During our drive, all we saw for miles was vineyards of sangiovese, the only grape used to make Brunello.
After a short windy drive through the picturesque Tuscan hills, we spotted Montalcino in the distance.
Here we are in front of the city's medieval "skyline".
And here is a closer shot of this beautiful city without our heads in the way.
Our main purpose for driving to Montalcino was a private tour of Azienda Agricola di Talenti. You can see the tiny Tuscan town of Castelmuzio in the distance under this sign for the Talenti vineyard.
The vineyard sits in the valley between Montalcino and Castelmuzio, which can be seen in the background of this picture.
Mr. Talenti, whose grandfather founded the winery, gave us the grand tour, starting with the vines. He told us all about the vines, the sangiovese grapes, and Montalcino's and Tuscany's strict regulations for growing them and making the Brunello, like, for example, that irigation, fertilization and anything unnatural is prohibited by law. If it doesn't rain enough or it rains too much, then the wine just won't be as good that year. 
The Talenti family produces Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalicino in a beautiful state-of-the-art facility. That's a brand new bottling machine that will be used for the first time when this year's vintage is bottled.
The barrels could not have been more perfectly stacked and line up in the cantina.
We tasted seveal vintages of the Brunello and the Rosso and ended up buying a 2003 Brunello, which was great when we tasted it and should be amazing next year, and a 2005 Rosso which was delicious and is ready to drink now.
We appreciate Mr. Talenti taking the time to give us a tour and a tasting (all in Italian). We're always grateful for the practice.
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