3-003-734 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Brolio, the ancestral seat of the Ricasoli family, 1861. '...the chief seat and largest property of [one of the most ancient noble families in Tuscany] is situated in the beautiful hill country between Siena and the upper valley of the Arno. And there...on a height which seems to be the culminating point of all this hill region, the huge mass and the grey towers of the ancient baronial castle of Brolio are visible...There is little doubt but that improved cultivation and improved processes at every step from the vineyard to the bottle would produce Tuscan wines that might compete with the growths of France in the markets of Europe. And, under the enlightened auspices of Baron Ricasoli, much has been already done in this respect, and results of the most encouraging kind have been achieved...while the great statesman is busied at Turin with cares which will result in making Italy as important and frequently-recurring a name in the future history of Europe as those of England or France, the enlightened improvements of the great landed proprietor may yet make "Castel Brolio" as familiar a term on the lists of wine-merchants as that of Chateau Margaux or Clos Vougeot'. From "Illustrated London News", 1861.