Welcome to Episode V and welcome to Castelnuovo Berardenga. As one of the larger comunes of Chianti Classico, we thought we better visit three of the top producers and see what they have to say.
Castelnuovo Berardenga sits right on the northwestern edge of Chianti Classico, and Giuseppe Mazzocolin of Fattoria Felsina actually points out to us from where we speak to him, just where Chianti Classico ends and another area, the Crete Senesi, begins. His main point is that the two territories are vastly different - Chianti Classico is of course known for its vines and intervening woods, while the Crete Senesi produces wheat, truffles and pecorino but little in the way of wine.
Fattoria translates as "farm" and Giuseppe likes to think of Felsina as just that - a small "survival economy" of individual houses dotted around the estate. Most of the cultivations are biodynamic and all are sangiovese. He explains that he has three levels of sangiovese, first a basic Chianti Classico blend, then a Chianti Classico Riserva, Chianti Classico Rancia and finally Fontalloro to guarantee maximum expression of quality, style and finesse in each product. All these wines are made with sangiovese and are made from particular vineyards, like Fontalloro, which comes from vineyards in the border between Chianti Classico and Colli Senesi. Rancia, on the other hand, is made from a single vineyard located within Chianti Classico boudaries.
When Lia Tolaini’s father, Pier Luigi Tolaini, returned to his native Tuscany, he chose Chianti Classico and specifically Castelnuovo Berardenga to make wine because he believed that it was special. Tolaini today makes one Chianti Classico and three I.G.T wines. Their Chianti Classico riserva is a 100 per cent single vineyard sangiovese. Lia believes the true expression of Chianti Classico can only be found in pure sangiovese. For that reason they only label Chianti Classico their single vineyard pure sangiovese.
Lia believes that wines from Castelnuovo have a special power and elegance, this is the reason why their Chianti Classico has the name of the comune on the label. Tolaini is not the only winery in Castelnuovo that includes the name of the comune in their Chianti Classico label, Castello di Bossi, also shares this practice.
For Marco Bacci, owner of Castello di Bossi as well as other estates in Montalcino and the Maremma, Castelnuovo Berardenga is a paradise for sangiovese. The diverse or “minestrone” soils –as marco describes them-- of Castelnuovo offer a unique platform for the sangiovese in this comune, creating wines with a particular structure.
Marco believes that sub-zones would be a complicated process to follow, but he does believe in it and as it was mentioned above he has already added the name of the comune to his CC labels in the hope that it will soon be an official practice throughout the rest of the comunes.
