Castello Romitorio ‘Romito’ Rosso IGT 2016

Temple, fortress, monastery. Then castle, manor, refuge for herds and finally art laboratory and cellar. From the Etruscans to the Romans, passing through the turbulent years of the Middle Ages, the abandonment and recovery of Sandro Chia during the 1980s, Castello Romitorio is a place where time has a physical, tangible dimension. Where wine lives on history and history tells of a thousand-year-old passion for these places, which have always been suited to wine production and have always been contested for the strategic importance of passageways and businesses.

The Romitorio vineyards, abandoned for decades, were replanted with courage and foresight by Sandro Chia in the second half of the 1980s. The landscape of the Romitorio, on which few would have bet, represented an absolutely wild area of ​​Montalcino, and characterized by a microclimate with less sunny slopes and on average more rigid temperatures than the rest of the denomination. Located in the north-western quadrant of Montalcinese, the vineyards of the Romitorio rise around the Castle, on a hilly system which, going down from Monte Amiata towards Siena, runs parallel to the slopes of Montalcino. They are small plots immersed in hectares of virgin woods, interspersed with ponds and streams with crystal clear waters. An absolutely uncontaminated environment, characterized by soils of galestro, clay and alberese, from which fossils and shells emerge, evidence of an ancient coastal backdrop. The wines produced here are fresh and fruity, incredibly fragrant, of moderate alcohol content and unparalleled finesse, with a saline note and a dynamic and vibrant character.