Barolo vs. Brunello: Which Italian Wine Reigns Supreme?

In the grand arena of Italian wine, two legendary regions have long vied for the crown of the country’s best wine: Barolo, Piedmont’s “king of wines,” and Brunello di Montalcino, the noble upstart from Tuscany. 

Like a World Cup final between wine titans, this match-up pits Piedmont’s enigmatic Nebbiolo against Tuscany’s charismatic Sangiovese, each grape expressing its terroir with distinct personality and flair.

The comparison isn’t just about wine; it’s about history, culture and the very soul of Italian winemaking. 

“Brunello and Barolo are the leading wine regions when we speak about native grapes, with Sangiovese and Nebbiolo having their best expressions in these appellations,” says Massimiliano Giovannoni, a Montalcino native and private chef/sommelier.

The Grapes: Vibrant vs. Ethereal

At their core, these wines showcase two of Italy’s most noble grape varieties, each with its own distinct personality and challenges. Both are known for high tannins, loads of acidity and, in monovarietal form, expressing their specific terroir with great detail and nuance.

Neither lend themselves to easy winemaking. “They are reserved varieties and begin to show themselves and what direction they want to go after a few days of fermentation,” says Luca Currado, owner of Cascina Penna-Currado, who was born into one of Barolo’s historic winemaking families, and has spent years consulting in Montalcino, bridging these two worlds with an intimate understanding of both regions’ terroir and traditions. 

He adds, “you cannot rush them, you have to be patient.”

This precision in timing exemplifies the expertise required to craft these world-class wines.

In the vineyard, however, they couldn’t be more different from one another. Nebbiolo “is very resistant to different diseases,” says Beatrice Boschis of E. Pira & Figli in Barolo. “It is, if farmed well, very suitable for growing in a sustainable and organic point of view.” 

Sangiovese, on the other hand, might just be Italy’s “heartbreak grape,” temperamental with a “very short window of opportunity for picking at optimal ripeness,” says Filippo Bellini of Tenuta Buon Tempo in Montalcino. “Sangiovese picked too early can be green and harsh. Picked too late, jammy and alcoholic.”

The Regions: Under the Tuscan Sun vs. the Piedmont Fog

The unique climactic conditions of the regions vary just as widely as the nature of these varietals—and both are ideal growing locales for their native grapes. 

Much of it comes down to “Montalcino under the Tuscany sun versus Barolo under the Piedmontese fog,” says Currado. “The soils are extremely different and Sangiovese has a better attitude to resist warmer climates than Nebbiolo.” 

These natural adaptations help explain why these varieties have found their ideal homes in their respective regions.

The geography of the regions plays a key role in the contrasting flavor profiles, too. 

The approximately 600-square-meter Brunello appellation, which expands out from the hilltop city of Montalcino, is surrounded by rivers on three sides as well as an extinct volcano that helps to moderate the winds. This unique topography is what makes Brunello di Montalcino bottlings sing. 

“This magic hill has all the pieces perfectly placed, compacted clay challenging the vine to find water, elevation, exposure, heat that is subdued by the natural wind that comes off the Mediterranean and down the Ombrone and the Orcia river and the mighty protection from the elements of Mount Amiata,” says Randall Restiano, beverage director at New York City’s Gramercy Tavern, who makes an impassioned case for the region.