We have decided to pause The Premier Cru podcast. This episode is just a quick announcement and an opportunity to say a huge thank you for tuning each week and supporting the show. We hope you enjoyed every minute of the content!

We will be keeping up The Premier Cru Instagram account (@the_premier_cru), starting up a new wine of the week series, featuring a wine that we love or want to try weekly. Follow us on Instagram if you want recommendations on what wines to drink next.

Of course, we will be the first to let you know, if/when we get the opportunity to get the podcast back up and running. Thank you again for all your support in the meantime!

We welcome Sarah Heller, Master of Wine, to The Premier Cru!

On a recent trip to Montalcino, we got the opportunity to try Rosso di Montalcino from over 60 producers. To place the wines into context, Sarah treated a small group of us to a masterclass introducing the category and the different styles of wines produced.

What stood out, is how useful the wines are. They are approachable young and adaptable to be paired with lots of different types of food, making them the perfect "swiss army knife" for sommeliers.

We wanted to share the insights of the masterclass with you and the focus for this episode is an introduction to Rosso di Montalcino as a category. We sandwich that conversation between an introduction to Sangiovese as a grape variety and insights into what it takes to become a Master of Wine.

Let us know in the comments if you have any questions or requests for upcoming guests/topics of discussion.

If you have not already, then please also follow us on Spotify/Apple and on Instagram (⁠@The_Premier_Cru⁠) as it makes a massive difference to the channel!

We welcome Gabriele Gorelli, Master of Wine, to The Premier Cru!

I recently had the opportunity to visit Montalcino and go on a tour of the region. It was exceptional fun and a highlight was attending a seminar, delivered by Gabriele and the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino, introducing a new research project they have conducted.

The output is a new map of the region, which is as detailed as you find in other fine wine regions, such as Burgundy or Barolo. For wine geeks, its the perfect resource to understand and investigate the profiles of producers and individual wines in more depth.

In addition, they have created a new method to evaluate the characteristics of each vintage. They have moved away from a quantitative 5-star rating, to a qualitative evaluation using 3 words that summarise the vintage. Traditional wine media has given higher scores for vintages that are more powerful and intense. This new method has the potential to be far more nuanced and to enable consumers to select the vintage that best matches their palate.

Both developments are going to greatly enhance our understanding of Brunello, making this episode a must listen for anyone passionate about the region and Sangiovese!

On this episode we briefly introduce you to Brunello as a region and then discuss all of Gabriele's research. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions.

If you have not already, then please also follow us on Spotify/Apple and on Instagram (⁠@The_Premier_Cru⁠) as it makes a massive difference to the channel!