Arquilla Wines

Castellare di Castellina was born of the union of four estates (Castellare, Caselle, San Niccolò and Le Case) on the initiative of Paolo Panerai, with the aim of producing wine of the best possible quality. This was in the 1970s, when the so-called Renaissance of Italian wine had begun. A Renaissance to which Castellare made its own contribution with a combination of tradition and innovation. Tradition in caring for its vineyards and terrains, distinguishing between fields and sodi (in which fields are the more easily worked terrains and sodi - "hard" soils - are the hardest but the best for growing vines), in its decision to continue producing wine according to the Tuscan method, and in its respect of the Chianti Classico denomination - only using indigenous Tuscan grape varieties to produce a wine that is internationally acknowledged as one of the greatest reds in the world.

Innovation was pursued first of all with the creation of the first experimental vineyard in the Chianti region together with the University of Milan - directed by Professor Attilio Scienza - and the University of Florence, implementing the first scientific selection of Sangiovese clones (here called Sangioveto). And then by introducing the use of the barrique, following the in-depth research and advice of Emile Peynaud, the most renowned oenologist in living memory, as well as by paying constant attention to each ongoing wine-making process in the incessant, ever-evolving work of producing quality wines. This is a story that demonstrates how tradition, also in the installations, and innovation can draw the best out of the land, showing the younger generations how the hard work and lives of the Mezzadri - the people who once ran the estates as neither owners nor labourers - has been fundamental in shaping the extraordinary landscape of the Chianti. To the Mezzadri and their work Castellare has dedicated a sculpture by Matteo Spender, which stands in the centre of Castellina. The two photos by the great portrait photographer Giuseppe Pino illustrate this sacrifice, but also the joy that making wine brings with it.

 Castellare di Castellina, in the heart of the Chianti Classico area, has a total of 80 hectares, 20 of which are olive groves. Those with vineyards are 33, located on the hills of a natural amphitheater, facing south-east, with an average altitude of 370 meters above sea level. The vines are between 7 and over 45 years old and the yields per hectare in Castellare are very low, to obtain the highest quality. Excellent exposure to the sun, good water drainage, a mixed soil of calcareous marl, galestro and little clay give wines, both red and white, very well structured, intense and suitable for long aging in the bottle. The census of the vines, undertaken in 1979, allowed, thanks to the results of the experimental vineyard and the micro-vinifications carried out and compared, to regraft both Sangioveto and Malvasia Nera with the best clones that emerged from the scientific work of the two assistants of Professor Scienza for whom Castellare had established two scholarships for research doctorates. With that work and with the encouragement of Professor Peynaud to work on Sangioveto, today the Castellare vineyards have the best clones for that terroir. In the vineyards of Castellare synthetic chemicals are not used to respect nature and to make organic wines. This philosophy is testified by the labels that each year have the design of a different bird, increasingly rare due to the indiscriminate use of poisons and herbicides in the vineyards. In the vineyards of Castellare synthetic chemicals are not used to respect nature and to make organic wines. This philosophy is testified by the labels that each year have the design of a different bird, increasingly rare due to the indiscriminate use of poisons and herbicides in the vineyards. In the vineyards of Castellare synthetic chemicals are not used to respect nature and to make organic wines. This philosophy is testified by the labels that each year have the design of a different bird, increasingly rare due to the indiscriminate use of poisons and herbicides in the vineyards.

Read more at https://www.castellare.it/