Winemaker Notes
The name Varvàra is in honor of Baroness Varvàra Wrangler, wife of Count Ugolino della Gherardesca and great-grandmother of Count Federico Zileri Dal Verme, the current owner.
This wine was born from the desire to develop a more immediate product while continuing to give importance to the fruit. You'll find vibrant aromas with subtle hints of thyme and mint. Beautifully balanced, offering depth, purity of fruit, and silky, long-lasting tannins - a polished expression of Bolgheri's exceptional terroir.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The aromas of raspberries and cherries with thyme and mint are entrancing and they follow through to a medium body with a lovely depth and purity of fruit and long, refined tannins. Very polished. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc, the Castello di Bolgheri 2022 Bolgheri Rosso Varvàra reveals a smart and easy-drinking style with tight aromas of dark fruit and blackcurrant. It remains linear and direct, including the mouthfeel, finishing with medium build and good freshness. It ages in tonneaux and botte for a quick 12 months, and 100,000 bottles were created.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Varvara is a youthful magenta/red color and is shy in the glass before opening to aromas of dusty cedar, sappy menthol, cigar box, and dark berries. The palate offers full-bodied richness with a snappy lift of acidity upfront, ripe tannins, and a gently tapering finish. I would recommend this for drinking over the next 8-10 years. The blend is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc.
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Wine Spectator
This red is graceful yet concentrated, with flavors of black currant, blackberry, eucalyptus and iron. The tannins emerge on the long aftertaste, buffered by ripe fruit. Fine balance. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2032.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An outstanding wine region made famous by Marchese Mario Incisa della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines for his own consumption in 1940s on his San Guido estate, and called the resulting wine, Sassicaia. Today the region’s Tuscan reds are based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which can be made as single varietal wines or blends. The local Sangiovese can make up no more than 50% of the blends. Today Sassicaia has its own DOC designation within the Bogheri DOC appellation.