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Lucidity Wine Merchants
The Wine
A pure, surprisingly aromatic, Radda‑esque Sangiovese showing sour cherry, red currant, rose petal, blood orange, and fine herbal notes with a delightfully complex finish.
The palate is vibrant and linear, driven by high-altitude acidity, chalky tannins, and a long, mineral finish. It’s more elegant than many Tuscan wines, with the signature Carleone style focusing on purity and precision.
Sourced from organically farmed vineyards around Radda at 450–600 meters, planted on galestro and alberese soils that give the wine its tension and minerality. The 2023 vintage in Chianti Classico was moderate and balanced, with a cooler August and excellent diurnal shifts that preserved acidity. Yields were modest but healthy.
Fermented with native yeasts in a mix of concrete and open-top wooden vats; partial whole‑berry depending on parcel. Aged in large neutral Slavonian oak casks and cement for roughly 12–18 months, with no new oak influence.
Production is small, typically around 20,000–25,000 bottles (2,000 cases) for the Chianti Classico.
Pairings: Bistecca alla Fiorentina (thick-cut T-Bone), lamb chops grilled with garlic and rosemary, tomato‑based pastas, mushroom ragù, or roasted root vegetables. Cheese-wise, reach for Pecorino Toscano, aged Asiago, or a firm Tuscan sheep’s milk cheese.
The Winery
The lesser-known region of Radda in Chianti is the source of exceptional red wines. And if that is a surprise, you'll be equally amused to learn this winery is a small, high‑altitude estate in Radda founded by Austrian entrepreneur Karl Egger (the "Carl" in Carleone), with winemaking led by Sean O’Callaghan (“Il Guercio”, aka The Rascal), whose philosophy centers on purity, gentle extraction, and minimal intervention. Sean had a childhood accident that took the vision from one of his eyes, and ever since his nickname has been "The One-Eyed Rascal" - a four-line caricature of this rascal is embossed into the bottom corner of his wine labels.
The estate farms organically with biodynamic practices - no herbicides, extensive handwork, cover crops for soil health, and composting from estate materials. Vineyards sit on classic Radda soils of galestro and alberese, producing naturally high‑acid, aromatic Sangiovese.
Sustainability practices include low‑impact farming, minimal copper use, gravity‑flow processes, native yeast fermentations, and extremely restrained sulfur additions. Production across the estate is intentionally small, emphasizing precision and site transparency.
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