Castiglion del Bosco

Located atop a mountain 23 minutes from Montalcino is Castiglion del Bosco. This winery and vineyard sit amongst the surround forest along with its hotel counterpart just a short drive down the gravel driveway. Although there have not always been vines present here, there has been activity on the site since Roman times. The estate has even been depicted as far back as 1833. In 1902 the Biondi brothers, then owners of the estate, received high praise for their wines, 65 years later in 1967 the estate would find itself a founding member of the Brunello di Montalcino Wine Consortium. These wines were some of the earliest in history to receive the DOC and DOCG recognition. In 2003 Massimo Ferragamo acquired the estate and would modernize it over the next few years to what is seen today.

We selected to do a tour and tasting for our visit to Castiglion del Bosco, this started in the courtyard with a glass of wine while we were given a brief history lesson of the property. Once complete we walked inside to the fermentation area and on to the barrel room. Our tour then took us too the Wine Club, a massive wine library with lockers for wine. Once a member you are able to rent the space out for birthdays, anniversaries or even weddings but this does come at a pretty hefty price. After we finished our tour we were taken to the tasting room which overlooks the courtyard.

Our tasting included five wines from the estate which were IGT Toscana Chardonnay, IGT Toscana Prima Pietra, Rosso di Montalcino, and two vintages of their Brunello di Montalcino (2013 and 2015). Our favorite of the bunch was the 2015 Brunello di Montalcino. Medium ruby to garnet in color with moderate plus intensity. An amazing boque of tart cherry, oregano, dusty cranberry, and tomato leaf lead the way with hints of ash and purple flowers. Moderate tannins, with high acidity, lovely finish and medium body.