Barone Ricasoli Castello di Brolio Vin Santo Del Chianti Classico DOC 50cl Bottle

Description

Barone Ricasoli Castello di Brolio Vin Santo is an Italian dessert wine from the Tuscany region.

Barone Ricasoli Castello di Brolio is renaissance Castello (“castle”) situated between Florence and Siena and has been family owned since 1141 – it is the oldest winery in Italy. That might not seem like the likely ingredients to become one of Italy’s most dynamic and quality minded wineries however, in the space of the last 10 years, Barone Francesco Ricasoli – the 32nd Baron – has turned Castello di Brolio into one of Italy’s most respected wineries. The Barone has been one of the pioneers of the ‘Chateau’ concept in Tuscany, a concept by which the estate focus is purely on the production of the estates top wine – i.e. Castello di Brolio Chianti Classico and any parcels or barrels that do not make the cut are ‘downgraded’ into the second wine and so on.

Barone Ricasoli Castello di Brolio Vin Santo is made from mainly Malvasia del Chianti (a.k.a. Malvasia Toscana), one of the historic grapes of Tuscany. Sometimes there may be some Canaiolo and Sangiovese, about 5% each, added to the wine to  to add enrich its colour and body. 7.40 hectares of Malvasia  is cultivated in the vineyards of Pianarsiccio specifically for Brolio’s Vin Santo. The grapes for Vin Santo are left to be gathered late in the harvest, this ensures that they have a good sweetness concentration which allows them grapes to undergo the long ageing process. The bunches are selected one by one and hung until the grapes are raisin-like, in a well-ventilated room, for several months. The must is obtained by a soft pressing and left to slowly ferment for about 2 years in small oak casks (caratelli) of about 225 litres. The process lasts for a minimum of 3 years and is usually 4 to 5 years.

The 2011 vintage is 90% Malvasia, 5% Trebbiano and 5% Sangiovese, aged 7 years in caratelli.