« UMBRIA – TOSCANA (12) … BIBBIANO | Home | UMBRIA – TOSCANA (10) … SAN-LEONINO (ANGELINI) »
UMBRIA – TOSCANA (11) … CASTELLARE DI CASTELLINA & DCC
After the long but very interesting tasting and tasty lunch at Fattoria San Leonino, we moved to another winery, also close to Castellina in Chianti (Siena): Castellare di Castellina. This winery is part of a group of three wineries, all founded by Paolo Panerai, a famous and very successful publishers in Italy. Besides Castellare di Castellina (Tuscany, Siena) the Domini Castellare di Castellina (DCC) group owns also Rocca di Frassinello (Tuscany, Grosseto) and Feudi del Pisciotto (Sicily).
Authentic Chianti Classico style
Paolo Panerai started from the beginning in 1979 to get rid of the inferior sangiovese plants from outside the Chianti region. Three clones of the very old native sangioveto plants from the own Castellare vineyards have been selected to renovate all the genetic polluted vineyards. This was done to promote the authentic Chianti Classico style from autochthonous varietals: sangioveto, combined with small amounts of malvasia nera, canaiolo and colorino. The most representative wine of Paolo Panerai vision is I Sodi di San Niccolò: best selection of a single vineyard, 85-90% sangioveto completed with 10-15% malvasia nera No need for French varieties, only pure Tuscan identity. That is what we were told during the visit. But if someone wants to keep the pure identity of the great Tuscan wine Chianti Classico, why then use FRENCH OAK BARRELS (Allier, Tronçais, Nevers, Limousin and Vosges!!!) to age the wine? Isn’t there a strange contradiction?
Rocca di Frasselino
This is an even more ambitious project, a joint-venture between DCC and the Domaines Baron de Rothschild-Lafite. The Maremma growing region in Tuscany (Grosseto) has a long viticulture history. Baron Eric de Rothschild was convinced about the great potential of the area and (may be even more?) about the much lower land prices than in the very famous Bolgheri region. The position was great, the soil ideal, but there was much more land needed to make the project economically profitable. After some years of negotiations with the 4 neighbors, a new common holding was born, followed by a joint-venture with Domaines Baron de Rothschild-Lafite. The first vineyard was planted in 2000; anno 2010 almost 80 of the future 125 ha of vineyards are planted. Castellare brings its experience with the sangioveto, the French their own experience with cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot and even … syrah! I wonder where is now the deontology of Paolo Panerai? Where is the spirit to make authentic Chianti Classico wine? Anyway, the winery itself is a piece of art, and the wine critics from inside and outside Italy are quite laudative about the wines. So, who cares?
Feudi del Pisciotto
The project in Sicily is quite different, based on two of the three ‘F’ Italy was build on: Fashion, Food and Furnitures… The seven wines produced at Feudi del Pisciotto will ‘wear’ every year, labels designed by top-fashion artists: Valentino, Versace, Blumarine, Carolina Marengo-Kisa, Missoni, Alberta Ferretti, Gianfranco Ferrè… A part of the sales of each bottle will be used for the restoration of local Sicilian monuments or to help needy islanders… A selection of the labels will be signed by the designers and auctioned during fashion shows.
The tasting
We tasted in short time 11 wines and 2 grappa. Guides are absolutely enthusiastic about all those wines. I am sorry to say that I am not. It is just something personal. When I want to drink Italian wine, I just want to taste genuine Italian wines and not ‘international’ wines. I just can’t see the use of a ‘merlot’ wine in a Chianti region. Even if the wine is perfectly made, I just don’t get excited by ‘technical’ wines. And I do not think that this is the future of the quality wine. But as long as tens of serious guides, hundreds of wine specialists seem to be possessed by such wines, they must be right, I must be wrong. But I won’t change my mind. For me, wine is not meant as a trendy speculative activity but as a part of gastronomy and culture. Weird isn’t it?
Feudi del Pisciotto Carolina Marengo Grillo 2007: Yellow fruit, quince, pear… Fresh, fruity, very juicy and mineral. Good.
Chianti Classico Castellare 2008: Beautiful bright color; very classic nose, cherries, balsamic notes, spicy oak. Soft, fresh, juiscy, elegant, with soft tannins. Good.
Chianti Classico Castellare Riserva 2007: More depth in color and bouquet; wild aromatic herbs, a touch of balsamic, spicy oak. Very fresh, juicy, mineral. Good!
Vigna Il Poggiale Chianti Classico Riserva 2007: Not really on speaking terms at the moment, should have been decanted. Powerful structure and strong tannins. Great potential, to be tasted again over 10 years. Good!
I Sodi di San Niccolò IGT Toscana 2004: great freshness, powerful but ripe tannins, lots of juice, great structure, enormous potential… A typical Gambero Rosso 3 bicchieri wine. Oustanding.
Poggio ai Merli IGT Toscana 2004: 100% merlot… Peculiar nose, ‘Michel Rolland’ bitter chocolate (could come right from Ornellaia!) style, amarene cherries, alcohol… Better on the palate, elegant, fresh, juicy, very well balanced, with a interminable finish. Outstanding!
Poggio alla Guardia Maremma Toscana IGT 2008: Modern nose, fresh, fruity and spicy. Very well made, technically speaking, good structure, very juicy and mineral, quite pleasant. Not my type of wine, but for the aficionado: Good.
Le Sughere di Frassinello Maremma Toscana IGT 2006: Here again the typical ‘Michel Rolland’ style of chocolate merlot nose, fortunately completed by cassis, nutty oak, spices, vanillin, and… ripe fruit! Quite powerful on the palate, despite the ripe tannins, mouth filling, quite complex, with a long and steady finish. Great potential. Not my wine, but … Very good!
Baffonero Maremma Toscana IGT 2007: ‘The challenger’ (= baffonero) of Bolgheri and other Super-Tuscan wines… 100% merlot. Very deep color, intense, nearly inky. In the nose merlot marmalade with the well-known ‘chocolate’ tones… and some cassis. Enormous concentration, great freshness, refreshing minerality, lots of juice… A Super-Tuscan with a typical Bordeaux accent… Not at all my type of wine, but for the 90+ pp collectors, absolutely a ‘must’… The wine guides will surely give it high points and find it… Outstanding!
Feudi del Pisciotto Versace Nero d’Avola 2007: Beautiful nose, very typical, very Sicilian… Powerful in aroma and taste, very well-balanced, very pure, very elegant, very tasty, with quite a nice aging potential. I just love it! Good!
Feudi del Pisciotto Valentino Merlot 2007: Very well-made, powerful, great structure, round, spicy, elegant, with soft and ripe tannins. Perfect balance! Good!
We finished the tasting with two grappa’s, very well-made, pure and soft. Great stuff!
Conclusion: The meanings after this visit were not really unanimous, considering the wines. Some of us were fully impressed and in ecstasy… A few of us were much more skeptical, even critical, surely considering the price of some of those wines. But, as long as people buy it, as long as lots of critics are going totally out of their minds by tasting such wines, who cares about our opinion?
Comments
Thank you!