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Region: Italy - Tuscany
Grapes: Sangiovese, Malvasia
Alcohol: 13%
Notes on the Wine
Bold and structured. Powerful with a good finish.
Notes on the Producer
The Chianti Classico region is known for vanity estates owned by successful people from other fields, with the occasional large commercial winery, not 'terroir' wines. In this sense it is rather like Bordeaux or Napa. But there are many exceptions to this, and Castellinuzza e Piuca is just that: a tiny property near the little isolated hamlet of Lamole, a family-run winery that is the epitome of 'local wine.' The grapes are Sangiovese (in this case, Sangiovese di Lamole, the local sub-type) and Canaiolo; the winemaking is simple and transparent; and the wine is wonderful, full of interesting flavors but above all drinkable.
Lamole is an isolated hamlet in the Chianti Classico region, between Florence and Siena. It is the origin of a well-known type of Sangiovese, Sangiovese di Lamole, and is located at relatively high altitude (450-550 meters (1,650 feet) above sea level). You get to Lamole by driving south from Greve on the Chiantigiana road, then turning east past the famous old Vignamaggio estate. The road goes up a steep hill; just before Lamole you go through the cluster of houses called Castellinuzza, and you have arrived (turn left when you see the huge expanse of irises by the road). Castellinuzza e Piuca is a working farm, but the low-slung buildings and the vineyards and countryside are serene and beautiful. Their grapes come from several small terraced vineyards planted in very rocky and sparse soil.
In the words of Simone Coccia, the current owner, "In 1962, after decades of sharecropping ('mezzadria'), at a time when everyone was abandoning the countryside, my father and my uncle bought the estate where they had always worked. In 1985 the estate was divided between the five brothers, and now I farm it with my family. We grow our products with the passion and genuineness of another time, and our wine changes from year to year depending on the sun and the rain. The farm extends over the typical terraces of the Chianti countryside, that are beautiful but also difficult to cultivate. For some years the farm has also kept animal stalls with several cattle, a cow and a horse."
