2021 Castello Tricerchi Sangiovese luLi'O Toscana 750 ml

Vintner Tomasso Squarcia started bottling his own wines only a decade ago. He hired 100-point consultant Maurizio Castelli even more recently, and it’s already clear that the estate is one of THE rising stars in the region. We’ve already spied Tomasso’s Brunellos at SF’s SPQR and NYC’s Marea and Ai Fiori.

The blue-blooded Tricerchi family has a very long history in Montalcino. As early as the year 1290, the family was one of the families in Siena’s “Government of Nine.” In that same century, construction began on the family castle, which was completed in 1441. The chapel here is said to contain an interesting relic: a fragment of the Virgin Mary’s veil. The family’s motto, coined in the 13th century, is “Non in latera pro nos,” which, roughly translated, means “No Sidelines for Us.”

In 1995, Emanuele Squarcia, a lawyer by trade and direct descendant, hopped into the game. He planted the first Brunello vines here near his family’s ancient castle, which sits immediately to the north of Altesino (whose palazzo was also built by the Tricerchi family). For years, Emanuele sold grapes to the local co-op. 

Then, in 2012, he teamed up with his dynamic nephew Tommaso and began estate-bottling their wines. In 2016 they hired a virtuoso to take them to the next level: Maurizio Castelli, a renowned Brunello and Chianti Classico specialist, who consults for 100-point legends like Castellare di Castellina, Ragnaie, and Mastrojanni.

Castelli nailed the 2021 vintage, giving a joyful and fresh expression of Sangiovese Grosso, which blooms from the glass with ripe black cherries, fresh cranberries, tangerine zest, oregano, sage, cola, and tilled earth. It’s a Brunello drinker’s Sangiovese if ever there was one.