"Sometimes some places, like some persons, attract your attention before you know why. This was true for Caparzo. Since I was a child I have dreamed of living in a place like this, immersed in the green, far from the chaos of big cities, where time seems to have stopped. Several years have passed and the surrounding beauty still amazes me. Montalcino is a set of smooth lines defended by the magnificence of the Amiata Mountain. Series of hills flee everywhere without visible interruptions, shaped in different ways by streams and gulleys that reforge together in the grey clay. The colours and perfumes of seasons in Val d’Orcia are unique: from barren clays to golden tuffs, from the dark vegetation of woods to the bright vegetation of vineyards, from the blue of watercourses to the silvery foliage of olive trees. You can find all this in a glass of wine. Montalcino is the land of Brunello, made only with Sangiovese grapes. In no other place this vine is able to transmit at best the distinctive features of its terroir. With Caparzo I had the chance to test myself with a great Tuscan wine and become acquainted with the pride of an ancient agriculture. It is a constant commitment that fills me with pride. Following the vines every day, seeing them grow, sprout and finally harvesting the fruit. You are aware of having worked hard, without neglecting any detail, but at the end the land will be the one to decide. And every year, every vintage time, you hope that the wine is the best one you have ever made. Today I feel part of this world. My land, my seasons and my efforts are found in my wine. This is a feeling that repays all the work and all the efforts made for creating that bottle." The origins of the placename Caparzo are still unknown. According to some people, the name should derive, as shown by ancient maps, from Ca’ Pazzo; according to others, the term should derive from the Latin Caput Arsum and should indicate a “place touched by the sun”. The beginning of the history of Caparzo dates back to the end of the sixties, when a group of friends, fond of Tuscany and of wine, purchased an old ruin with vineyards at Montalcino. We are at the dawning of Brunello di Montalcino, the Association has just been set up and the producers-bottlers are only 13. The farm estate was renovated, modernised and new vineyards were planted. In a short time, Caparzo was able to impose itself on the market of Brunello. Thirty years passed from the first rows of vines and from the first cellar experiences. In 1998, the farm estate came to a turning point when Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini purchased Caparzo. She immediately carried out her objectives: combine tradition with innovation to create a high-quality wine, expression of an excellent territory, with the help of her son, Igino, and daughter, Alessandra.

The plants are trained with the system called “spurred cordon” and the density is equal to 5,000 plants per hectare on average. The vineyards are carefully looked after during the whole growth cycle. Nothing is left to chance. Each operation is strictly carried out by expert hands. Before picking the grapes by hand, they are field-selected in order to check the perfect ripening and flawless clusters. Harvesting starts with white grapes for the production of “Le Grance” at the beginning of September, continues with red grapes from the third week and ends mid October with white muscat, vine with ancient roots in the territory, that Caparzo interprets with late-vintage Moscadello di Montalcino d.o.c., in a very limited number of bottles. Caparzo covers an overall surface of 200 hectares including ca. 90 covered by vineyards, distributed on different hillsides of the borough of Montalcino, in the best areas of D.O.C.G. Caparzo, La Casa, La Caduta, Il Cassero and San Piero Caselle are located on a hilly area at a height ranging from 220 to 300 meters above sea level. Vigna Caparzo has a sandy-clayey composition; Vigna la Casa a shale-clayey (marl) one; La Caduta shale-renaceous rich in skeleton; Il Cassero sandy-stony and shale-clayey; San Piero Caselle sandy-clayey. The exposure of the vineyards, the nature of the lands and the microclimates of the areas give fullness, ageability and character to the Caparzo wines. According to tradition, Sangiovese grosso excels. Regardless of the different climate trends, the disposition of the vines and the different conformations of the grounds allow us to obtain very high-quality wines every year.

In no other place of the farm estate tradition and innovation perfectly combine as in the cellar. Here, the entire grapes are unloaded on a line that is able to separate automatically all the green parts that the destemmer is not able to remove. A selecting belt allows the specialised personnel to carry out another visual control on each berry. The capacity of the wine-making cellar exceeds 10,000 hectolitres. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel vats designed by us to support the traditional operations of temperature control, pumpover, délestage, pigeage and aeration by means of a computerised system. Here, wine technology is completely at the service of the manual ability of man. The capacity of the ageing cellar is ca. 6,000 hectolitres. The type of woods used varies according to the type of wine. Caparzo, according to tradition, uses only big barrels for classical products and i.e. Brunello di Montalcino D.O.C.G., Brunello di Montalcino D.O.C.G., Riserva and Rosso di Montalcino D.O.C. The ageing of the 2 “cru” is different: Brunello di Montalcino D.O.C.G. Vigna La Casa passes the first 12 months in French durmast barriques and then 24 months in French durmast 30-hectolitre barrels; Rosso di Montalcino d.o.c. La Caduta, 12 months in French durmast 700-litre casks. Ageing is more modern for Cà del Pazzo, our Supertuscan, that ages 24 months in French durmast barriques and for Le Grance, complex dry white wine that passes 12 months in French durmast 350-litre casks. Late-vintage Moscadello di Montalcino D.O.C.G., traditional sweet wine, ages 24 months in French durmast barriques. The scrupulous care in the vineyard is transferred to the cellar working. The result? All you have to do is to open a bottle of Caparzo and you will find all the care and attention of a ritual that is repeated year in year out.