Campogiovanni

Campogiovanni

[Tuscan wisdom on a southern slope: a Montalcino estate of real substance]

Campogiovanni is the Montalcino property of Agricola San Felice, the distinguished Chianti Classico house. San Felice acquired it in the early 1980s, at a moment when the Brunello district was already stirring but had yet to build the worldwide reputation it enjoys today. To invest in first-class terroir at that early hour, and with so clear a vision, is precisely where this producer's story begins.

San Felice's own history runs deep. Its name comes from an early Christian saint venerated locally in the eighteenth century, and the land traces back to the Grisaldi del Taja family, founding members of the Consorzio del Chianti Classico. The turning point came in 1968, when Enzo Morganti took over: for the twenty years before that he had immersed himself in clonal research and experiment with Sangiovese at Tenuta di Lilliano. At San Felice he rebuilt the venerable estate from the ground up, concentrating on high-quality winemaking, systematic scientific study and the thoughtful acquisition of vineyards - among them, in 1984, the Campogiovanni site in Montalcino. This was never mere expansion; what came with it was a scientific determination to pursue everything Sangiovese is capable of, and that spirit lives on here.

The vineyards sit near Sant'Angelo in Colle, on the southern slopes of the Montalcino hill. They are divided into three parcels at around 300 metres of altitude, single-variety plantings that include sites registered for Brunello. The favourable southern exposure, combined with the particular character of the soil, brings the grapes to ideal ripeness. Sandy, mineral-rich clay lets Sangiovese grow slowly and steadily, giving fruit of quite astonishing completeness and balance.

The winemaking is equally faithful to tradition. Harvest falls in late September; after twenty days of maceration the wine goes through malolactic fermentation in stainless steel, then ages for 36 months in large Slavonian oak casks and a further twelve months in bottle. In the glass it opens out with wild strawberry and plum, fragrant cedarwood, tobacco leaf and leather.

Its quality has not gone unnoticed. Campogiovanni's Brunello has appeared three times in Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of the World, confirming its place among the great wines of the appellation - a quietly outstanding bottle, born of research and tradition working in tandem.