Description
Located in the heart of Chianti Classico, about seven kilometres from Gaiole. The estate covers 60 hectares, 18 of which are under vine and 20 with olives trees. The vineyards are on gently sloping hills that have a calcareous origin, at between 300-450 metres. The soil is very rocky and just planting a vineyard here is a costly exercise thanks to the work required to break the ground. But, the flip side is that the vine root search deep into the soil for nutrients and yields are naturally low.
The owner Marco is part of the Ricasoli family that wrote the story of Chianti Classico, creating the formula for the wine we know today at the site of what is now his San Marcellino vineyard.
Made according to Riserva laws but does not use the term on their labels. The fruit here comes from their oldest vineyard.
This wine offered spice, aniseed, pip/stalky notes, chocolate and oxy fruits. In the mouth, it was rich and silky with a plummy, dense mid-palate, good length and pretty, floral finish. A clear step up and a wine that needs a bit more time in bottle to show its very best.
Sangiovese
Widely cultivated across Italy from Emilia-Romagna to Campania and producing as much wine as Barbera. A wide range of clones and hugely diverse growing conditions sees the variety represent easy drinking ‘quaffers’, all the way to benchmarks such as Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti, Sangiovese di Romagna and Morellino di Scansano.
Chianti Classico DOCG
Italy’s most famous wine region. Beautiful lightly wooded rolling hills covered in vineyards, olive groves and cypress trees. The reds from Chianti Classico received its greatest boost in quality from being awarded the much more stringent DOCG rating.
Central Italy
When most people think of Central Italy they think of Tuscany. Not surprisingly because Chianti is an ocean of vineyards within the winegrowing region of Central Tuscany. Chianti produces more than 750000 hectolitres of wine each year. Tuscany’s wine history starts somewhere in the 8th-5th Century BCE when it was part of Etruria. Vernaccia from San Gimignano and reds from Montepulciano were known and loved before the Renaissance. The Tuscany we know now started in the 19th Century with Chianti gaining the ascendancy. Brunello di Montalcino debuted in 1888 and the Super Tuscans took shape in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.
Beyond Tuscany, there are the magical places of Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Abruzzo and Umbria. Each place has its own history and personality that really deserve a night of their own. Better still, a few nights in situ.
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