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The Ricasoli family has held Brolio Castle since 1141, documented in a land exchange that makes Barone Ricasoli one of the oldest wine names in the world still in family hands. Its 240 hectares of vines around Gaiole in Chianti form the largest estate in the Chianti Classico zone, and it was here that Bettino Ricasoli fixed the formula for Chianti wine in 1872. Today the castle, its gardens, a bookable wine shop, the Osteria di Brolio restaurant and three agriturismo houses make Brolio one of Tuscany's most complete wine destinations.
Tuscany
Bookable experiences, curated by our editors. External booking where marked.
Visit the medieval castle that has anchored the estate since 1141, its gardens and the Ricasoli Collection. Open daily from 20 March to mid October, 10am to 7pm in high season, with reduced hours in autumn; tickets and tours via the estate's online booking platform.
Book this experienceBookable wine tastings for small or large groups in the estate wine shop at the foot of the castle, a converted stretch of the old cellars that welcomes some 50,000 visitors a year.
Book this experienceThree estate houses among the Brolio vineyards: Villa Agresto sleeps 12 in six double rooms, Capanna di Citerna hosts four with a private jacuzzi garden, and Brolio Agriroom offers four Eroica-styled rooms with EV charging and bike storage.
Book this experienceVisit the medieval castle that has anchored the estate since 1141, its gardens and the Ricasoli Collection. Open daily from 20 March to mid October, 10am to 7pm in high season, with reduced hours in autumn; tickets and tours via the estate's online booking platform.
Book this experienceBrolio Castle passed to the Ricasoli family through a land exchange recorded in 1141, and the estate has been fought over ever since: Aragonese and Spanish assaults in the fifteenth century, sieges in the seventeenth, artillery fire in the Second World War. The rebuilt castle wears every era at once, from medieval bastions to Romanesque and neo-Gothic additions and nineteenth century Tuscan details. A family tree printed in 1584 stands among the first images of the Chianti territory, and by the late 1600s Brolio wine was already being shipped to Amsterdam and England. The pivotal figure is Bettino Ricasoli, the Iron Baron, twice Prime Minister of the newly united Italy after Cavour: in 1872, after decades of trials at Brolio, he set down the blend that became the formula for Chianti, today's Chianti Classico.
The property runs to 1200 hectares in the commune of Gaiole, of which 240 are vines and 26 olive groves, with 70 percent left as oak and chestnut woodland. Baron Francesco Ricasoli, owner and president since 1993, has rebuilt the estate around research: the vineyards have been completely remapped, soils studied plot by plot, and the Brolio Sangiovese refined through clonal selection. Each parcel is picked separately into 200 kilogram containers and vinified in small gravity-fed steel vats, keeping every plot distinct. The results are the castle's flagship Castello di Brolio Chianti Classico Gran Selezione and a trio of single-vineyard Gran Selezione crus, Colledila, Roncicone and CeniPrimo, alongside Brolio Bettino, the Casalferro Merlot, the Torricella Chardonnay and the Albia rose under Toscana IGT.
Farming follows the Equalitas sustainability standard, with chemical weedkillers and pesticides abandoned in favour of methods the estate describes as stricter than organic principles, though the wines carry no organic certification. The woods and Mediterranean scrub that cover most of the property are managed as a biodiversity reserve, and Brolio's own cultivars supply a DOP extra virgin olive oil.
Brolio is set up for visitors in a way few Tuscan estates can match. The castle, its gardens and the Ricasoli Collection open daily from late March to mid October, with reduced autumn hours, and tours are booked through the estate's online visit platform. The wine shop below the castle receives some 50,000 visitors a year and takes bookings for guided tastings, the Osteria di Brolio serves a seasonal menu from March to December, and three agriturismo houses, Villa Agresto, Capanna di Citerna and Brolio Agriroom, sleep guests among the vines.
Editorially verified by ItalianWines.co.uk.
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Plate I · TUSCANY
Barone Ricasoli's current bottle selection is led by Chianti Classico DOCG. The clearest grape signal comes from Sangiovese and Merlot.
Est. 1141 
13 wines 
Tastings
Tours
Accommodation
Booking required 
