act is simple but spotless, and likewise, his style of winemaking is one of restraint and precision.
Grandi Botti in the Gorelli cellar.
It's the whole-cluster IGT Rosso, Brigo, that distills all of it into something you can open tonight. Named for his grandfather, Brigo is Gorelli's clearest expression of drink-now Sangiovese: bright, crunchy red fruit, whole-cluster lift, and the same transparent, restrained style that made his mentor's reputation. Pour it blind next to a young Montevertine and you'll understand exactly who trained this producer.
We are honored to represent these wines exclusively in the US beginning with Gorelli’s inaugural 2018 vintage under his own name.
Giuseppe Gorelli 2018 Brunello di Montalcino (pdf tech sheet)
Giuseppe Gorelli 2020 Rosso di Montalcino (pdf tech sheet)
Giuseppe Gorelli 2019 Rosso di Montalcino (pdf tech sheet)
Giuseppe Gorelli 2018 Rosso di Montalcino (pdf tech sheet)
Giuseppe Gorelli 2020 IGT Toscana Sangiovese "Brigo" (pdf tech sheet)
Pappa al pomodoro at Osteria di Porta al Cassero, Montalcino.