Castello di Pomino is one of Italy’s most historically documented wine estates, with written records of viticulture in the Pomino valley northeast of Florence dating back to the seventeenth century. The estate belongs to the Frescobaldi family, who have maintained it as a distinct and separate production zone within the Rufina sub-appellation of Chianti, with the Pomino DOC designation established in 1983 to recognise the unique character of the valley’s wines. At an elevation of approximately 700 metres in the Apennine foothills, Pomino’s mountain microclimate produces wines of distinctly different character to those of the warmer lowland Chianti zones, with longer growing seasons, higher natural acidity and a freshness rarely found in Tuscan whites.

The Pomino Bianco Castello di Pomino is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Bianco from the estate’s high-altitude vineyards, vinified with partial barrel fermentation and ageing on the lees to add texture and complexity to the wine’s naturally high-acid, cool-climate character. The use of Burgundian varieties in Pomino is consistent with the historical record of the estate: the Frescobaldi family was among the first in Tuscany to experiment with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the nineteenth century, a fact that reflects the valley’s climatic similarity to the continental wine regions of France. The 2022 vintage produced wines of good concentration across Tuscany.

The Pomino Bianco is a wine with genuine historical significance in the narrative of Italian wine diversity, representing a production zone and a style quite unlike anything else in the Chianti or Tuscany appellation system. Its combination of altitude, Burgundian varieties and cool-climate character gives it an affinity with fine white wines from the French Alps or the higher-altitude zones of northern Italy rather than with the Vernaccia or Ansonica whites more commonly associated with Tuscan production. For collectors who seek Italian white wines of genuine originality and terroir distinction at accessible price points, the Pomino Bianco offers a compelling and underexplored proposition.