1999 Castiglion del Bosco Brunello di Montalcino

Castiglion del Bosco is in the Val d’Orcia, a vineyard region in Tuscany near Montalcino. The area was once bisected by the road that led Christian pilgrims from Canterbury to Rome, and its abbey and town made it a prosperous valley in the Middle Ages. By the late 19th century the Castiglion del Bosco estate was growing the Sangiovese clone that produces Brunello di Montalcino, and by the 1970s the estate was one of the pioneering producers of well-crafted Brunello di Montalcino, now one of Tuscany’s most admired wines. In 2003 the estate was purchased by Massimo Ferragamo, a son of the late Salvatore Ferragamo, founder of the Ferragamo shoe empire. Massimo Ferragamo updated the winery and added a luxury resort and golf course. Castiglion del Bosco owns 150 vineyard acres in Montalcino, and 25 vineyard acres in Bolgheri, on the Tuscan coast. The estate’s most famous wine is the Brunello di Montalcino.

Brunello di Montalcino is regarded as one of Italy’s best appellations. Located in south central Tuscany below Chianti, the wines of Brunello di Montalcino DOCG are made of a Sangiovese clone called “brunello,” which means “little dark one,” a reference to the brown tones in the skin of the grape. Unlike some Tuscan appellations that allow other grapes to be blended with Sangiovese, Brunello di Montalcino is entirely Sangiovese. Montalcino itself is a picturesque, hill-top town not especially well known for wine production until the mid-19th century, when a local vineyard owner isolated the brunello clone and planted it. Other growers followed suit. Nevertheless it wasn’t until 1970s that wine enthusiasts started paying attention to Brunello di Montalcino, which by then was becoming an outstanding wine. Today there are 120 estates in the DOCG, up from about 25 estates in 1975. Brunellos in general are bigger, darker, more tannic and more powerful wines than Chiantis or most other Sangioveses. By law they must be aged for four years, and two of those years must be in wooden barrels.