Castello di Ama, the leading Chianti estate, is so full of works of art that when you arrive there’s a high risk of tripping over. ‘Le Chemin du Bonheur,’ the work of Pascale Marthine Tayou, lines the ancient stone street of Ama, enlivening the 18th century hamlet with colour.
The contemporary art on the hill overlooking the estate is a tribute to what owners Lorenza Sebasti and Marco Pallanti call in latin “genius loci”: a spirit-like sense of place.
On 10 December at the Four Seasons Hotel in Florence, genius loci was celebrated in a vertical tasting of L’Apparita, the 100% Merlot wine made in heart of Chianti Classico for which the estate became known.
Ama had a ‘Judgement of Paris’ moment on 8 February 1992 when the L’Apparita 1987 vintage beat Pétrus 1988, Le Pin and 16 other world-class Merlot wines at a tasting hosted by the Académie du Vin in Switzerland, with a jury comprised of renowned winemaking consultant Michel Rolland.
