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PREMIUM

Il Caggio’s Ipsus: A Tuscan wine legend in the making

At the Decanter Italy Experience in London, Giovanni Mazzei, owner of Il Caggio, and Michelle Cherutti-Kowal MW, Tuscany Regional Chair for the Decanter World Wine Awards, discussed the creation and evolution of 'Ipsus' – a single-vineyard Sangiovese – in front of a captivated audience.

For Giovanni Mazzei, winemaking and Sangiovese is in his blood. The eldest son of Filippo Mazzei, CEO of Marchesi Mazzei wines, his family has owned Castello Fonterutoli in the heart of Chianti Classico for 600 years. The first known reference to Chianti as a wine-producing region – dated 16 December 1398 – was found in written correspondence of an ancestor, Ser Lapo Mazzei.

The Il Caggio estate came into the family’s hands in 2006 with the purchase of a neighbour’s property, and that’s where the Ipsus journey began. As Giovanni explained during the masterclass, ‘they never really made wine on the property, they just sold the grapes, so we had a lot to learn’.

After a few years, he found a place where Sangiovese tasted different, ‘full of perfume’. They separated these vines from the rest, folding most of the purchased vineyards into the family’s holding, and created the Il Caggio estate.


Scroll down to see notes and scores for Ipsus



Tasting Ipsus at the Decanter Italy Experience masterclass:


Related articles:

Decanter Italy Experience: Highlights from the London tasting

Ipsus: The making of a modern Italian cru

Castello di Fonterutoli’s Concerto: A Sangiovese-dominant SuperTuscan in its 40th vintage

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