Castello Romitorio

Wine and art; nature and terroir; tradition and research. Few words better epitomise the Castello Romitorio winery and the force behind its founding. Established in 1984, the Castello Romitorio winery has long been dedicated to extracting the true essence of Brunello di Montalcino, one of Tuscany’s finest expressions of the Sangiovese grape. With an artist, Sandro Chia, at its helm, its no surprise that the winery has historically placed creativity and innovation at its heart, producing cacophonic wines that capture the nuanced beauty of the land and vines from which they harvest, on the hillsides that surround the village of Montalcino, crowned by the magnificent Roman fortress of Castello Romitorio.

Since its founding, the winery has been gathering treasures, from classical sculpture, amphorae and Roman ruins to Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino wines that show Sangiovese at its most regal – brimming with vibrant fruit, noble tannins and a maturity reflective of Montalcino’s oak ageing requirements. Such a collection stems from a harmonious partnership between father and son owners (Sandro’s son Fillipo joined the business in 2005) and father and son winemakers (Franco and Stefano Martini, respectively), a harmony paralleled in all corners of the Castello Romitorio canvas: in the colours of the land, dotted with dark foliage and saffron fields; in the relationship between winemaker and grape; in the surrounding wilderness, a beautifully messy coexistence of grape, flora and fauna; and in the wines themselves, produced from what Castello Romitorio calls the “oenological and artistic laboratory”, a space dedicated to celebrating the uniqueness of Montalcino’s Sangiovese.

The Castello Romitorio Brunello Riserva – produced only from the best harvests - combines ripe, wild cherry, crushed minerals, medicinal herbal nuance, and forest floor with a velvety texture as alluring as Chia’s philosophy. Adorned with labels of his own design, the bottles of Castello Romitorio are filled with more than Brunello – they overflow with conversation between past and present, artist and winemaker and wilderness and winery. The result? A work of art.