Castell'in Villa Chianti Classico DOCG
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Castellโin Villa, a medieval hamlet dating back to the thirteenth century, is one of the oldest estates in Castelnuovo Berardenga, the southernmost portion of Chianti Classico. After World War II, with the spread of industrialization, major Italian cities began seeing a migration of people from the countryside. This change led to a gradual elimination of the feudal collective system (called mezzadria) and shift to a more modern system of private estates. At this time, much of the region was for sale and after discovering the property in 1967, Princess Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa and her husband purchased it in 1968 with a plan to set up roots for retirement. When purchased, the estate had only one hectare under vine so the couple began planting vines following the suggestions of the Chianti Classico Consorzio. For many years, the estate fruit was purchased by Giacomo Tachis for some of the early vintages of Tignanello. While never formally serving as a consultant, Giacomo Tachis was teacher and mentor to Coralia Pignatelli whose first vintage was 1971. Based on his advice, Castellโin Villa became one of the first producers in Chianti to remove Canaiolo and bottle 100% Sangiovese. Today, under the continuous care of Princess Coralia, all of the wines are produced from estate grown fruit. Coralia is dedicated to producing traditionally styled, high quality wines, from low yielding vineyards, and releases older vintages only when they are showing their best. The entire estate covers almost 300 hectares with 32 hectares dedicated to olive groves and 54 hectares to vineyards. The vineyards are spread over eight different sites, in which the diversity of the Tuscan countryside is reflected both in soil types and micro climate. Winemaking occurs in a modern cellar equipped with stainless steel tanks and oak barrels through which the wines complete the vinification and the aging process. Attention to detail and respect for the natural evolution of the winemaking process ensures that each vintage reflects the individual character and traditional style of Castellโin Villa wines. Wines are released only when they are ready, which typically ends up being two vintages later than most producers in Chianti. During a tasting, which covered a number of vintages of the single-vineyard Chianti Classico Riserva and several of the Poggio delle Rose and Santacroce, Antonio Galloni said, โMy favorite wines in this tasting were the wines from the 1990s Riservas. Those vintages are old enough to offer plenty of complexity, but still have enough fruit. The wines I tasted from the 2000s were more approachable in style. Princess Coralia says she is paying more attention to details in the cellar. I am sure that is true, but I canโt say there is anything from the wines of the 1990s that required too much tinkering.โ