Barriques — increasingly viewed as too aggressively oxygenating — are also the most visible manifestation of modernism in the region and thus have been widely denounced as the pendulum has swung back towards traditionalism. They were technically not even permitted here until the mid-90s.

Conti Costanti, something of a regional bellwether, has largely relegated its barriques to Merlot production. Altesino, among the region’s earliest experimenters with barriques, has gradually returned to aromatically neutral, large Slavonian botti. Concrete tanks, another ‘Back to the Future’ tool (and long the fermentation vessel of choice at Biondi-Santi), have infiltrated various stages of the maturation process at Donatella Cinelli Colombini, Val di Suga and Siro Pacenti.

For all this, I’d say Montalcino remains ambivalent about relinquishing barriques entirely. Though one might theorise that producers’ embrace of site-specificity would favour more ‘transparent’ winemaking, in fact it is often the more prestigious Vigna wines that see a little barrique. Many use them early on when the wines are least vulnerable to oxygen: Fuligni uses them to fix Sangiovese’s notoriously unstable colour; Barbi uses their micro-oxygenation to avoid reductiveness. Siro Pacenti, a definite outlier in these barrique-skeptical times, still matures its Brunello exclusively in one-to-two-year-old French barriques, though (sensibly) only for 24 months. Tonneaux — conspicuously larger than barriques — play an important role at wineries like Talenti, where they are used to smooth texture without too much aromatic impact.

Others have gone largescale to preserve fruit but also kept the oak aromatics, like Val di Suga, Mocali and Franco Pacenti, which have chosen large vats made from more aromatic French oak. Austrian oak ovals, beloved by fine-wine producers across Italy, are here too; an extensive tasting at Banfi of cask samples from Austrian and German oak helped reaffirm their decided lack of aromatic neutrality.

Read more: The Brunello di Montalcino Report

Meanwhile, wood maturation times are undoubtedly shortening; 36 months is the median but many producers choose 30 or even 24. Longer maturation happens occasionally but typically only in large wood. Poggio di Sotto’s Leonardo Berti says that although climate change is one cause of the shift towards larger vessels and shorter ageing, they found that the warm 2019 vintage actually benefited from a longer maturation to reveal its nuances. Based on the number of reductive wines I tasted (and re-tasted after at least an hour), arguably more proponents of large vats might consider longer ageing, if not in wood then perhaps in glass. Lorenzo Magnelli of Le Chiuse is a big proponent of the latter and hopes that his Diecianni late-release riserva (aged in bottle for around five years after four in oak botti) will become a model for other producers. Biondi-Santi have long released its annata and riserva a year late, even though the oak ageing is no longer especially prolonged (30 and 36 months respectively).

However, as Berti notes, ‘the freshness is inherent in the grapes, it mustn’t be sought, it must be preserved.’ Ever more precise, protective handling – Siro Pacenti or Banfi’s computerised winemaking kit would be the envy of many Champagne houses – and even cool fermentation – Val di Suga keeps its Poggio al Granchio under 27ºC – can help. Vines once de-leafed to virtual nudity are being re-engineered for shade; Siro Pacenti and Tiezzi have embraced the arid south’s traditional alberello (bushvine) training. Cool, high-altitude sites – now permissible over 600m asl – are thriving.

Will clones soon be selected for acidity retention rather than deep colour? Will harvest dates get earlier (one key to the fresher style at Biondi-Santi)? What seems clear is that the ‘freshening up’ of Brunello is likely to continue. With climate change continuing its relentless pace, it couldn’t have come at a better time.