Castello di Ama - Looking Back at the 2006s

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | MAY 20, 2024

I vividly remember the first time I truly fell in love with Castello di Ama wines. It was 2009. After we had gone through the releases, Lorenza Sebasti and Marco Pallanti opened a few older wines. It was at that moment that I started to understand how well these wines can age. In the years that followed, I had the good fortune to report on several verticals.

Sebasti and Pallanti surprised me with the 2006s on my most recent visit. Pallanti describes 2006 as a relatively cool year compared to 2020, which we tasted just prior. “Spring was quite fresh, so the vines got off to a late start,” Pallanti explained. “Summer turned very hot, but rains in August helped re-establish balance in the vineyard.” I could not help thinking how much the definition of what constitutes cool and hot seasons has evolved over the last fifteen years. When these wines were made, 2006 was considered a hot year, but today, it would be thought of as a cool vintage.