Frescobaldi - CastelGiocondo

The Luce joint venture property is located adjacent to that of Frescobaldi large Castelgiocondo estate. I wanted to see it for myself, and taste the results of this partnership between the centuries-old Frescobaldis of Florence and the decades-old Mondavi family. Frescobaldi acquired the huge Castelgiocondo estate in the mid-1970s, including 350 acres devoted to Brunello and more to Rosso and other wines. Needless to say, the winery is large and functional. The Luce property above the Castelgiocondo estate was recently acquired jointly by Frescobaldi and the Mondavis. This is a superb hilltop vineyard with full mezzogiorno south-facing exposures at around 400 meters elevation, with a fine view towards Sant'Angelo and Monte Amiata and new high-density plantings. The first two Luce wines, 1993 and 1994, were released late last year, and originated primarily from the Castelgiocondo estate, as will all vintages until the turn of the century, when the new Luce blocks come onstream. Luce is a blend of sangiovese grosso (Brunello) and merlot, while the less expensive Lucente wine is primarily sangiovese, from fruit grown at various Frescobaldi properties in Tuscany- Castelgiocondo, Pomino, Nippozzano-with a little merlot blended in. Prices are high, but no more so than for other prestigious vini da tavola Under the guidance of winegrowers Lamberto Frescobaldi and Tim Mondavi, Frescobaldi's enologist Niccolo d'Afflitto has crafted new wines of substantially finer aromatics and texture than the two vintages released so far. Better vintages help, but even the 1996 is a huge step up. These new wines, I predict, will go a long way towards validating the Frescobaldi-Mondavi partnership as something more than a P.R.-motivated opportunity. There is no denying the immense capabilities for superb grapegrowing and winemaking these two families bring to the table. While I was at Castelgiocondo, I also tasted the 1997 Brunello blend, and an amazing experiment: an experimental lot of '97 Brunello grapes vinified in rototank for 48 hours, then racked to barriques to do its entire fermentation, primary and malolactic, at very high temperatures (up to 40oC). It was still aging in new oak. The color was absolutely black, the fruit was huge, and the tannins, almost all of which came from the oak, were soft. The wine had a sweetness totally foreign to most sangiovese, but more tests will be done before this technique is used commercially. Stay tuned for brighter wines yet from Luce.