Summary
Barone Ricasoli at Castello di Brolio is regarded as Italy's oldest wine estate: the Ricasoli family has owned the castle and its lands since 1141. That makes it one of the oldest businesses in the world. At the same time the name stands for a central chapter of wine history: Baron Bettino Ricasoli set out the classic recipe for Chianti in 1872, with Sangiovese as the main grape. Today Barone Ricasoli is the largest estate in Chianti Classico, with around 235 hectares of vines around Brolio. Since 1993 Francesco Ricasoli has run the estate and, with intensive terroir research and single-vineyard wines, has brought it back to the top of the region.
History
The history of Barone Ricasoli reaches back to 1141, when Castello di Brolio passed into the hands of the Ricasoli family. For almost nine centuries the castle has remained in family ownership – a span unique in the wine world that makes Barone Ricasoli Italy's oldest wine estate and one of the oldest businesses on earth.
The most formative figure was Bettino Ricasoli (1809–1880), statesman and one of the architects of Italian unification, known as the „Iron Baron”. After years of experiments he formulated the classic recipe for Chianti in 1872: Sangiovese as the heart of the wine, complemented by a little Canaiolo. This formula shaped Chianti for generations and earned Bettino the nickname „father of Chianti”. Since 1993 Francesco Ricasoli has run the estate, modernising vineyards and cellar and, through large-scale soil and site research, laying the foundation for precise, origin-driven wines.
Location & Terroir
Ricasoli's vineyards surround Castello di Brolio near Gaiole in Chianti and stretch across the communes of Gaiole and Castelnuovo Berardenga – one of the highest and coolest zones of Chianti Classico. The vines grow between around 220 and over 500 metres, surrounded by woods that ensure cool nights and a slow, aromatic ripening.
Decisive is the extraordinary variety of soils: limestones, clays, sandstone and the region's typical formations produce different expressions of Sangiovese. It is precisely this diversity that Francesco Ricasoli has mapped over years of research, in order to find the right variety and style for each parcel.
Style & Philosophy
At the centre stand Sangiovese and the clearest possible rendering of the terroir of Brolio. Ricasoli relies on precise vineyard work, careful selection and an ageing that emphasises fruit, structure and elegance without overlaying the wine with oak. The intensive site research feeds directly into single-vineyard wines that make the differences between individual parcels visible.
Alongside the Sangiovese-dominant Chianti Classico wines, international varieties such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon round out the range in individual blends, together with a small share of white wine. The spread runs from the accessible Brolio to the ambitious Gran Selezione wines.
Notable Sites & Wines
The range is clearly tiered – from the classic to the single vineyard. Among the best-known wines are:
- Chianti Classico Brolio – the classic and entry into the estate's style
- Castello di Brolio Gran Selezione – the flagship from the best parcels
- Colledilà – single-vineyard Gran Selezione from pure Sangiovese
- CeniPrimo – Gran Selezione from a single parcel
- Casalferro (Merlot) and the white Torricella
These wines are among the most noted of Chianti Classico and mark the estate's return to the top of the appellation.
Awards
Barone Ricasoli is regularly honoured in the international trade press and recognised as one of the most important addresses in Chianti Classico. Above all the single-vineyard Sangiovese wines at Gran Selezione level earn high scores and are seen as a reference for the region's diversity of origin. As Italy's oldest wine estate, Ricasoli combines almost nine centuries of tradition with modern terroir research – a dual ambition that still shapes the estate today.