About Castellare
Castellare di Castellina is an estate winery located in the Castellina in Chianti area of Tuscany, Italy. Founded in the 1970s by journalist Paolo Panerai, the estate is known for producing Chianti Classico wines as well as I Sodi di San Niccolò, a notable IGT Tuscany wine made from Sangioveto and Malvasia Nera. The property covers approximately 30 hectares of vineyards in the heart of the Chianti Classico zone.
Prices are for take away and shipping. The wine bar serves from its own list.
The winery
About Castellare
History
Castellare di Castellina takes its form from four neighbouring estates, Castellare, Caselle, San Niccolò and Le Case, which were brought together in the 1970s by Paolo Panerai. His aim was to make high quality wine in the Chianti Classico hills near Castellina in Chianti.
The estate has a reputation for testing new ideas next to old habits. It planted what it describes as the first experimental vineyard in the Chianti area, working with the universities of Milan and Florence. It also moved to French barriques on the advice of the oenologist Emile Peynaud, and Giacomo Tachis advised on the winery design and on concrete tanks. Peynaud is also credited with helping develop the Sangioveto work. Panerai also founded with Baron Edmond de Rothschild the Compagnie Vinicole Conseille.
The land and the vineyards
The property covers 80 hectares, of which 33 are vineyards and 20 are olive groves. The vines face south east on hillsides that form a natural amphitheatre, at about 370 metres above sea level. Soils are a mix of limestone marl, galestro and some clay.
Vines on the estate range from 7 to over 45 years old, yields per hectare are kept low, and the team says it uses no synthetic chemicals in the vineyards. Sangioveto, the local name for Sangiovese, is planted with carefully selected clones.
The wines
The best known label is I Sodi di San Niccolò, a red built on native grapes, Sangioveto with Malvasia Nera. There are also Chianti Classico bottlings, including a Riserva called Il Poggiale and a Torre Alta, and the Governo di Castellare.
Beyond the Tuscan varieties, the estate makes Poggio ai Merli from Merlot and Coniale from Cabernet Sauvignon. The whites include Le Ginestre, a blend, Canonico from Chardonnay and Spartito from Sauvignon Blanc, and a Vinsanto from Malvasia Bianca and Trebbiano.
Today
Castellare now sits in the Domini Castellare group, next to Rocca di Frassinello, Feudi del Pisciotto and Gurra di Mare. The cellar produces about 400,000 bottles a year, up from roughly 200,000 in the early concrete tank days. Alongside wine, the estate sells grappa, olive oil and vinegar made on the property.
- Founded
- 1970s
- Area
- 80 hectares, 20 of them olive groves
- Vineyards (hectares)
- 33
- Main grapes
- Sangioveto (Sangiovese), Malvasia Nera, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon
- Owners
- Founded by Paolo Panerai