Castello di Ama
Haiku Toscana IGT – 2021
Region: ITALY - TUSCANY
Castello di Ama
Castello di Ama was founded in 1976, and is located in Gaiole in Chianti, within the additional geographical unit of the same name (UGA), located in the heart of Tuscany. It is located about 12 miles northeast of Siena in the hills of Gaiole. This is the heart of Chianti Classico, a bucolic rolling landscape of woods, vineyards and olive groves.
The estate is currently helmed by CEO Lorenza Sebasti, a member of the second generation of one of the four founding families. Marco Pallanti, who was once the President of the Chianti Classico Consorzio, has been the winemaker and technical director at Castello di Ama since 1982.
The goal of the estate is to have each bottle of Castello di Ama express the uniqueness of the terroir, and be an authentic expression of the vintage. Ama has practiced sustainable viticulture since the end of the 1990s, and recently received Equalitas (Italy) certification.
The Wine
Vineyard Profile
Estate vineyards. During the planting of the second section of Montebuoni vineyard, completed in 2001, we decided to experiment with the renowned international variety, Cabernet Franc, which has never been used in Ama before. We carried out a careful analysis of the soil and the climate and realized that Cabernet Franc really would give good results. In 2001 we planted on two small plots, identified by the estate’s land register numbers 84 and 85, respectively of 1,47 ha and 0,47 ha, for a total surface of 2 hectares with the clone 214, – a popular variety in Bordeaux for its production of cellar able wines (“vins-de-garde”) grafted onto rootstock 110R.
- Altitude: 1375–1640 feet/420-500 meters
- Exposure: North-West/South-East
- Soil: Clay and limestone
- Clonal selections: Cabernet Franc 214, Merlot 181 & 343, Sangiovese CH21, CH22, CC2002, CC2004, rootstock 420A
- Vine Training System: Vertical trellis, single Guyot for Merlot and Cabernet Franc, spurred cordon for Sangiovese
- Planting Density: 5200 plants/ha
Harvest Notes
- Mild, rainy winter with few days below freezing followed by rather cold spring
- Almost no rain in June, average temperatures
- Hot July followed by dry August
- Cooler nights in late August
- Hand harvested September 13 – October 6, 2021
- Fermented using only indigenous yeasts at in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks from 86–91ºF, each variety separately
- Manual pumpovers
- Fermentation for 27 days using only indigenous yeasts for Sangiovese, 24 days for Merlot, 22 for Cabernet Franc
- Wines racked, back to stainless tanks for malolactic fermentation
- Wine blended and aged 12 months in 24% new, fine grained barriques
Winemaker's Notes
Intense reddish-purple with ruby nuances. Aromas of fruits of the forest (raspberry and black currant) with pepper, wild herbs and tobacco. Fresh and mouthfilling with evident varietal nuances. Fundamentally elegant with inherent freshness that evolves to a silky finish.
Wine Summary
50% Sangiovese, 25% Cabernet Franc, 25% Merlot; alcohol: 14%; altitude 1375–1640 feet ; soils calcareous with limestone; varieties fermented separately in stainless steel using only indigenous yeasts; cuvaison of 27 days for Sangiovese, 24 days for Merlot, 22 days for Cabernet Franc; malolactic fermentation in stainless steel, then blended and aged 12 months in 24% new oak barriques.
Technical Information
- 50% Sangiovese, 25% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc
- Alcohol: 14%
- Total Acidity: 5.1 g/l
- Residual Sugar: 0.6 g/l
- Extract: 33 m/l
Reviews
95 Points
The 2021 Haiku is another powerhouse wine in this range from Castello di Ama. Rich, sumptuous and layered, the 2021 is beautifully persistent. Dark red/purplish fruit, pomegranate and rose petal open first, framed by clean mineral notes that lend palpable vibrancy. The long, sustained finish is a thing of beauty. Like all these wines, it needs considerable time. 2026 – 2041
These new releases from Castello di Ama are spectacular. I tasted the wines twice, once at the property and a second time a few weeks later in New York, where I was able to follow them over time. The 2021s here are truly special wines that will thrill those lucky enough to own them for many years to come.
Vinous - Antonio Galloni, July, 2024
95 Points
Blackberries, black cherries and graphite on the nose. It’s full-bodied with very polished and lightly chewy tannins and a tangy finish. Minerally and citrusy at the end. Solid wine that needs two or three years of bottle age to soften.
jamessuckling.com, August, 2024
94+ Points
A blend of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the Castello di Ama 2021 Haiku presents an immediate and vertical set of aromas that are delivered with the concentrated intensity you can expect of this classic vintage. There is an inky quality to this wine with black fruit and blackcurrant. Additionally, there is a sweet versus sour theme that imparts both savory spice and summer-ripened fruit. Earthy tones and rosemary essence appear on the medium-acidity close. 2024 – 2038
© Wine Advocate, July, 2024
93 Points
Though dense and unyielding for the moment, this is nonetheless stuffed with black cherry, blackberry, plum, earth and iron flavors. Aggressive tannins shore up the finish, yet the final impression is ripe fruit. Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Best from 2028 through 2045
Wine Spectator, May, 2025
93 Points
Though Castello di Ama’s bottling of Haiku has only been produced since the 2016 vintage, this has quickly become one of my favorite Super Tuscans since that time. It is made from a cépages of fifty percent sangiovese and twenty-five percent each of cabernet franc and merlot. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts, undergoes malo in tank and is raised in one quarter new barrels for a year prior to bottling. The 2021 Haiku tips the scales at fourteen percent alcohol and delivers a deep and beautifully refined aromatic constellation of cassis, dark berries, cigar wrapper, dark soil tones, espresso, a deft touch of new oak and plenty of upper register smokiness. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nascently complex, with a fine core of fruit, superb soil signature and grip, firm, buried tannins and lovely balance on the long, focused and promising finish. This is going to be an excellent wine, but it is properly structured out of the blocks and is going to need an extended period of hibernation in the cellar before it will be ready to drink. 2040 – 2100
View From The Cellar, September, 2025
97 Points
Good deep ruby. Piercing blackcurrant aromas are complemented by violet, cedar, coffee, and Haiku’s typical note of pomegranate that I almost always find in this wine. The rich and layered, with suave if youthful tannins nicely framing the glossy red and blue fruit and herbal flavours. The long citrussy finish speaks of the limestone-rich soil. One of Ama’s most powerful but at the same time elegant wines, the Haiku is always a blend of 50% Sangiovese, 25% Cabernet Franc and 25% Merlot, but for some reason is always really dominated by its Cabernet Franc presence (planted in two 1.47 and 0.47 hectares plots in 2001). It’s no different in 2021. 2028 -2040
Ian D'Agata Wine Review, December, 2025
General Info
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Tuscany |
| Appellation(s) | Chianti Classico |
| Proprietor/CEO | Lorenza Sebasti |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Winemaker | Marco Pallanti |
| Annual Production | 25,000 9L cases |
| Farming (Sustainable, organic, biodynamic) | Sustainable certified by Equalitas Italy |