Maurizio Castelli
Italy
Dubbed one of the real experts of Sangiovese by the critics, Maurizio is here to prove what is achievable with Angel funding.
- Meet Maurizio - a highly respected Italian wine consultant, now making wines under his own name exclusively for you!
- Maurizio has been dubbed 'one of the real experts of Sangiovese'...
- ...just one taste of his Tuscan reds and you'll see exactly why.
Vineyard Location
Maurizio Castelli's Story
Maurizio Castelli's Story
"Greetings Angels!
I was born in Milan in 1948 and I got a degree in ScienzeAgrarie at the Università di Milano in 1972. Since 1973 I have been living in Tuscany, initially working at the Consorzio del Chianti Classico Gallo Nero for 7 years as a technical inspector for the wine and olive oil producers of the consortium. As of 1980, I have been general manager of two premier wine and extra-virgin olive oil producers in Chianti and today I am working as a consultant for some of the most important producers in Tuscany, Friuli, California, New Zealand and Chile.
Thanks to the vast knowledge and experience acquired in Tuscany, I helped start production of extra-virgin olive oil in South Africa and since 1990, I have been the consultant of the McEvoy Ranch, (Marine County, California) the organic, award-winning producer of Tuscan extra-virgin olive oil. I have also a business in Chile proposing Italian grape varieties (which are still not available in Chile) in organic farming.
Wine has always been part of my family. My father was Tuscan and therefore since I was a child I have been involved in wines. After I got my degree in Milan, while all of my colleagues were trying to get a job in big chemical companies and everybody in general thought that working in the fields was a diminishing job, I left Milan and moved to Tuscany. In addition, in those years (70s) the concept of quality wine in Italy was still very weak so I like to think that I was in the right place at the right time.
I love my job because it's very creative, I get to be in contact with nature and everyday there is something new to discover. There are always new challenges (i.e. weather changes) that force me to solve problems in a different way. Each vintage is different and I like difficult challenges. I have a particular fondness for 'difficult cases' helping small producers and wineries in areas where hardly anyone would ever think of making wines or oils. One of my most joyous moments was when I managed to make a wine where everybody said it was not possible.
It is my aim that people who try my wines will find a distinct personality and pleasure in drinking them and it is also very important to me that I like the wines I make. I am not one of those wine makers that has one style for everybody and when you drink my wines you can tell the differences. Some real disappointments have happened when I had to interrupt my collaboration with some wineries because the owners and I had different visions on quality.
As we move forward, people are becoming more and more competent, aware and demanding and this pushes us to do our job better as winemakers.
Awards/notable mentions:
-As a wine making consultant lots of my wines have received the best awards in Italy (including 3 Bicchieri, Cellar of the Year, Best Wines of the Year)
