High Life Issue #4

品 62 #4 2017 年 1 月 in barrels and up to six in the bottle. The result is an elegant and well-balanced wine with a good nose. But there are other products on the table too, including a distinguished grappa bottle. “We are always striving todiversify,” Ricasoli explains. “Grappa is a traditional Italian drink and we want to do it right.” The secret? “Themost important feature of a good grappa is the freshness of the lemon peel. Themore you invest in that, the better Grappa youwill produce,” he says. Despite this, the undoubted star of the evening is the bottle that features the familycastle – the Barone Ricasoli Castello di Brolio Chianti Classico DOCGGran Selezione 2013. The nose, unmistakable but elegant, expresses the complexity of floral aromas and ripe red fruit, licorice, vanilla and chocolate. Nowonder it is popular all around theworld. “Our largest market in Asia is Japan,” says Ricasoli. “It is amorematuremarket that knowswhat itwants. In Chinawe are still growing. I think part of the problem is that Italy as a country did not do as good a job as France. We need to sell ourselves first as a destination so that our products can be better understood. “But the good thing about our Chiantiwine is thatwe continually seek to innovate and improve the production process. It is a solid product.”