Chianti Classico deep dive (12) Castello di Ama
Website: https://castellodiama.com/en/
Castello di Ama is one of Chianti Classico’s most prestigious properties, and it was started in 1976 by four families from Rome. In 1982 Marco Pallanti joined, and since then he’s been running the viticulture and winemaking side of things. We visited with him.
It’s located at 500 m in the higher part of Chianti Classico. Marco explains how Sangiovese is very sensitive to altitude, so here he says the wine is less powerful and sometimes very elegant. The soil is very rich in clay and rocks, with calcareous content, bringing elegance to the wines. ‘If you put these things together, it explains our originality,’ says Marco. ‘The wine is not a copy of other producers.’
They have 75 hectares of vines, divided among five valleys. ‘In the beginning we started with vineyard selection,’ he says. The first was Bellavista in 1978, then there was di Lorenzo in 1982, and Casucho in 1985. ‘We were the first to do single vineyard selections.’
‘I love the connection between the wine and the soil,’ says Marco. ‘With Gran Selezione we start to have the connection with Chianti Classico and place.’
When Marco arrived here in 1982 he’d already studied viticulture, but the owners asked him if he spoke French. And then they sent him to school in Bordeaux. ‘My winemaking comes from Bordeaux,’ he says.
In the 1970s planting densities were 2800 vines/ha. So he transformed 24 hectares to a lyre system and introduced new varieties such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris. He was looking for a blending partner for Sangiovese and in the end chose Merlot.
The vines are all hand harvested and the grapes are sorted on a table. Reds have a high-temperature ferment at 30-32 C, and everything is matured in barriques (since 1994).
Marco has a passion for art, and from 1982 onwards he invited a contemporary artist each year. He put them in a position of the winemaker: drink the wine, smell the air, and if they find a good connection, then make some site-specific art. So as you wander through the complex of buildings around the winery, there’s a lot of very interesting art. One of the most interesting ones is an installation by artist Hiroshi Sugimoto called Confession of Zero (2014) and it is a physical way of depicting the concept of zero, which followed the concept of numbers as humans began to count when they first achieved consciousness.
‘Time is one of the important ingredients of my wine,’ says Marco. He keeps an extensive stock of back vintages.
THE WINES
Castello di Ama Montebuono Chianti Classico Riserva 2019
This is the most recently purchased vintage in 1997. In 2018 they decided to bottle some separately because it is very distinctive. They wanted to make a step between the Ama, and the San Lorenzo GS. Fresh, brooding and spicy with nice vivid cherry and plum fruit with dry, dusty tannins and good acidity. Has some orange peel character with lovely red and black cherries on the finish. This is quite firm and fresh, with lots of personality. 93/100
Castello di Ama San Lorenzo Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2019
‘For me it is enough to put the nose in the glass,’ says Marco. in terms of understanding the greater concentration and intensity of the wine. This is a GS from all the best parcels of the property. It’s the largest production of the GS at 60-70 k bottles. They also make two other single plot GS at 5000 bottles or so each. This is powerful and focused with a touch of oak (20% new) supporting the fresh, linear cherry and berry fruits. It has a fine, linear palate with good structure and freshness. Polished but still vital and alert. Finishes bright and linear. Some herbal hints here. Should age beautifully. 94/100
Castello di Ama San Lorenzo Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2018
13.5% alcohol. There’s a lovely sweet core to this wine, with fresh but rounded cherry and berry fruits with fine spiciness and a bit of grip. Very stylish and pure, but shows nice structure and tannin with a sweet, seductive core. Lovely all-round balance here: ripe but fresh, with personality. 94/100
Castello di Ama San Lorenzo Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 2015
Brooding spicy, mineral nose with tar and spice as well as sweet black fruits. There’s a twist of mint and wood on the palace, with nice freshness and structure, showing development but still a lot of focus. Bright and vivid with a dry tannin finish and some earthy spicy detail. 93/100
