Just few kilometers from Siena, in the heart of Tuscany, Italy, among an
enchanting view, there is the town of Monteriggioni, located in the Chianti
Colli Senesi area and few kilometers from the Chianti Classico area, where
stands the majestic and ancient Castel Pietraio, with its high tower, dated
back to about 1000 AD, embellished with particular Guelph merlons. The
building of Castel Pietraio is now the headquarter of a prestigious winery that
also produces olive oil as well as being an agricultural tourism structure. The
winery, after having been renewed few years ago, is now run by Baron Mauro Neri
del Nero, who welcomes us to the castle.
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Baron Mauro Neri del Nero in
his cellar | |
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Let's start by getting to know the winery better; Baron Neri del Nero
introduces his winery to us «Fattoria di Castel Pietraio has a very long and
ancient tradition in wine making. In 1996, when my father passed away, I
succeeded him in the management of the winery and I decided to change the
production style of the company and aimed for quality and innovation while
keeping and respecting the tradition of this land. The culture of Sangiovese is
therefore the basis of our products and we also cultivate Merlot for making red
wines as well as Chardonnay for producing white wines. The winery is part of
the District of the Montagnola Senese and it has been built in the castle
and the most ancient part of this castle is represented by a tower, built
around 1000 AD, as well as other buildings dated back to 1300 and 1500. The
castle also comprises cellars dated back to 1700, and these cellars are still
functional and renewed in 1999. In 1996 we planted new vineyards and we
increased the previous density of vines and in 1999 we had our first vintage
under the direction of our winemaker, Dr. Stefano Chioccioli. The renewal of
the cellar allowed us to introduce new technologies as well as new and modern
machineries in order to promote and aim toward a quality production. Since 1999
we produce wine by refining it in small casks instead of large casks, and we
also have particular cask's supports that allow us a better and easy care of
cask's maintenance».
The castle where the winery is located is a beautiful monument of high
historical value, and in this castle lived important persons of the local
history. Concerning this aspect, Baron Neri del Nero said «the castle includes
an ancient tower dated back to the 1000 AD that was used as a defense for the
Montagnola Senese, and it was subsequently expanded with other buildings
dated 1300 and 1500. In this castle lived, besides the founder, Countess Ava,
of Longobard origins, who donated, about in the year 1000 AD, part of the
castle's land to some Benedictine Monks and they established an abbey near
Abbadia a Isola, a town not far from here, and they reclaimed the valley in
order to allow cultivation of lands. In order to honor the history of this
places and the memory of the renowned persons who lived in this castle, we
decided to dedicate them our products and we named our wines after them:
Tegrimo, who was the son of the founder of the castle, is an interesting wine
made of Sangiovese grape and it is refined for six months in barrique;
Sindrada, who was Tegrimo's wife, is our white wine and it is produced with
Chardonnay and Malvasia bianca grapes. Another famous couple who lived in this
castle was Ghinibaldo Saracini and Sapia Salvani; Ghinibaldo is our most
prestigious wine and it is made from Sangiovese and Merlot grapes; it is
refined for 12 months in barrique and for 3 months in bottle. To Ghinibaldo's
wife, Sapia, we dedicated our rose wine, which is made from Sangiovese and it
is left to ferment for three days with the wine used to make Ghinibaldo. After
three days, we take the wine to make Sapia away from the container and the
process is completed by means of typical techniques used for making white
wines. This drawing of wine from Ghinibaldo actually improves its structure
and its body».
Castel Pietraio, besides being the headquarter of the winery, is also an
agricultural tourism structure and they also allow people to visit the castle.
Baron Neri del Nero talks about this particular aspect «we offer the
possibility to visit the castle as well as guided tour to our cellars and we
also offer the possibility to stay in our apartments. The castle also has an
agricultural tourism activity as well as apartments for anyone who wants to
stay here for at least one week and we also have a swimming pool as well as
guided paths in the woods. We also have elegant rooms finely decorated with
furniture styled as the ones of the 1700».
Let's continue talking about the wine produced in the castle. Winery's
vineyards are all located in the Chianti Colli Senesi area and the production
of the wine is completely made in the winery which is in the castle. Baron Neri
del Nero says «winery's activity is done in the castle and it is located in the
area of controlled and guaranteed denomination of origin (DOCG) of Chianti
Colli Senesi, about one kilometer and a half (about one mile) from the border
of the Chianti Classico area; for this reason many consider our wine similar to
the ones produced in Chianti Classico. The winery has been renewed in regard
and full respect of local traditions and in that occasion we made the decision,
unfortunately not well agreed by most but in our opinion represents a
traditional aspect, of keeping and using our old wine containers made of
concrete, however these containers, because of their thickness and a lower
thermal dispersion, allow us to keep the wine to a more constant temperature.
These wine containers have been restored and adapted in order to allow a modern
wine making process and we installed in each of them special system for
temperature control. Of course, we also have steel containers and we mainly use
them to keep the wine before bottling or to blend wines».
Being in a such an important area of the Italian viticulture represents a
factor which can play a determinant role; Chianti is among the most celebrated
and renowned red wines of Italy and Tuscany is one of the most famous regions
of this country. In this regard, this is the comment of Baron Neri del Nero
«the most important thing is to be in Tuscany. This region is not probably much
appreciated by Italians, however it is highly regarded and appreciated by
foreigners and, as we also sell our wine outside Italy, this is certainly a
prestigious factor».
Talking about the forthcoming vintage and the harvest of this year, Baron Neri
del Nero says «thanks to the technical management of our wine maker, Dr.
Stefano Chioccioli, we always prefer waiting for Sangiovese to get overripe,
and according to the meteorological conditions of this year, this will probably
be impossible, however, while other wineries are working on vintage already,
here at Castel Pietraio we are trying as has as we can to delay harvesting in
order to have a riper grape. In order to promote grape's ripeness we worked in
the vineyard and thinned out grapes and got rid of some leaves in order to take
the most benefits from the sun. Unfortunately this year we had lots of rainy
days and we had some damages in the vineyard, mainly mold on grape's berries
and our personnel is working in order to prevent any other damage and they are
manually removing any mouldy berry in order not to contaminate the good ones.
We just hope to have better meteorological conditions in the forthcoming weeks
in order to have a good vintage, even though it will be pretty hard, we are
confident to have good surprises and interesting results». In regard to the
countries where Castel Pietraio's wine is sold «we are currently selling our
wine in the United States of America, which is also our main market, where a
young importer agrees with our philosophy. Our products are sold in Colorado,
California, Washington DC, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oregon,
Texas and Washington. Besides Italy, in Europe our wines are sold in Holland
and in Great Britain. Last but not the least, Castel Pietraio also sell its
wine directly at the castle».
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| An ancient wine press of 1700,
one of the many historical patrimonies of Castel Pietraio |
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Castel Pietraio, besides producing the wines we shortly talked about, also
produces a Chianti Colli Senesi. Talking about the production of the winery,
Baron Neri del Nero illustrates its products: «Chianti Colli Senesi represents
our basic product and it is the typical wine of this land, even though the
typical grapes defined by Baron Ricasoli were revised, as well as being a
common habit of all the producers of the area, white wines are not part of this
wine anymore and at present it is produced with 95% of Sangiovese and 5% of
Canaiolo nero. Chianti Colli Senesi was the first wine we produced after
winery's renewal and we had our first vintage in 1999 and produced about 6600
bottles, the same as for the year 2000, whereas we plan to produce about
13000 bottles in 2001. In 1999 we also produced for the first time Ghinibaldo
and it was released in January 2002 with a production of just 2400 bottles.
This wine is produced with 80% of Sangiovese and 20% of Merlot and within few
days we will start bottling the vintage 2000, we plan to produce 4800 bottles
and they will be released in the market at the beginning of 2003. In 2000 we
produced for the first time Tegrimo, a red wine produced with Sangiovese and
refined in barrique for 6 months; in the same year we also produced Sindrada, a
white wine made of 90% of Chardonnay and 10% of Malvasia bianca; we had a
production of 1200 bottles and 2400 bottles for the vintage 2001. In 2000
we also produced our rose wine, Sapia, and we produced 1200 bottles. The
production of this wine will probably be dropped because it did not meet our
commercial expectations. Besides wines, Castel Pietraio produces a grappa made
of Chianti Colli Senesi's pomace which is distilled within 24 hours».
At the end of our visit at Fattoria di Castel Pietraio, Baron Neri del Nero
opens to us the doors of its cellar and we have the chance to see the modern
machinery they use for making wine and their characteristics and, before
leaving, in respect of the most genuine and traditional custom of any visit in
a cellar, Baron Neri del Nero gives us the chance to taste his new wines, each
one of them very convincing and well made. In particular we had the chance to
taste the Ghinibaldo 2001, which is currently refining in barriques, and it
seems to be impressive as well as promising: a great wine, no matter of its
young age, it is already full of rich and astonishing promises. Lastly, a
special mention goes to Bianca di Castel Pietraio, the grappa produced with
Chianti Colli Senesi's pomace. A very well made grappa, clean, rich of fruity
aromas and that leaves a clean mouth as well as a persistent flavor of hazelnut
and fruit.
In conclusion to our visit at Castel Pietraio, we remind our readers that they
offer guided tours to the cellars and they directly sell their products,
including wine, at the castle.
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