Vigneto La Casuccia (1995)

About this wine

This vintage comes from the terraced La Casuccia vineyard near Ama, a site planted mainly to Sangiovese with a significant Merlot component. On the nose the wine shows ripe dark cherry, dried plum and leather, with secondary aromas of tobacco, liquorice and a hint of forest floor. The palate is concentrated and medium to full bodied, carrying black fruit richness and a savory undercurrent, while dusty tannins give the wine firm structure. Texture is broad and slightly creamy from oak aging, yet freshness from the site keeps the finish lively and persistent. The 1995 production underwent stainless steel fermentation with extended maceration followed by malolactic in oak, and it spent about a year to 15 months in barriques, many of which were new or one year old according to winery notes. This wine is one of Castello di Ama’s limited cru releases, first produced in 1985, and it is made only in the best years from selected parcels within La Casuccia.

About the grape

Sangiovese is the backbone of La Casuccia and has been planted there since the late 1970s and again in 2007, trained mostly to the single Guyot and open lyre systems on clay and calcareous soils at roughly 480 to 526 metres above sea level, which helps retain acidity and produce ripe phenolic material. In this bottling Sangiovese is typically about 80 percent of the blend and is fermented and aged separately to preserve its structural and regional character before assemblage. Merlot is planted in a single parcel within La Casuccia and was added later, with plantings around the turn of the century, and it is used sparingly in exceptional vintages to add body and supple texture while still respecting Chianti Classico rules. Both varieties are cultivated at relatively high density and with careful canopy management to control vigor on the stony clay soils, and winemaking keeps the varieties separate through fermentation and malolactic conversion to allow precise blending for the final wine.

Quick facts

• 🏛️ La Casuccia was first bottled in 1985 as one of the earliest single vineyard expressions that helped create the cru idea in Chianti Classico
• 🏡 The name means small house and comes from an actual little cottage that once stood inside the vineyard
• 🪨 Stone terraces and a dramatic north south row orientation were added to the slopes to improve sun exposure and give the wine a distinctive mineral lift
• ✨ Castello di Ama releases La Casuccia only in the very best years, so bottles from 1995 are from a deliberately rare and limited production
• 🍷 Although built on Sangiovese, the wine includes Merlot for added roundness, a blend that helps La Casuccia develop velvety texture and long lived aging potential

Palate profile

Producer

Castello di Ama, located in the heart of Tuscany's Chianti Classico region, was founded in 1976 by four families from Rome who aimed to restore the estate to its former glory. The winery has been a pioneer in the region, introducing single-vineyard wines and producing the first pure Merlot wine in Chianti Classico. Beyond winemaking, Castello di Ama is renowned for its integration of contemporary art, featuring site-specific installations by artists like Anish Kapoor and Louise Bourgeois. The estate is also committed to sustainability, implementing practices such as sexual confusion to reduce insecticide use and obtaining the Equalitas certification in 2022.