Castiglion del Bosco launches Year of the Dragon cuvée in its uber-premium Zodiac series

Premium Brunello wine producer Castiglion del Bosco has unveiled the latest cuvee in its icon Zodiac series, the Year of the Dragon Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2017.

The Year of the Dragon Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2017, marks the decennial anniversary of the Zodiac series that was launched in 2013 with each vintage featuring an artistic interpretation of the symbol of the zodiac that has been specially commissioned from a renowned international artist.

The latest cuvee, which was unveiled at an event in London this week, is produced in minute quantities using the pick of grapes from the estate’s finest vineyards – only 888 bottles have been produced.

The company said that the Year of the Dragon cuvée holds a special significance for the estate, as it echoes the name of Castiglion del Bosco’s first single-vineyard cuvée, Campo del Drago. To represent the new cuvee, the labels feature a dragon by London-based artist, Alicia France, who took inspiration from the miniaturists of the 16th and 17th century, as well as traditional Chinese dragons.

Speaking at the launch event, winemaker Cecilian Leoneschi said the 2017 stood out for the richness, power, and energy of the wines, due to the relatively hot summer, with grapes selected from different parcels across the vineyard.

“I’m surprised about not only the quality of the wine, the evolution of some of aromas that the wines has – fruity, but also spicey with liquorice and rhubarb, all the notes that were formed during the ageing,” she said. “To me, it is a wine destined to survive for a long, long time,”

Castiglion del Bosco’s CEO Simone Pallesi said that Castilgion Del Bosco as an estate was “a unique mix”, significant in terms of size, (it is one of the largest wine estates in Europe with 2,000 hectares perched next to Montalcino) while operating as small boutique producer.

“So we harvest by hand, that people go into vineyards every day and so many incredible balance between the beauty of the size of being able to produce significant amount of wine with a very careful attention to detail,” he said. “It’s all about the heritage, [the estate] has been here since the 1100s. We consider ourselves as the guardians of this incredible place – no one can really own it entirely, but we need to monitor it, respect it and protect it. And it’s all about the fact is it’s all about listening and standing and trying to reduce the man influence on nature.”

He called the project a “meeting of art and culture with the winemaker”, with the wine being released in 2024.

Castiglion del Bosco worked with art expert and former Christie’s specialist Tamsin Evernden to find and commission the artist to create a label that was powerful, full of colour, light and energy, and incorporating the wood element of the trees around Castiglion del Bosco while intricate enough to be read at a distance when reproduced in a label.

The dragon in Chinese culture symbolises power, tenacity, intelligence, but it’s actually the year of the word Dragon 2024

The wine is represented in the UK by Maisons Marques et Domaines.