Benvenuto Brunello 2026: Montalcino opens its doors to the 2022

There is a moment, every November, when Montalcino stops being a picture-postcard hill town and becomes a courtroom. The defendant is always the same, the latest vintage of Brunello ready to leave the cellar, and the jury is made up of journalists, sommeliers, buyers and enthusiasts who arrive from half the world with glass in hand and notebook open. From 19 to 23 November 2026 the trial convenes for the thirty-fifth time: Benvenuto Brunello returns to the hill, and this year the 2022 harvest is in the dock.

A preview that sets the pace

Benvenuto Brunello is the annual presentation, organised by the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, of the appellation’s new vintages and of the area’s other wines. The mechanism is simple and a little cruel: the production code stipulates that Brunello may not be released before 1 January of the fifth year after the harvest, with at least two years spent in wood. The preview therefore comes just a few weeks before the wine reaches the shelves, when it is finished but the market’s verdict has yet to be written.

If the calendar follows previous years, the line-up will be as follows: Brunello 2022, Brunello Riserva 2021 (the Riserva waits an extra year), Rosso di Montalcino 2025, plus Moscadello and Sant’Antimo, the two lesser appellations that live in Montalcino in the shadow of their big brother and deserve more attention than they receive. At the time of writing, the Consorzio has not yet published the detailed programme: the official page describes it as “being finalised”, so times, masterclasses and venues should be checked again closer to the event.

The reason this event matters goes beyond folklore. The first impressions to come out of Montalcino in November find their way into articles, guides and phone calls between importers. A vintage that gets a poor write-up at Benvenuto Brunello struggles to shake off the label for years.

Thirty-five editions and a wall of tiles

Do the maths: thirty-five editions by the end of 2026 take the beginning back to the early 1990s. Since 1992 the event has been tied to a ritual that has become its emblem, the commemorative tile. Every year a public figure, often from outside the wine world, signs a ceramic panel dedicated to the harvest just completed, which is then set into the façade of the old Palazzo Comunale, in Piazza del Popolo. For years the tile also carried a star rating for the vintage; today it is above all a small manifesto, sometimes artistic, sometimes civic.

Recent examples tell the story well. In 2021 the signature was that of the chef Carlo Cracco. In 2024 it fell to the film director Ferzan Özpetek. In 2025 the actress Paola Minaccioni signed a tile for the Fondazione Una nessuna centomila, bearing a message against femicide, unveiled a few days before the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Who will sign the 2026 tile, dedicated to this year’s harvest, has not yet been announced: it is one of the little secrets the Consorzio guards until the last moment, and the unveiling, usually on the Saturday, is also when the piazza is at its most crowded.

A curious detail: the tile does not celebrate the wine being tasted, but the grapes just picked. In November 2026 people will drink the 2022 and celebrate the 2026. Montalcino always lives in two tenses.

The 2022: a summer on a knife-edge

What kind of vintage is 2022? It was one of the hottest and driest summers of recent years across much of Italy, and Montalcino was no exception. At the beginning of August that year the Consorzio reported vines already under stress, with daytime highs of around 33 degrees; then a providential 75–80 millimetres of rain changed the script: the vines recovered, the nights cooled and the swing between day and night temperatures went back to working in favour of the aromas. There were no fungal diseases to manage, and the technical committee spoke of a decisive month of August.

What came out of that harvest, now that the wine has done its time in barrel, is precisely what the tasting tables in November will reveal. The interesting question is a different one: does a hot vintage, in an area already warmer than Chianti Classico, risk giving broad, alcoholic wines, or did the higher vineyards and cooler slopes keep pace? That is where the differences between Montalcino’s quadrants, from the cooler north to the sunnier south towards Sant’Angelo, will make themselves felt. Going to the preview with this question in mind is the best way not to be overwhelmed by five hundred labels.

There is also some context worth bearing in mind. For the 2026 harvest the Consorzio decided to reduce Brunello’s maximum yield from 80 to 70 quintals per hectare, with the stated aim of protecting the appellation’s market positioning. It does not concern the wines on tasting, but it says a great deal about the mood in the area: less quantity, more attention to value. Expect it to be discussed, between one glass and the next.

How to experience it, in the piazza or from the sofa

In recent years the days reserved for press and trade have taken up the first part of the event, Thursday and Friday, while the weekend and the Monday have been opened to enthusiasts, with tasting tables in the Chiostro di Sant’Agostino and masterclasses by reservation. The format will probably remain similar, but the 2026 programme has not yet been published: check the Consorzio’s website before setting off, especially for access and bookings.

A few practical tips. Montalcino in November is beautiful and inconvenient: narrow streets, few parking spaces, morning mist rising from the Val d’Orcia. Sleep in the town or nearby if you can, and do not try to do everything in a day. At the tables, choose a common thread: a single slope, a style of winemaking, a comparison between Rosso 2025 and Brunello 2022 from the same producer. Drinking the Rosso alongside the Brunello is the quickest way to understand what time does to Sangiovese.

Those staying at home can follow the preview with a simple exercise: open a recent Rosso di Montalcino and, if there is one in the cellar, a Brunello a few years older, perhaps from a hot vintage like 2017, to imagine the road the 2022 will have to travel. And yes, a steak helps, but a plate of pici all’aglione, thick hand-rolled pasta with a garlicky tomato sauce, holds its own too.

Our view

Benvenuto Brunello is a ritual, and like all rituals it risks becoming a celebration of itself. Its strength, though, lies precisely in forcing a famous and expensive appellation to be tasted all together, at the same moment, by the same people. With the 2022 the test is more interesting than usual: a difficult vintage reveals who works well in the vineyard better than any perfect one. If we had to bet, the real news in November will not be how good Brunello 2022 is on average, but how wide the differences turn out to be from one cellar to the next.

Practical information

• What: Benvenuto Brunello, 35th edition
• When: from 19 to 23 November 2026
• Where: Montalcino (Siena); in previous years the tasting tables were held in the Chiostro di Sant’Agostino, 2026 venue to be confirmed
• Wines expected: Brunello di Montalcino 2022, Brunello Riserva 2021, Rosso di Montalcino 2025, Moscadello and Sant’Antimo (based on custom; official programme being finalised)
• Organiser: Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino
• Official website: consorziobrunellodimontalcino.it

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