Visit to Borgo Scopeto in Chianti

Visiting Borgo Scopeto

At a leisurely pace, the car works its way up the narrow road. The white gravel from the chalky soil in the area makes the narrow dirt road a dreamy, almost unreal contrast to the lush green forest we are moving through.

We turn onto a beautiful, classic Tuscan property, made of yellow stone. As the white clouds of dust kicked up by cars slowly disappear, we take a moment to enjoy the view of the vineyard - located on the edge of the green forest, surrounded by a hilly landscape of vineyards and cypresses, as far as the eye can see, it's like standing in the middle of a postcard.

We are visiting Borgo Scopeto in the Chianti district - the address belongs to the municipality of Castelnuovo Berardenga, but in reality we are only about a 20-minute drive from Siena - for many Danish tourists, the prototype of the classic Renaissance city in Tuscany.

Alessandra welcomes us to the stylish property and tells us in detail about the production as we move down the stairs to the holiest of all; the wine cellar at Borgo Scopeto.

The story of Borgo Scopeto begins back in the 13th century, when the Sienese noble family Sozzini transformed the property with the distinctive lookout tower into their summer residence.
The rustic property with the large, 800-year-old tower is located in the heart of a lush agricultural area; today Borgo Scopeto has approximately 200 hectares of land, about half of which are vineyards and olive groves, while the rest is forest. This gives the area a unique appearance and a rich wildlife.

Wine has been grown on the property for hundreds of years, but it was only at the end of the 20th century that the wines began to be marketed under the name Borgo Scopeto, named after the old property.

Today we are at the brand new vineyard, located a few minutes' drive from the old wine castle, which has now been converted into a luxury resort.

When capacity had reached its maximum and the old property placed limitations on modern wine production, the new winery was built a few years ago - in style, it fits perfectly into the landscape and the classic Tuscan style, so if you didn't know better, you would think it was an old property.

We move down into the cellar where the magic happens at Borgo Scopeto. In 1998, the winery became part of the Caparzo family, one of the most respected wine houses in Chianti.

This meant increased focus on production, allowing the vineyard's excellent grapes to unleash their full potential.

The quality of Borgo Scopeto's wines reached new heights when the new winery was inaugurated, with Chianti's most modern facilities for producing fine Italian red wine.

The cellar is an impressive sight; in the dim lighting, there are row after row of wooden barrels of various sizes.

In accordance with Tuscan traditions, only Slavonian 'durmast' barrels of 3,000 liters are used for the aging of Chianti Classico.

The single-vineyard wine Vigna Misciano is a Chianti Classico Riserva, in the cellar we find it aged in both the large Slavonian barrels, but also smaller 500 liter barrels of French oak.

The pride of Borgo Scopeto, the super Tuscan Borgonero, is aged in a 'modern' way; that means 24 months in small 300-liter French oak barrels.

In long silent rows, the wines stand waiting to reach the correct balance between the freshness of youth and the mature complexity that characterizes the wines of Borgo Scopeto.

The large wine cellar has the capacity to store more than 1.5 million liters, and at the very back we enter the treasury; here Borgo Scopeto stores all the wines they have ever produced, from the first early attempts under their own name, with red labels, to the critically acclaimed and highly sought-after Tuscan wonder wines we know today.

After the cellar tour, we move upstairs, where the tasting will take place. In the elegant rooms (which are also rented out for weddings and parties) with a view of the vineyards, a fine selection of Borgo Scopeto's best wines awaits us.

Alessandra explains that Borgo Scopeto considers itself a mid-range winery - however, there is not much mid-range about the wines we taste; from the young Chianti, to the single-vineyard Vigna Masciano to the elegant Borgonero, the quality is unsurpassed. But the prices are indeed lower than at other wineries, such as the neighboring Dievole - so it is said that you get a lot of wine for your money at Borgo Scopeto.

We taste the entire range, as well as selected wines under the Caparzo name - it's hard to choose a favorite, but the super Tuscan Borgonero lingers in the mouth for a long time. But the classic Chianti wines are also worthy representatives of the area, where the Riserva in particular stands out for its even really reasonable price/quality ratio.

We had a lovely visit to Borgo Scopeto, where we naturally ended up shopping happily in their small shop - where the winery's olive oil and balsamic vinegar are particularly popular, as these are not exported due to limited production.