Castello Sonnino - Tuscany, Italy

Castello Sonnino winery is located at Castello di Montespertoli in the Tuscany region of Italy.  It is located about 20 km from Florence and within easy reach of Pisa and Siena.  In fact it was originally a customs post between Florentine Chianti and Siena.  If you look at the second picture below you will see a wall that encloses the castle.  The castle was home to many including a great stateman named Sidney Sonnino.  In 1987 the Baron Alessandro and Baroness Caterina de Renzis Sonnino moved into the castle to protect the historical heritage and revive the winegrowing and winemaking.

The Baroness is very lovely lady and is very active around the estate.  Ben and I got the pleasure of meeting her and spending some time with her.  See pictures of the castle below.  And, no...they do not let you in the castle.

The Castillo di Montespertoli sits on a hillslide, below you will see the view from the castle overlooking the vineyard.  This is bad picture-taking on my part...didn't get much of the vineyard.  But, if you look to the top left you will see the grapes.  And, also, it is just a great view!

As you can see the estate is very impressive and, of course, so are the wines.  Being that Italy is one of the oldest wine-producing regions (and one of the largest), they take their wines very seriously.  Italy applies a classification system for their wines.  The wines are classified and regulated by production area/growing territory, specific requirements, viticultural practices, labeling instructions, etc. 

 Castello Sonnino has IGT and DOCG wines.  IGT means Protected Geographical Indication and currently Italy only has 118 wines that can be designated as IGT wine.  DOCG means Controlled and Guaranteed Designation of Origin and is a superior and highly sought after wine.  A DOC (Controlled Designation Origin)(and not made at Castello Sonnino) wine has to be an IGT wine for 5 years and then for a DOC wine to become a DOCG wine (the superior wine), it has to be a DOC wine for at least 10 years.  There are only 73 DOCG produced in Italy.  

We got to taste multiple IGT and DOCG reds plus a IGT white.  Of course, we did not leave here empty handed.  We were even successful at bringing back some wine to the US but most of what we purchased there we managed to drink before living Italy...for space saving in our luggage of course. 

Above are some pictures from the winery tour.  On the top is the wooden vats for fermentation.  The second picture is ceramic vats for fermentation.  Using ceramic vats was more a traditional fermentation process but something they still use here at Castello Sonnino.  There were also steel vats (more current) but those are not pictured here.   

 Above is a picture of the barrel room.  This room is directly under the castle.  It's the type of room that looks like it belongs under a castle.

The above picture is not something you normally see at wineries.  This is the attic space above the restaurant and tasting room.  Although the process is not going on right now, this is where they dry the grapes for the DOCG red wines.  It is called Amarone and creates a dry but sweet wine.  They grapes dry between these straw mats (obviously in a hot and dry area) after they are harvested in October.  The drying process lasts about 120 days and then the grapes go through a dry low temperature fermentation process that can last 30 to 50 days.  

Castello Sonnino is a must-visit winery if you are ever in the Tuscany region!  If you don't  get the chance, definitely check it out online: http://www.castellosonnino.it/en/