La Torre alle Tolfe, Chianti Colli Senesi 2022

80% Sangiovese, 20% Ciliegiolo and Canaiolo

Tuscany, Italy

A particularly outstanding vintage of this wine. Satisfying and fun to drink, even on its own. Plush ruby in color, with aromas of rose, raspberry, and delicate spring violets. Dark forest fruits and a rich, full body quench the palate without heaviness. Wonderful texture and grip that makes for a versatile compliment to food, particularly grilled meat and meaty pasta dishes.

Macerated for 15 days, then aged for one year in cement. 10,000 bottles made. Historically, this cuvee has been 100% Sangiovese. For the 2022 vintage, it was decided to create a blend given the difficult harvest due to mildew after prolonged spring rain. As always, the wine is aged in concrete in order to preserve and highlight the distinct tannin structure and texture of the Sangiovese grown in the sandy, ancient marine soils.

Torre alle Tolfe, located just outside of Siena, a mere 3km from the Piazza del Campo. There are documents proving the existence of grapevines here back to at least 1316. It is a place steeped in history but also brimming with current creative energy. It was first mentioned in the year 785, when Charlemagne sent a French knight named Tolfo dei Gricci to the area with the task of building a lookout tower (the Torre). From Tolfo’s name, the area came to be known as Le Tolfe. The estate became a feudal farming enclave, with sharecropping families living there and working the land well into the 20th century. Though the tower was badly damaged in the wars between Florence and Siena, a replica stands on the site today. 

Mario Castelli and his wife Lunella Morfini bought the land in 1953 and began restoring its structures, including Tolfo’s tower. In 1974, they made their first commercial wine sale. Today, it is owned and lovingly operated by their granddaughter, Mania Castelli-Spalding, and her winemaker, Teresa Castellani. The entire 100-hectare property is run as a certified organic farm, with 13ha of vines planted between 1993 and 2014, 15ha of olive trees, and 20ha of fields for mixed grains.