Poggio al Sole Casasilia Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Casasilia DOCG from Poggio al Sole

The top red wine from Poggio al Sole

The Chianti Classico Gran Selezione from Poggio al Sole with the melodious name Casasilia is a wine made from 100 percent Sangiovese grapes. Undoubtedly the winery's top wine! This is demonstrated not least by the countless awards and excellent reviews that this red wine receives year after year. No wonder, as this is a wonderfully powerful, ruby red wine with robust tannins and aromas of red fruits, which is pressed with a great deal of love by Johannes Davaz, owner, agronomist and oenologist. Only around 9,000 bottles are brought to market each year - a very manageable quantity for a wine that already tastes so good and can easily be stored for ten years or more. The Sangiovese grapes are vinified in steel tanks after being harvested at the beginning of October. The Casasilia then rests and matures for 18 months in new and once-used barriques and then for another few months in the bottle. In other words, it takes around three years from the harvest to the first possible uncorking. Incidentally, the name Casasilia is a reminiscence of the time when Poggio al Sole still belonged to the Badia a Passignano Abbey and was called Casasilia. It was not until 1969 that a private individual bought the estate from the abbey. And since then, the winery has been called Poggio al Sole - which in German means "hill in the sun".

True delights from the high, sun-drenched hill

This "Poggio" - the sun-drenched hill around which the Poggio al Sole winery is located - is also the logo on the labels of all the wines, on the label of the estate's own olive oil and on the entire estate. In addition to the Gran Selezione, owner Johanne Davaz, who comes from a traditional Swiss winemaking family, produces seven other wines: First in the range is, of course, the Chianti Classico. 90 percent Sangiovese and 5 percent each of Canaiolo and Merlot, as well as the skill and flair of Johannes Davaz, make this wine more than just a classic. The Trittico could be described as a house wine - although this wonderfully drinkable IGT made from 70 percent Sangiovese, 15 percent Merlot and 15 percent Cabernet Sauvignon is much more than that. Incidentally, the "tri" in Trittico is a small reference to the fact that the wine is made from three grape varieties. Trafiore is a red wine made from one hundred percent Canaiolo grapes, which are just as fragrant as the flowers - the fiore - that grow between the vines. A real treat is hidden behind the simple designation Syrah Toscana Rosso IGT: Johannes Davaz conjures up a true explosion of aromas from one hundred percent Syrah grapes. And last but not least, the red wine range is rounded off by the Seraselva. A 60:40 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. And as if all that wasn't enough, the winegrower delights friends of light wine enjoyment with a white wine called Chiara, which means light or clear, and with the Rosato Primavera, whose motto is "solo Sangiovese". And of course, Poggio al Sole also produces its own olive oil - after all, around 1,500 shimmering silver-grey olive trees grow here.

A winery with a long history and great tradition

The Poggio al Sole winery has been owned by Swiss winegrowing couple Kathrin and Johannes Davaz since 1990. According to Johannes, they bought the winery on a "spontaneous hunch, following a gut feeling": "The viewing took place in the afternoon and the purchase contracts were signed in the evening" is how Kathrin summarizes the story. Since then, the two have continuously expanded, renovated and extended the estate, which can look back on a long history and tradition. Until 1969, the estate was owned by the nearby Badia a Passignano Abbey, whose archives contain documents proving that vines and olives were cultivated here as early as the 12th century. At that time, the estate was still called Casasilia. It was only given its current name by its new, secular owner. Today, the estate stretches between the towns of Tavarnelle Val di Pesa and Greve in Chianti and covers a total area of 70 hectares. The various grape varieties grow and thrive on gently undulating hills on over 24 hectares of vineyards facing south-east to south-west. And the two Swiss winemakers produced their first wine at Poggio al Sole back in 1991.

Making wine means always thinking about the future

Kathrin and Johannes are firmly convinced that producing wine means constantly thinking about the future. No wonder: who else makes products that you only know in five or ten years' time whether they have been a success? And in thinking about the future, the Davaz family is also very concerned about the sustainable use of nature and its resources. It is precisely for this reason that all Poggio al Sole wines have been certified organic since the 2016 vintage and the winery's own solar power system provides the electricity for the vineyard. Over the years, Johannes has expanded the vineyards from 10 to 24 hectares - which also made it necessary to extend the cellar, originally built in 1972, in 2004. Today, the wine cellar at Poggio al Sole is ultra-modern and state of the art. There is a section of the cellar for fermentation with steel tanks and a separate section where the barriques are stored for ageing. An average of 100,000 bottles of wine are bottled at Poggio al Sole every year. Despite everything, the winery has remained a genuine family business: Johannes is responsible for the work in the cellar and vineyard. Kathrin ensures that the wines from Poggio al Sole find their way all over the world. And the eldest of the couple's four sons, Valentino, also lives at Poggio al Sole today and looks after the winery and agriturismo, where you can spend your very own dream vacation in Tuscany in the middle of the vineyard.

In Italy, in the region Tuscany, in the region Chianti Classico, in Tavernelle Val di Pesa

Johannes & Kathrin Davaz

Johannes Davaz

24 ha, of which 13 ha are classified as Chianti Classico

Galestro

South-east and south-west orientation

320 - 480 meters above sea level.

Guyot