Cypress trees are a symbol of this region. Mediterranean or pyramidal cypress. They serve to set boundaries and stop the wind; in cemeteries and to beautify a about noble. The Etruscans introduced them and the Romans continued to plant them.
To get to Banfi, the castle where I will spend the next few days, I drive through a route lined with cypress trees And yes, I feel like I’m in a movie. It’s a bright day and the landscape shines through the window. A car stopped on the side of the road. The five family members got out and stood at the foot of a cypress tree like soldiers without weapons and in colorful clothing. The father takes the photo. I record the scene from a few meters away.
There is Banfi: Poggio all Murathe castle elevated on a hill (poggioin Tuscan), from where the region is dominated. for that strategic location between Siena and the Maremmathe castle was disputed in the wars between the provinces of Siena and Florence.
I follow the arrows. The last kilometers lead through vineyards full of red and white grapes. It’s summer and the harvest is less than a month away. I enter the Borgo: a series of 10th-century buildings converted into a luxury resort with just 14 rooms and a restaurant Sala dei Grappoli –since 2020 with one Michelin star and under the leadership of chef Domenico Francone–; The tavernanother must-see restaurant with a focus on Tuscan cuisine; The Wine bar offers guided tastings and carefully curated Tuscan goods; The Balsameriawhere the house’s aceto is made, and a glass museum. A Borgo dedicated to the guests.
Since 1978, the project has been owned by the family of John Mariani, an American from New York’s Little Italy district who fell in love with the Tuscan territory and bought 700 hectares in the region to make wine. In 1983 he also bought the castle Poggio all Mura and the rest Azienda used agriculturally to convert the place into a tourist project.
– In Tuscany the culture of beauty is very strong and they, the Marianis, have felt it – says Lorella Carresi, communications director of Banfi while we eat The Grappoli Room.
At the moment, Banfi It produces more than 10 million bottles per year, with a large percentage of exports going to the United States.
From the moment Mariani walked in Banfichanged the history of the area and the neighboring town of Montalcino, where Wine & Jazz has been held since 1998, a festival that has grown over the years and is now part of the international jazz events calendar.
The landscape opens in bright waves for the freshly harvested wheat, in green for the finished vineyards and in platinum for the olive groves. Every now and then a Borgo between cypresses, a farmhouse or simply an abbey on the ground floor, like Sant’Antimo.
The landscape fills the mind with a relaxed mood. Maybe he, the spirit, understood that he was in a place where you can eat and drink well without having to look for long (something that no longer happens in Rome): in a village canteen and in a high-class restaurant The Grappoli Roomin Banfi.
Tuscany is vast and segmented; This circuit focuses on the bottom of the Brunello di Montalcinoa Tuscan icon like that Chiantianother symbol, both with Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin (DOCG), the highest certification in Italy.
Lorella, who shows me around the winery Banfitalks about Galestro –a rustic clay– and the quartz present in the earth, and a Terroir unique to the expression of the Sangiovese grape. I ask him what characteristics a wine must have to be considered Brunello.
–First: it must be 100% Sangiovese grapes; Second: It must be produced in the area of Montalcino, where the climate is dry and warm and the altitude is about 500 meters. Thirdly: It must mature in oak barrels for two years and may only be brought onto the market after four years. Those who know say it’s worth the wait.
After a walk between French and Austrian oak barrels, we do a tasting in the wine bar. After all, that’s it Brunello di Montalcino It is in the glass cup: ruby red, with body and structure; tannins and acid. Ripe, wild and earthy berries in the mouth. Brunello is a diminutive of Bruno“brown”. Ages very well; In fact, it is a wine designed to age and, when drunk years later, notes of dried figs, leather and chocolate emerge.
Excellent memories for an unforgettable trip.
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