Castello del Terriccio vertical tasting

We tasted 9 vintages of Castello del Terriccio, the Syrah and Petit Verdot blend from the winery already famous for Lupicaia. We end with a surprise: a preview of Gian Annibale 2019, the second vintage of the wine dedicated to the man who created the winery.

Castello del Terriccio is the name of a winery but also of one of its wines, just as is the case with Bordeaux Chateaus. The estate is located on the northern edge of the Maremma and is very large, about 1,500 hectares, which is more than the area of Rome within the walls, which was 1420 hectares. Of this large area, about half is covered by woods, then there are 300 hectares of arable land, 200 hectares of pasture with two limousin herds each with its own bull and two streams running through the fences, 40 hectares of olive groves, about 8000 trees, and finally 60 hectares of vineyards.

The property belongs to Vittorio Piozzo di Rosignano Rossi of Medelana, whose family had taken possession of the estate in 1921, bringing a greater agricultural consciousness to the land that until then was a latifundium estate with few crops. Until the 1960s there were 60 sharecropper families and a village complete with a school and church. With the end of sharecropping some tenant farmers remained on the farm and their descendants still work at Terriccio. Currently there is a project to bring the old farmhouses back to life, and various structures are opening up to tourism. The first step was the renovation of the old carpenter's shop turned into the Terraforte restaurant with star chef Cristiano Tomei.

Castello del Terriccio is born after the estate's reds Tassinaia and Lupicaia: its first vintage was 2000. The idea had come from seeing how well Syrah, perhaps by virtue of a climate similar to that of the Rhone Valley, the ancient Roman province then Provence, and also Petit Verdot came to those lands. Almost disappeared in Bordeaux where there were problems with phenolic ripening, too cold, instead in the Mediterranean area it ripens well. A very pleasant blend, with the Petit Verdot reinforcing the Syrah characteristics in spice and giving anthocyanic richness as well as structure.

All the wines are thus a blend of Syrah and Petit Verdot in slightly different percentages depending on the vintage. After manual selection on the sorting table, the grapes are gently destemmed and pressed, taking care not to break the skin of the berries. Alcoholic fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled open-cap stainless steel fermenters, with maceration of the grapes, for about 20 days. Maturation takes place in first- and second-passage French oak tonneaux for a period of about 22 months, after which the wine is blended and bottled.

As is our custom, we did the vertical from the oldest vintage, so that the youthful gallivanting would not cover up the elegance of the older vintages. These were the wines tasted (click on the name to open the tab):

• Toscana Rosso Castello del Terriccio 2000
• Toscana Rosso Castello del Terriccio 2003
• Toscana Rosso Castello del Terriccio 2006
• Toscana Rosso Castello del Terriccio 2008
• Toscana Rosso Castello del Terriccio 2009
• Toscana Rosso Castello del Terriccio 2010
• Toscana Rosso Castello del Terriccio 2013
• Toscana Rosso Castello del Terriccio 2016
• Toscana Rosso Castello del Terriccio 2018

We conclude with an absolute preview: the 2019 Toscana Rosso Gian Annibale, the wine Vittorio Piozzo dedicated to his uncle, who preceded him at the helm of the winery. Click on the name to open the wine sheet. At this link you will find the presentation of the first vintage, 2018.

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