The Castello di Brolio is the ancestral seat of the Ricasoli family — one of the oldest noble houses in Tuscany — and has been in their possession since 1141, with a brief interruption when Napoleon sold it off and the family bought it back. The castle sits on a commanding hill south of Gaiole, its medieval walls enclosing a 19th-century neo-Gothic palace built by the Iron Baron, Bettino Ricasoli. The views from the battlements are exceptional: a panorama of vines, olive groves, and the towers of more distant castles extending in every direction.
Visitors can walk the walls, visit the family chapel, and tour the wine cellars where Chianti Classico has been produced for centuries. The estate winery produces a range of Chianti Classico wines that are available to taste and buy at the cantina. The castle garden, planted in the English romantic style, adds an unexpected softness to an otherwise muscular fortification. Allow at least two hours; the drive through the vineyards from Gaiole is itself part of the experience.