2018 Rosso di Montalcino, Campo Ai Sassi, CastelGiocondo, Frescobaldi, Tuscany, Italy
About this WINE
Marchesi De Frescobaldi
Marchesi di Frescobaldi, one of the oldest Italian wine companies and the largest, is something of a paradox. The company which owns nearly 1000 hectares of vineyard land in Tuscany remains in the control of one family which, while it traces its history back at least seven centuries, has also consistently been at the forefront of the modernisation of the Italian wine industry. The family has been producing wine since 1300 and produces an exemplary range of wines from its estates at Castello di Nipozzano, Pomino and CastelGiocondo.
Tenuta CastelGiocondo is one of the original Brunello estates, originally an ancient stronghold built in 1100. One of the first four properties to produce Brunello di Montalcino in 1800, it has been owned by Frescobaldi since 1989. Named after an ancient castle and a small medieval village to the south-west of Montalcino, CastelGiocondo hosts an ideal terroir for high-quality Sangiovese.
The 151-hectare estate is home to a unique combination of soils, altitudes and microclimates, which allow the grapes to grow with delicacy, balance and harmony. The soils vary by altitude, with clay at 250 metres; well-drained sandstone at 300 metres; and the high-quality galestro soils at 350-450 metres – where the best Sangiovese for the Brunello and Ripe al Convento are grown. While not officially certified, the estate has been farmed organically since 2013, working with the greatest respect for the terroir and land surrounding them.
The Frescobladis` links with the Mondavi family in California have resulted in the joint purchase of a estate in Montalcino adjacent to Castelgiocondo to produce the company's flagship wine - Luce. The Luce site was selected for its potential to produce the very best fruit and there is no compromise in its winemaking or its viticultural care. It represents the very best that the company can produce. The company also produces the Lucetta, a wine from a blend of the very best parcels of fruit from all the company's Tuscany vineyards. Both wines contain Merlot as well as the traditional Sangiovese.
Sangiovese
A black grape widely grown in Central Italy and the main component of Chianti and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano as well as being the sole permitted grape for the famed Brunello di Montalcino.
It is a high yielding, late ripening grape that performs best on well-drained calcareous soils on south-facing hillsides. For years it was blighted by poor clonal selection and massive overcropping - however since the 1980s the quality of Sangiovese-based wines has rocketed upwards and they are now some of the most sought after in the world.
It produces wines with pronounced tannins and acidity, though not always with great depth of colour, and its character can vary from farmyard/leather nuances through to essence of red cherries and plums. In the 1960s the advent of Super Tuscans saw bottlings of 100% Sangiovese wines, as well as the introduction of Sangiovese/Cabernet Sauvignon blends, the most famous being Tignanello.
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