Il Carbonaione

The highly-regarded Carbonaione vineyard is small, about 13 acres of stony, sandy silty loam at about 1500 feet elevation up above the little town of Greve in Chianti, facing west-southwest. It was planted back in 1928, so there are vines of more than 90 years of age, and that on its own is enough. But this is one of the few sites in Chianti planted solely to Sangiovese di Lamole, a clone that may be (researchers are still trying to sort it out) one of the older clones of the grape, and which falls under the Sangiovese Grosso heading (also known as Brunello di Montalcino). The vineyard plot “Il Carbonaione” is so named because the owners found evidence indicating a charcoal pit (in Italian ‘carbone’) located there.