Il costante sangiovese di Castell’In Villa

Castelnuovo Berardenga, February 2019

Simplicity. Just like today’s weather, blue and crisp. “Simplicity is the best thing in life,” tells Castell’In Villa’s kinben proprietor Principessa Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa. “Simplicity is freedom.” The sangiovese grown, fermented and bottled on her Castelnuovo Berardenga farm are surely one of the purest, most transparent and site-specific in the entirety of Chianti Classico. Il costante sangiovese di Castell’In Villa. Constant, inalterable, steadfast and true.

The Castelnuovo Berardenga farm is littered with shells from an ancient ocean and it is the Principessa’s honesty that helps to explain the estate style and the results in not just her wines, but as a way to also look at those of other producers in the territory. “Here at Castell’In Villa there is every (Chianti Classico) soil type and rock imaginable and also what’s left behind from that ocean of many millennium. This is the part I enjoy the most. To make wines from the fields. Which really comes through in the mineral of the Annata. The wood of the Riserva covers it up just a touch, though when the wood goes down I feel the sense of the earth.”

Principessa Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa

Just a shade more than 20 kilometres east from Siena and due south of San Felice is where you can find Castell’in Villa, a medieval hamlet dating back to the 1200’s at which time it was a borgo within the borders of Sienese control. The medieval stone tower is the home of the Principessa, who bought the estate with her Greek husband in 1968. The estate covers a particularly wooded area for Castelnuovo Berardenga of 298 hectares of which 54 are planted to vineyards and 32 for olive groves. Within the woodland the hunting ground teems with hare, pheasants and wild boar. The vineyards comprise eight highly distinct sites to which the diversity of the greater territorial countryside is reflected, both in soil types and microclimates.

The two essential wines produced are Chianti Classico DOCG and Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG. Two other reds are made, the IGTs Santacroce and Poggio delle Rose. A very small amount of traditional Vin Santo is also produced as well as a Grappa from the residue of the estates vendemmia. There are no trends or fashions followed here. As for the category of Gran Selezione, this is what the Principessa has to say, “It’s a good intentional and commercial decision. The Consorzio should have the courage to distinguish the producer on the bottle.”

Spaghettini al ragú di cervo

No visit to the estate is truly complete without experiencing Chef Massimo Di Fulvio’s attention to local detail, especially for the cervo and the cinghiale in exceptional and essential dishes that celebrate the hunt and the harvest. Castell’in Villa’s restaurant is not to be missed.

Tagliata alla Bistecca Fiorentina

I had the honour and il più grande piacere to visit with Principessa Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa twice in three months, first in November 2018 and then again this past February. On both occasions the days were perfect, the wines showing with full fruit capability and the meals were inextricably woven into the fabric of these wines. These are what I tasted and how I have assessed them in the context of grape, maker and place.

Castell’in Villa Rosato Gazzara IGT Toscana 2018, Tuscany, Italy (Winery, WineAlign)

One hundred per cent sangiovese, sapid and salty, wound internally tart and so in command of its reasoning and seasoning. Good morning sangiovese sunshine, wake up and smell the cherries, le fragole and also the mineral salts in their assimilated liquid form. Mezzo perfecto. It’s Rosato after all. Drink 2019-2022. Tasted February 2019

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico DOCG 2014, Tuscany, Italy (Winery, WineAlign)

Immediate amore for the aromatics and the lack of supposition, for how this 100 per cent sangiovese is naturally careful, subtly handsome and respectfully direct. Lean but without angles or sharp, pointed edges, nor overtly weighted down in tang. Floral notes are stated in grace and like all of the Principessa’s wines from these Castelnuovo Berardenga vineyards, the singularity of restraint for power and and purity is duly recognized. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted November 2018 and February 2019 castellinvilla #castellinvilla #castellinvilla

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico DOCG 2011, Tuscany, Italy (Winery, WineAlign)

The warmth is quite special in spite of a troubling vintage and is felt through the conduit of fruit eight years on having gained a dried leather cherry hyperbole. I am reminded immediately of the particular acidity in these wines. Set on a tonal scale upon the highest but always out of finesse and in control. Life has really just begun for this youthful sangiovese gathered around and about the 50 hectares of Castell’in Villa vineyards. Drink 2019-2024. Tasted February 2019

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico DOCG 2006, Tuscany, Italy (Winery, WineAlign)

Aromatic self-awareness always lends to self-control for the estate Annata, with fruit maintenance at the top of the vintage game. A very fine season was 2006, across Tuscany and certainly in Chianti Classico, ideal in Castelnuovo Berardenga. There is some black fruit here tipping towards and dipping into a pot of tartufo oil, some marinating black olives, porcini, carob, bokser and toasted almond. Or perhaps chestnut. Fruit so developed needs corresponding acidity and so it is always thankful to be a child the estate. The weight is fun and whimsical, with an earthiness that teases post-secondary to nearly ecumenical tertiary. Always a saltiness in amazing recall of an ancient ocean. Love the temperature it’s served, to mimic who this sangiovese must have always been, cool as a mid-February day, expressive of both sunshine and savour, remembering a beautiful summer in a good vintage. This actually gains youth as it opens, starting out with that truffling gait and finishing cool, minty and fresh. Drink 2018-2023. Tasted November 2018 and February 2019

Ravioli al tartufo

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2013, Tuscany, Italy (Winery, WineAlign)

A blend of parcels ”though we know more or less the fields from where they come,” says Principessa Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa. Here we are introduced to the clarity and functionality of what Castell’in Villa has always purported to be, traditional while always moving in a forward direction of evolutionary necessity. There is no guessing game being played and the aromas are expressive of the property, in everything that grows, plus all that sits beneath and slowly rises to the surface of the fields. Flowers and rocks, together with grapes. It’s that simple really. Finesse and reality. Drink 2019-2028. Tasted February 2019

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2011, Tuscany, Italy (Winery, WineAlign)

“Is this normal for you,” is the question with regards to older vintages sharing the stage with current releases. “I always come out late,” answers Principessa Coralia. “If sangiovese is good it needs time.” The 2011 perfume comes from a place of almost no frame of reference, save for these formidably ecological Castelnuovo Berardenga fields. It’s a wild cherry wrapped inside an enigma with a sense of humour. Sangiovese 100 per cent of its own edenic Findhorn. So in control and colourful, with exceptional length. Drink 2018-2026. Tasted November 2018

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2010, Tuscany, Italy (Winery, WineAlign)

The bright perfume is elevated out of 2010 and brought to present day prominent, scintillant life. A sangiovese out of which the Principessa “feels the sense of the earth.” You somehow still feel the sweet naïveté of maceration, from a very promising now realized vintage of both fruit wealth and structure. Just a moment’s porcini breath characterizes the present, coming through to speak of a turning point and the next aromatic phase. Just a baby really. Drink 2018-2024. Tasted November 2018

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 2005, Tuscany, Italy (Winery, WineAlign)

The acidity is first in line, in charge and in control. This particular 2005 is THE food wine of the lot so far, begging for some fat and protein. There is some funghi umami on the nose and then some dried fruit, from a vintage providing all the necessary tools and also some formidable tannins. I expected a further evolved Riserva from 2005 and this turns presuppositions on their head. The nose is there but the palate and the structure have plans to wait it out. Drink 2020-2029. Tasted February 2019

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 1995, Tuscany, Italy (Winery, WineAlign)

Every memory of the summer that was 1995 in Chianti Classico is important, not the least of which are 17 days spent there and the terrible weather that followed the communes all summer long. Perhaps that is why this 23-plus year-old sangiovese has lingered into the most finessed and pleasure gathered state of grace. It’s an older bird to be sure and even not the cleanest example there is or was but its tertiary place is still marked by fine acidity and grippy tannin. Classic Castelnuovo sangiovese with dried porcini scattered amongst the leaves of autumn. Drink 2019-2020. Tasted February 2019. (The slight TCA in this example really means the wine is not rated)

Castell’in Villa Chianti Classico DOCG Poggio delle Rose 2010, Tuscany, Italy (Winery, WineAlign)

From the hill parcel planted in 1990 to the old selezoine massale clones, from the original property, not the current “Chianti Classico” clones. “And there is a difference,” insists Principessa Coralia. Three or four years in grandi botti and older tonneaux so no, it’s not even close to ready. Yet the fcat that you don’t explicitly notice the tonneaux is its magic. A big and complex vintage with variability in temperature and precipitation but at the crucial moments it gave what was needed. There is a special presence about this sangiovese, because of the source but also how alive, bright-eyed and expressive it is. This pulses, vibrates and reverberates with ancient seabed salinity. No loss to finesse but more time will be required, to turn back time and back pages, for the true clarity and calm disposition to settle in. Extraordinary wine of restrained power and exceptional sangiovese. Has always been Riserva and “will never be Gran Selezione.” Drink 2021-2035. Tasted November 2018 and February 2019

Castell’in Villa Santa Croce Di Castell’in Villa IGT Toscana 2008, Tuscany, Italy (Winery, WineAlign)

An 80-20 gathering between cabernet sauvignon and sangiovese, in ode to the early May local celebrations of the cross. Certainly a matter of Cassis and sweet savour but the place speaks louder than the grapes. More of a barrel-scented and texture-affected red for Castell’in Villa, naturally because of the cabernet but also because the barrels have to start somewhere. It’s quite floral, certainly dusty and pretty much in its right place, in time. Drink 2019-2026. Tasted February 2019

Good to go!

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WineAlign

Fifty years of Col d’Orcia

Jun6

Back in February of 2019 I spent some time in Montalcino as part of a three and a half day Anteprime di Toscana visit at Benvenuto Brunello 2019 and also with producers at their estates. The most enchanting visit and one that sent journalists, sommeliers, chefs, servers and family members back to the future was at dinner hosted by Francesco Marone Cinzano at Col d’Orcia. Verticals of Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino were poured from the nines going back 50 years in time.

Related – Awash in Brunello di Montalcino

A few years back I chose Col D’orcia Brunello Di Montalcino 1997 as one of 14 Mind blowing wines of 2014. “From a golden vintage, this ’97 is crazy good. A fixed, double-edged blade fighting knife dipped into a warm pool of developed liqueur-like sweetness. Seventeen years of languorous modulation and wood-fruit integration had resulted in a gracious Brunello, intrinsically delicious and living large in senescence. Life for the Col D’orcia ’97 is a bowl of cherries. Open one now and for the next three to five years and you’ll know exactly what you’re going to get. Me, “I’ll stick with you baby for a thousand years. Nothing’s gonna touch you in these golden years.” Tasted April 2014. Strutura. Structure, ability and longevity. This is Col d’Orcia.

The Estate

History, tradition and strutura do not dig any deeper in Montalcino than at Col d’Orcia, an Orcia Valley, (Val d’Orcia) southern slope estate in the Montalcino territory. The lineage dates back to at least 1890, when records show the Franceschi family of Florence purchased the property, then known as Fattoria di Sant’Angelo in Colle. One of two brothers Stefano Franceschi inherited the property, split from Leopoldo in 1958 and then re-named it Col d’Orcia, “{hill above Orcia” after the river that runs through the property. Franceschi later married into the royal family of the future King of Spain Juan Carlos and sold the property to the Piemontese family Cinzano in 1973. At that time only a few hectares under vine and it was Count Alberto Marone Cinzano that pushed the reach up to 70 hectares by the early 1980s. Francesco continued plantings to the current number at 140 hectares, 108 of which are dedicated to Brunello production.

Cold d’Orcia’s soils are loose, skeletal and permeable, poor in clay, rich in limestone and inert materials. Fog, ice and late frosts are of little to no concern and breezes blow frequently for persistent and profitable vine health conditions. Climate is typically Mediterranean, with limited rainfalls concentrated in the months of March, April, November and December. Col d’Orcia the third largest owner of Brunello vineyards in Montalcino.

Plin farciti galletto, conditi con olio, parmigiano e pepe

The Dinner and the wines

Chef Roberto Rossi of Il Silene.

Montalcino, 14 Febbraiao 2019

Col d’Orcia Rosso Di Montalcino DOC 2009, Tuscany, Italy (Agent, $25.00, WineAlign)

So poignant for this to be poured alongside the Brunello of same vintage because we’re usually comparing Rosso to Brunello of the next and the next vintage. Both move with similar advancement though fruit in Rosso at nine years is far along the trampled path, deep into the bosco. If the aromatics have gone secondary than imagine how tertiary entrenched the palate is now. Lovely final chapter for this wine while still drinking with great charm. Drink 2019-2021. Tasted February 2019

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2009, Tuscany, Italy (306852, $49.95, WineAlign)

Not a question of heat but clearly a matter of having taken full advantage of a vintage. Here Brunello sits compressed, of mille-feuille fruit layers intersected by spotting acidity and still important tannins. Col d’Orcia tannins specific to a place “in the middle of nowhere.” Tasted side by side with the Rosso of the same vintage the notable difference is a peppery shell, almost a still persistent reduction and clearly a kept freshness. This fruit is Col d’Orcia’s red fruit, wild in the forest and warming inside. Drink 2020-2030. Tasted February 2019

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG Poggio al Vento 1999, Tuscany, Italy (Agent, WineAlign)

Very youthful sangiovese, young Brunello, spritely Riserva and teenage Poggio al Vento. At 19 and a half years of age it acts like a kid, with unbridled energy and innocence. Still not in any real hurry to grow up, the pulse, energy and intensity are all plucked from barrel and left to play out in the yard. It feels as though it’s running and running. You can call it in for dinner but there’s no guarantee it will come in. Primary fruit is still a thing and food will sing along, happy to saddle up with this Montalcino cru king. Drink 2020-2033. Tasted February 2019

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 1979, Tuscany, Italy (Agent, WineAlign)

Quiet, not just at first, but in continuum, a good thing with just a few initial hints of age. There can be immediate concern of this being 40 years-old. It’s hidden talents prevent you from knowing and of those, fineness of acidity is at the top of the heap. I’d say there was some astringency and mean streak tannin in the first ten years, or perhaps maybe more. It seems this Riserva was a beast for so long and only the last ten years have allowed it to deliver such gentility and charm. It’s amazing really and glad this bottle hung in there. It’s very special. In fact it’s still unfolding. Drink 2019-2025. Tasted February 2019

Coniglio in porchetta farcito con pistacchi, accompagnato da spinaci saltati e sformato di cavoli

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 1989, Tuscany, Italy (Agent, WineAlign)

A huge Col d’Orcia, perhaps the biggest, broadest and most ferric I’ve ever tasted. That pool may only be 25 but this bites twice and is far from shy. It’s obviously vintage but also feels like a vintage of ambitious winemaking. The oak, oak spice, alcohol, unami and dried fruit are all fully throttled and simply add up to deliver a vibrant massive attack. Red fruit is nowhere to be found, left instead in a void filled by porcini, sanguine carne and herbal potpourri. The acidity eventually brings out more charming moments but this is really an unrelenting sangiovese. Will live 15 more years easy although there wont be the type of fruit still lingering shown by the 1979. Drink 2019-2027. Tasted February 2019

Col d’Orcia Brunello Di Montalcino Riserva DOCG 1969, Tuscany, Italy (Agent, WineAlign)

Tasted from three different bottles, the first showing TCA, the second alive and quiet, the third singing. Bottle variation is not surprising at all, especially in wines of this ilk and age. The family arrived at the estate in 1973 to find some vintages in barrel and this ’69 in concrete. Because the third sample was not just the best but the one with real personality we’ll just concentrate on it. The nose is very floral and full of toffee, toasted chestnut and burnt orange. The palate is lively, hopping really. A mild bitterness marks the finish, still pulsing with acidity though not with tannin. Great look back. Drink 2019-2020. Tasted February 2019

Millefoglie al pistacchio e caffè

Pascena, Moscadello di Montalcino 2014

Piccola pasticceria