Brunello on a Budget: An Affordable Alternative for Italian Red Wine Lovers

It was during a 2006 visit it Italy that I first fell in love with Brunello. It was a wine that was as fleshy, and it was seductive; and as medium to full bodied as it was balanced. At the time I couldn’t believe that it was made entirely from the Sangiovese grape – a varietal that I had long despised since an encounter with Chianti in my early twenties. Chianti Classico was an Italian red wine that was commonly sold in a tacky bulbous wine bottle wrapped in straw. And as fate would have it, it was a favourite drop of my house mate in the early 1990’s – and responsible for more than a few slow starts on Sunday mornings.

Maybe it was the tannin or the lack of fruit characters that was poison to my palate? Or my suspicion that the Italians kept the good Chianti for themselves and exported the rubbish to us? A bit like what some of the large Australian wineries from the NSW Riverina region do to the American market?

On reflection, it was probably that visit to Tuscany in 2006 that sparked my infatuation with Italian reds. From the tar and roses of Barolo to the sweet black cherries of the luxurious Amarone, my perception of red wines from the country shaped like a boot had been changed forever. But for all-round drinkability and food pairing, it was Brunello that was the absolute star of the side.

Here in Australia, we don’t seem to see a wide range of Italian reds on our bottleshop shelves – in part because the “supermarket” owned outlets account for over 70% of the retail wine market in Australia, and they tend to prioritise the brands that return the highest margins. But savvy shoppers can find a reasonable range of Italian red varietals (we don’t seem to import as many lines of their whites) at independent retailers – like Market Wine Store on the Sunshine Coast or The Wine Emporium in Brisbane City. Pound for pound, I suspect that good Italian wines cost quite a bit more for a similar quality domestic product – but I guess that’s to be expected given the costs involved in importing anything these days.

If paying over $100 a bottle for a good quality Tuscan Brunello seems beyond the pale, a cheeky but worthwhile local alternative might be the Angullong “Fossil Hill” Sangiovese. The 2021 edition is out now and has an RRP of only $30 a bottle – and it’s 100% Sangiovese: just like Brunello.

The Angullong fruit comes from their Orange region vineyards and is vinified in a Mediterranean style, but with an intensity that will please Australian palates. Vibrant and bright in the glass, the sweet and savoury contrasts of the style are evident from the moment lifted violets appear once you swirl, swish and sniff. Fragrant raspberry and dark cherry characters emerge on the inceptive sip as the depth of fruit builds across the middle, black cherries meeting blueberries and entangling with hints of cinnamon, nutmeg and anise. On finish, savoury lashings of oregano and clove seemingly embrace stern tannins and streams of acid to create a balanced but lingering conclusion.

Overall, it’s a medium bodied wine – though the high-ish alcohol gives the impression that it’s a bit bigger than that. It may not be Brunello, but I’d rather take four of these than one low-end Brunello di Montalcino!