About Castello di Verrazzano

The Castle of Verrazzano is located on a hilltop between Florence and Siena, in the Greve district of Tuscany’s Chianti Classico zone. Flanked by woodland, its borders have remained unaltered for almost 1000 years – an outpost of stability in a landscape marked by centuries of family and political feuding. A founding member of the Consorzio del Chianti Classico, Verrazzano has made wine since the earliest times – the property occupies the site of former Etruscan and Roman settlements – but its growing reputation among wine lovers in Italy and abroad is due to the spirit and the industry of its present owners, Luigi and Silvia Cappellini, who, with their two daughters, call Verrazzano “home.”

The Verrazzano name is likely to be familiar in more than one way: the estate was the birthplace in 1485 of Giovanni da Verrazzano. This accomplished young nobleman forsook his childhood home for a life of adventure in far away destinations. His exploits included discovering New York Bay and mapping out much of America’s East Coast. The Verrazzano Narrows Bridge spanning the New York harbor is named after him; its structure includes three large stones from the castle tower. At Verrazzano the importance of winemaking never waned: there is an original document reporting native American vines (vitis labrusca) to the king of France Francis I that still exists. (more details on the historical website www.verrazzano.org).

In the 1920s Castello di Verrazzano became property of the Marquis Ridolfi, a prominent character in the most recent history of Florence. In 1926 he founded Fiorentina (the soccer team of Florence) and was responsible for constructing the city’s soccer stadium and golf course. He also became president of the national Athletic organization and hosted the Italian team at Verrazzano to train for the 1936 Olympic Games.

Since acquiring the estate in 1958, the Cappellini family has renewed Verrazzano’s vineyards, which fan out from the forest limits down to the valley below. Fertilization is organic and vineyards are mechanically weeded, harvest is conducted entirely by hand. Under Luigi Cappellini’s direction a careful method of yield reduction has been implemented, in which selected bunches of grapes are cut back and discarded during the growing season, resulting in heightened flavor concentration and aromatic richness in the remaining fruit and correspondingly higher quality wines.

Wine authority Burton Anderson named Verrazzano one of a few selected estates forming “the foundation on which Chianti’s renewed prestige has been built.” About 130 acres of vines thrive in its limestone-rich soil. Though limestone is present in the warmer, southern parts of Chianti Classico, it is unique to Verrazzano in the cooler, northern part of the region. This singular combination of limestone soil and cooler growing conditions enhances Verrazzano wines own appreciated unicity. Luigi and Silvia Cappellini’s joy and sense of pride in their home are evident everywhere one looks — they welcome a constant stream of visitors at the estate, and abandoned farmhouses have been converted into attractive guest accommodations.

Nor do the Cappellini’s activities end there: Verrazzano wines and other products are all on the menu at Cantinetta dei Verrazzano, a family-owned bakery, delicatessen and cafe in the heart of Florence. Silvia Cappellini also manages two stores on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence specializing in exquisite hand-embroidered linens for the house.