Castello di Ama
Vigneto Bellavista
Chianti Classico Gran Selezione
2016

The producer

Castello di Ama. One of Chianti and Tuscany’s absolute top estates, Castello di Ama was founded in 1976 and is today run by Lorenza Sebasti (daughter of one of the founder’s) who took over the management of the estate in 1993. 75 ha of vineyards are spread around the village of Ama, in Gaiole-in-Chianti, at elevations of between 420-527 m above sea level which ensures excellent trademark freshness in all the wines.

Marco Palanti, winemaker and technical director since 1982, is recognised for adopting the idea of single vineyard wines in Chianti. Castello di Ama’s Vigneto Bellavista is a blend of 80% Sangiovese with Malvasia Nera; while Vigneto La Casuccia is 85% Sangiovese with Merlot – both wines are aged in 50% new French oak – and are amongst the finest in Chianti Classico Gran Selezione.

The wine

Vigneto Bellavista derives from the 22.82-hectare eponymous vineyard which was planted with vines between 1974 and 2007. A blend of 80% Sangiovese with Malvasia Nera – the latter contributing floral complexity – the two grape varieties ferments separately in steel tanks, after which they are blended, and the wine is then allowed to age for 14 months in French oak barriques, 50% of which are new.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.