may, 21st 2026
Inside a Castle, Tasting the Origins of Bolgheri.
A private tasting with Count Gaddo della Gherardesca, where wine became history.
Reading time : 6 min
A few days ago, I found myself crossing the gates of a Castle in Castagneto Carducci with that particular feeling that only certain places can create. A mix of excitement, gratitude, and, if I am honest, also a little fear.
Because some stories feel bigger than you.
This time, I had been invited to present the wines of Count Gaddo della Gherardesca inside the family castle itself, surrounded by about twenty guests arriving from a yacht docked overnight in Livorno. It was one of those moments where wine suddenly becomes much more than wine.
As a sommelier, I am used to speaking in front of people. I speak about vineyards, vintages, grapes, soils, aromas. But standing there, beside Count Gaddo himself, telling the story of one of the families that shaped the destiny of Bolgheri long before Bolgheri became famous, felt different.
It felt like stepping inside history.
Before the tasting even began, I looked around the room for a moment. Thick stone walls, ancient light filtering through the windows, the silence of a castle that has witnessed centuries of Tuscan life. And suddenly I realized that the guests were not simply attending a wine tasting.
They were tasting culture.
Because the story of Bolgheri did not begin with Super Tuscans. It began centuries earlier, with noble families, agricultural vision, land reclamation projects, and a deep belief in the potential of this coastal land. The Della Gherardesca family has been connected to this territory for nearly a thousand years, and Count Guido Alberto della Gherardesca played a crucial role in transforming what was once considered an unhealthy marshland into a thriving agricultural estate.
And perhaps what fascinated me most while preparing for this experience was discovering how deeply family history influenced the future of Italian wine itself.
The history of Bolgheri wine is also deeply a family story.
A story of marriages, vision, inheritance, and intuition passed from one generation to another.
When Clarice and Carlotta Della Gherardesca, married respectively into the Incisa della Rocchetta and Antinori families, they unknowingly helped shape the future of modern Italian wine itself.
Looking at the complex family tree, you suddenly understand how interconnected the story of Bolgheri truly is.
From those family connections would later emerge names capable of changing the international perception of Italian wine forever. There was something incredibly powerful about telling this story while sitting beside someone who still carries that family name today.
And then, finally, we moved from history… into the glass.
The first wine was Gaddo Bolgheri DOC 2022, a younger and more vibrant expression of the estate, built around Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. What I loved most was the energy of the wine. Bright fruit, Mediterranean herbs, balsamic hints carried almost naturally by the proximity of the sea. One of those wines that immediately speaks the language of Bolgheri: generous but never heavy, rich but still lifted by freshness.
The second wine, Castello di Donoratico Bolgheri DOC 2021, brought us somewhere deeper. More layered. More structured. A wine where elegance slowly unfolds with every minute in the glass.
I explained to the guests how Bolgheri today is no longer simply about power or concentration. The most exciting wines coming from this coast are increasingly about tension, freshness, drinkability, and elegance. And I think this wine expresses that philosophy beautifully. And while explaining the wines, I found myself watching the guests more than listening to my own words. Because this is what I love most about wine. The moment when people stop analyzing and simply start feeling.
Someone looking out the castle window toward the cypress trees. Someone asking about the sea breeze that shapes these vineyards. Someone else completely surprised that a place with such medieval roots could also produce wines with such modern elegance. At one point, I remember saying something that suddenly felt very true even to myself:
“Today, you are not simply drinking wine inside a castle. You are tasting centuries of history.”
And that moment, was the perfect one for a blurred selfie!
From Tuscany, with gratitude and a raised glass,
Claudia 🍷
Ready to toast?
