Bolgheri

The Viale dei Cipressi runs about five kilometres dead straight from the coast road to the village gate, planted in the nineteenth century and made famous by Giosuè Carducci, who grew up here and wrote a poem beginning with the cypresses running in a double row. From the 1940s the Incisa della Rocchetta family planted Cabernet at Tenuta San Guido and made Sassicaia, a wine that could not be sold as anything but table wine because the grapes were not local; it beat Bordeaux in blind tastings in the 1970s and forced Italy to create new classifications. The Bolgheri DOC now covers the surrounding estates.

History

Bolgheri is first mentioned in 1075, in a papal bull of Gregory VII, and the name, of Lombard-era origin, may come from a military settlement of Bulgars. The first settlement, on the plain near the coast, was abandoned in the early Middle Ages because of malaria and Saracen raids (Wikipedia, Bolgheri).

What to look for

• The cypress avenue - five kilometres of double-planted trees to the gate.
• The village - a small brick borgo behind a castle gate.
• The wine estates - Sassicaia, Ornellaia and neighbours in the hills.
• The Carducci connection - the poet's childhood village and poem.

When to go

April to October; harvest is September. The avenue is best in early or late light. Cellar visits require booking well ahead and many are limited.

Things to know

The village itself is one short street and quickly seen. Top estates take few visitors and book months out. The avenue is a working road with traffic.

Nearby

Populonia lies south; Castagneto Carducci is in the hills above.

Key facts