Castelnuovo Berardenga
カステルヌオーヴォ・ベラルデンガ
Chianti Classico's warmest, southernmost UGA — Brunello-like power.
Castelnuovo Berardenga is the southernmost UGA (Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive) of the Chianti Classico DOCG, located southeast of Siena at the border with Montalcino. Its warm, sun-drenched microclimate — the warmest within Chianti Classico — combines with varied soils: Sienese tuff (sand and sandstone) in the north, and calcareous alberese and galestro schist mixed with Macigno sandstone in the higher southern vineyards, which sit roughly 250-500m above sea level (with core slopes around 320-420m). This terroir yields muscular, full-bodied Sangiovese with ripe dark fruit, tobacco, and leather notes, often compared to the structure and weight of Brunello di Montalcino. The commune is also historically significant as the birthplace of Chianti Classico's first Super Tuscan, San Felice's 100% Sangiovese 'Vigorello'.
Best for: Ideal for fans of powerful, full-bodied Sangiovese with dark fruit and structure reminiscent of Brunello di Montalcino.
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Producers
サン・フェリーチェ
Agricola San Felice
Agricola San Felice is a historic Chianti Classico estate in Castelnuovo Berardenga, owned since the 1970s by the Allianz Group. Under winemaker-owner Enzo Morganti from 1968, the estate became a pioneer of systematic Sangiovese clonal research and, in the same year, produced Vigorello, one of the first Super Tuscan wines. In 1987 San Felice founded the Vitiarium, an experimental vineyard developed with the universities of Florence and Pisa to rediscover and preserve ancient Tuscan grape varieties such as Pugnitello. The estate's roughly 140 hectares of Chianti Classico vineyards yield its flagship Il Grigio, alongside holdings in Montalcino (Campogiovanni) and Bolgheri. The medieval hamlet at the property's heart also operates as the Relais & Chateaux hotel Borgo San Felice.
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www.sanfelice.com/enカステッリン・ヴィッラ
Castell'in Villa
Located in Castelnuovo Berardenga, Castell'in Villa is a legendary estate renowned for its uncompromising traditional approach to Chianti Classico. Under the long-standing stewardship of Princess Coralia Pignatelli della Leonessa, the estate focuses on producing wines with exceptional longevity, structure, and elegance. Eschewing modern trends, they utilize traditional winemaking techniques, including long macerations and aging in large Slavonian oak casks. Their Riserva and Gran Selezione bottlings are celebrated for their ability to evolve over decades, reflecting the unique terroir of the southern Chianti Classico zone.
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www.castellinvilla.com/カステッロ・ディ・ボッシ
Castello di Bossi
Located in Castelnuovo Berardenga, the southernmost commune of the Chianti Classico zone, Castello di Bossi is a historic estate whose origins as a fortified settlement trace back to the 9th century, with wine production documented as early as 1099. Acquired by Marco Bacci and his family in 1984, the estate now spans over 500 hectares, of which 120 hectares are under vine, planted primarily to Sangiovese alongside Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot at an average altitude of 350 meters. Castello di Bossi is fully organic and powered by renewable energy, including a solar installation maintained by grazing sheep. Under Marco Bacci's leadership the estate has become the flagship of Bacci Wines, a group that also includes Renieri in Montalcino and Terre di Talamo in Maremma, and is known for combining traditional Tuscan viticulture with innovative practices such as underwater aging of wine in the Mediterranean.
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www.castellodibossi.it/ファットリア・ディ・コルシニャーノ
Fattoria di Corsignano
Fattoria di Corsignano is a 22-hectare certified-organic estate in the Chianti Classico zone of Castelnuovo Berardenga, near Siena. Family-run since 1988 and now in its third generation, the estate devotes seven hectares to vineyards planted mainly to Sangiovese, producing around 40,000 bottles a year of Chianti Classico DOCG, Riserva, Gran Selezione, Rosso and Rosato Toscana IGT, Vin Santo and Grappa di Chianti Classico. Organic certification was achieved in 2014. The property also operates as an agriturismo, with four restored farmhouses offering accommodation, a restaurant, pool and vineyard views, making it as much a countryside retreat as a working winery.
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www.tenutacorsignano.it/ファットリア・ディ・ヴァリアーノ
Fattoria di Valiano
Fattoria di Valiano is a historic 230-hectare estate (75 hectares under vine, organically farmed) in Castelnuovo Berardenga, the southernmost commune of the Chianti Classico appellation. The property's history stretches back over two millennia, and in the 20th century it was owned by Italian President Giovanni Gronchi before the Piccini family — Tuscan winemakers since 1882 — acquired it in 1995. Vineyards sit at roughly 350m altitude on galestro and alberese soils with mostly south-west exposure, managed by vigneron Pasquale Presutto. As an official estate member of the Consorzio Vino Chianti Classico, Valiano is best known for its Chianti Classico and its Gran Selezione 'San Lazzaro', a 100% Sangiovese cru wine, alongside other Sangiovese- and Cabernet Franc-based bottlings such as Pecchero.
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www.piccini1882.it/フェルシナ
Fèlsina
Founded in 1966 by Domenico Poggiali, Fèlsina is a benchmark producer located in Castelnuovo Berardenga, at the southern edge of the Chianti Classico region. The estate is renowned for its commitment to the Sangiovese grape, producing wines that express the unique terroir of the area. Their flagship Riserva 'Rancia' is widely considered one of the finest expressions of Chianti Classico, characterized by elegance, structure, and exceptional aging potential. Fèlsina combines traditional winemaking techniques with modern precision to craft wines of great character and authenticity.
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www.felsina.it/パチーナ
Pacina
Pacina is a historic organic farm in Castelnuovo Berardenga, Tuscany, centered on a former 10th-century monastery. Of the estate's 65 hectares, about 11 are planted to vines, with the rest given over to olive groves, cereals, and legumes in a fully self-sustaining agricultural system. The property has been farmed by the same family for five generations and is now led by Giovanna Tiezzi and her husband Stefano Borsa, who have practiced organic farming since the early 1980s. In 2008 they withdrew from the Chianti Classico DOCG, feeling the appellation's rules no longer reflected traditional, terroir-driven winemaking, and now label their wines as Toscana IGT. Their Sangiovese-based wines (with small amounts of Ciliegiolo, Canaiolo, Trebbiano, and Syrah) are made with long macerations, indigenous yeasts, and no fining or filtration. Pacina is a member of VinNatur and was featured in Jonathan Nossiter's documentary 'Natural Resistance'.
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www.pacina.it/ポデーレ・レッチ・エ・ブロッキ
Podere Lecci e Brocchi
Podere Lecci e Brocchi is a small family-run estate in Castelnuovo Berardenga, the southernmost and highest-altitude sub-zone of Chianti Classico, known for producing structured, powerful expressions of Sangiovese. The property was purchased in 1970 by Vasco Lastrucci from the parish priest of Villa a Sesta; the land had historically been farmed for wheat, but Vasco recognized that its red, stony soil (locally called Galestro) rich in iron and limestone was ideally suited to viticulture. He planted the first vineyards and vinified his first wine roughly five years later. For decades the estate sold its Chianti Classico in bulk to other prestigious Chianti producers, only beginning to bottle and market wine under its own name after the 2011 harvest, when Vasco's daughter Sabrina Lastrucci took over management alongside her husband Giancarlo and son Giovanni. The family farms organically (certification in progress) and vinifies in an old-school, low-intervention style: ambient-yeast fermentation, gentle maceration, and aging in neutral oak. The roughly 90% Sangiovese, 10% Canaiolo and Malvasia Nera blend yields Chianti Classico wines of bright ruby color, intense red-berry aromatics, and remarkable persistence, alongside a Riserva ('Il Chiorba'), a Gran Selezione ('Celerarium'), a single-vineyard cru ('Ragonaia'), a white blend ('Sangio Rinascimento Bianco'), Vin Santo, olive oil, and grappa.
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www.vinolecciebrocchi.it/en/テヌータ・モチェンニ・ビンディ・セルガルディ
Tenuta Mocenni Bindi Sergardi
Tenuta Mocenni is one of three historic estates of the Bindi Sergardi family, who have cultivated vines in the Siena hills since 1349 — twenty-three generations of winemaking. Located in the council of Castelnuovo Berardenga, in the southern reaches of Chianti Classico, Mocenni's vineyards sit at 400-500 metres above sea level on galestro and alberese soils. The estate is planted almost entirely to Sangiovese, which the family expresses with minimal oak influence, favouring cane pruning, lower planting density and large old casks so the grape's natural terroir transparency shines through. Mocenni is also home to the single-vineyard 'Particella 89,' source of the estate's acclaimed Gran Selezione, 'Mocenni 89.'
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bindisergardi.it/テヌータ・ディ・アルチェーノ
Tenuta di Arceno
Tenuta di Arceno is a historic 1,000-hectare estate in Castelnuovo Berardenga, the southernmost commune of Chianti Classico, bordering the medieval village of San Gusmè near Siena. Its winemaking roots trace back to the pre-Roman Etruscan era, with recorded ownership dating to 1504 under the Del Taja family and later the noble Piccolomini family. Acquired by Jess Jackson and Barbara Banke of Jackson Family Wines in 1994, one of the family's first estates outside California, the property was replanted under the guidance of French vigneron Pierre Seillan using a micro-cru philosophy that farms and vinifies each vineyard block individually. Winemaker Lawrence Cronin, at the helm since 2002, crafts a Chianti Classico DOCG range built on native Sangiovese alongside a Toscana IGT range of international varieties, including the flagship Cabernet Franc-driven Arcanum.
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www.tenutadiarceno.com/トラライニ
Tolaini
Founded in 1998 by Pier Luigi Tolaini, a Tuscan-born entrepreneur who returned to his homeland after decades in Canada, Tolaini is a 50-hectare estate in Castelnuovo Berardenga, the southernmost commune of Chianti Classico. Tolaini partnered with famed consultant Michel Rolland and agronomist Andrea Paoletti to shape the estate's amphitheater-like vineyards, planted on limestone and clay soils with excellent sun exposure. The winery produces both Sangiovese-based Chianti Classico (including the Gran Selezione Vigna Montebello Sette) and Bordeaux-variety wines such as PERLUI, a Cabernet Franc dedicated to the founder. In 2023 the estate achieved EU organic certification and carbon-neutral status. Since Pier Luigi's passing in 2020, his daughter Lia and her siblings continue to run the estate.
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www.tolaini.it/ヴァッレピッチョーラ
Vallepicciola
Located in the Val di Picciola valley near Pievasciata, in the Castelnuovo Berardenga commune of the Chianti Classico region, Vallepicciola was founded in 1999 when the Bolfo family restored the ruins of a 17th-century monastery on the property (today the five-star Hotel Le Fontanelle). The estate spans roughly 265 hectares, including 107-109 hectares of vineyards planted to Sangiovese, Pinot Nero, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Chardonnay, alongside over 4,000 olive trees and centuries-old woodland. Its striking contemporary cellar, designed by architect Margherita Gozzi and completed in 2016-2020, is built largely underground across three levels to minimize its visual and environmental impact while blending organically with the Tuscan landscape. The estate holds VIVA sustainability certification and produces wines under the guidance of winemaker Alessandro Cellai, mentored by the legendary enologist Giacomo Tachis. Its Chianti Classico 2021 ranked 37th in Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2024, and the Gran Selezione 'Lapina' has been praised by critics including James Suckling and Gambero Rosso.
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www.vallepicciola.com/
Food Pairings
Bistecca alla Fiorentina, roasted wild boar, aged pecorino, porcini mushroom dishes, and hearty braised meats.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What makes Castelnuovo Berardenga unique within Chianti Classico?
- It is the southernmost and warmest UGA of Chianti Classico, bordering Montalcino, producing the most powerful and full-bodied wines in the denomination.
- What is the climate and soil like in Castelnuovo Berardenga?
- The climate is the warmest in Chianti Classico. Soils vary from Sienese tuff (sand and sandstone) in the north to calcareous alberese, galestro, and Macigno sandstone in the higher southern vineyards, which range roughly from 250 to 500 meters in elevation.
- Is Castelnuovo Berardenga an official UGA?
- Yes, it is one of the officially recognized Unità Geografiche Aggiuntive of Chianti Classico, usable on Gran Selezione labels.
- How do Castelnuovo Berardenga wines compare to Brunello di Montalcino?
- Thanks to its warm climate and southern position near Montalcino, the area's Sangiovese wines are often described as muscular and structured, with a weight and richness reminiscent of Brunello.