This is a beautiful wine with terrific freshness and plenty of primary fruit definition over mid-weight texture. This classic vintage is worth your attention, as the Castello di Ama 2021 Chardonnay di Toscana Al Poggio so effectively teaches us. Cool climates and altitudes shape distinctly focused and mineral-driven sensations. This wine offers soft citrus, orchard fruit, crushed stone and a savory touch of fresh herb. The secret to this wine is its sun-driven, Tuscan spirit.

The Castello di Ama 2018 Chardonnay di Toscana Al Poggio benefits from high-altitude vineyards (at about 500 meters above sea level) and the cool limestone soils of the Chianti Classico region to create this fresh, crisp and delightfully approachable white wine. There are Chardonnays from Tuscany that taste like Chardonnays from any other part of the world, and then there are Chardonnays that taste like they come from Tuscany. This wine is firmly in that second group. The distinctively territory-specific elements you get here resemble apricot and peach, with light dustings of Italian herbs such as fresh oregano and rosemary sprig. I also noted the pristine mineral notes that frame this vintage. There is a fun blast of citrus that reminds me of those sun-kissed lemon trees grown in red clay pots that you see all over this part of Tuscany. Some 11,000 bottles were made.

The 2016 Chardonnay di Toscana Al Poggio offers great freshness, crispness and purity with aromas of white peach, cantaloupe melon, blanched almond and Golden Delicious apple. Castello di Ama proprietor Marco Pallanti is celebrating his 37th harvest this year.

The 2015 Al Poggio is a pure expression of Chardonnay that offers a great sense of freshness and crispness. The bouquet opens to linear aromas of citrus, white rose and summer peach. There are mineral overtones and you might also detect a hint of dried sage, saffron or oregano. Fruit is harvested from a vineyard site that is rich in limestone soils and located at 500 meters above sea level. Both these factors have contributed to the sharpness and freshness of this very versatile white wine.

The 2013 Al Poggio is a pure expression of Chardonnay that opens to beautiful mineral notes that are drying, etched and utterly elegant. There are touches of underbrush and wild sage, but the wine presents a solid core of yellow fruit and peach at its center. Give it a few minutes in the glass and the wine evolves and opens in a slow and steady fashion.