Balzini

Origins: 1978–1991

In 1978, Florentine accountant Vincenzo D’Isanto purchased a small farmhouse with cultivable land at Barberino Val d’Elsa. The cadastral name was already I Balzini, referring to the small crags or terraces that shape the property.

I Balzini dates its foundation to 1980. Vincenzo wanted to produce a different expression of Tuscany rather than work within the rules governing Chianti. Alongside the Tuscan varieties Sangiovese and Mammolo, he planted Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, intending to make Supertuscan wines closely identified with the estate’s small balze. The first vineyard was entrusted to master taster and enological adviser Giulio Gambelli.

The first harvest took place in 1987, with Gambelli directing the enological work. After four years of maturation, the first wine was released in 1991. Simply named I Balzini, it was classified as table wine and produced in approximately 5,000 bottles. It later became known as I Balzini White Label 1987. A separate historical article describes the original blend as Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Canaiolo and records maturation in small Slavonian-oak barrels.

The colour-label range: 1998–2011

I Balzini Black Label appeared in 1998 as a Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon blend. Its introduction established the practice of distinguishing the estate’s wines by label colour.

I Balzini Red Label followed in 2004, combining Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In 2005, Vincenzo’s wife, Antonella D’Isanto, left her career as a labour consultant to work full-time at the family estate. She reorganized the activity as a structured business, created a new office, acquired additional vineyards and broadened the product range.

I Balzini Green Label, based on Sangiovese and Mammolo, was introduced in 2006. Enological responsibility passed from Giulio Gambelli to Barbara Tamburini in 2008. I Balzini Pink Label, the family’s rosé, followed in 2011.

Second generation and Ritorno al Futuro: 2017–2021

Antonella transferred leadership to her daughter Diana D’Isanto in 2017. The handover occurred shortly before that year’s harvest and initiated the Ritorno al Futuro or Back to the Future project. Diana’s objective was to recover the estate’s original production principles through a contemporary approach, combining its pursuit of quality with environmental responsibility and organic production.

The project was formally introduced in 2018 after a period spent assessing how to unite tradition and innovation without breaking continuity with the family’s history. It encompassed enological management, production, wine names, label design and organic certification. English colour names were progressively replaced by Italian names derived from the estate’s landscape, while the established colour identification remained in place.

In 2020, after years of organic practice and investment in sustainable production, I Balzini obtained formal organic certification. David Casini succeeded Barbara Tamburini as lead enologist. The 2020 Balze Verdi was the first wine made entirely under his direction, while the 2021 vintage became the first eligible to display the organic indication on its labels.

In 2021, the first wines representing the renamed Balze family reached the market: Balze Rosse 2018, Balze Rosa 2020 and Balze Verdi 2020. Their debut completed the first visible phase of Ritorno al Futuro, though the project was conceived to continue transforming production and enological practice as well as language and design.

I Balzini lies at Barberino Val d’Elsa in the Chianti hills of Tuscany, with the medieval town of San Gimignano visible in the distance. The 10-hectare estate contains 7 hectares of vineyards surrounded by olive groves and pasture.

The vineyards stand at approximately 250 metres above sea level and face southwest. Rows run north–south to distribute sunlight as fully and evenly as possible. Strong slopes prevent stagnant water, while the vineyards’ basin-like configuration shelters the vines from severe atmospheric events and reduces interference with organic fieldwork.

Two principal geological settings correspond to different varieties. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot occupy land in front of the farmhouse, formed from Pliocene sedimentary deposits. Silty yellow sands alternate with clay strata commonly described locally as tufaceous, and marine fossils remain abundant. These sandy, deep and moderately fertile soils retain enough water to provide balanced, regular access even in difficult years.

Sangiovese and Mammolo grow on soil described as Eocene in origin and produced by the breakdown of alberese limestone. The microclimate has pronounced day–night temperature variation, particularly during ripening. Additional climatic descriptions identify average to high rainfall, cold winters, warm to very warm summers and especially sunny late afternoons due to the western exposure.

I Balzini has practised organic agriculture for many years and obtained formal certification in 2020. Only organic contact-action products are used in the vineyards. Work is frequent and targeted throughout the vines’ life cycle, combining manual intervention with dedicated equipment such as a shoot-removal machine.

Soil cultivation alternates with natural grass cover. Depending on the planting, vines are trained to cordon de Royat with few spurs and a deliberately low number of buds, or to the Tuscan arched-cane system. Crop thinning is carried out during the growing season, followed by a final selection at harvest. Pruning, canopy and bunch care, and repeated checks of plant health are integral to the approach. The oldest vineyard has also received shallow-root cuts designed to push roots deeper, increasing drought resilience and access to mineral-rich geological strata.

Harvesting is manual. Bunches are placed in small cases, transported to the cellar and selected again on a conveyor belt before processing. The ripest, healthiest bunches are harvested first to prepare a pied-de-cuve populated by microorganisms naturally present on their skins; this starter initiates spontaneous fermentation for the remainder of the harvest.

Wildlife is managed without lethal measures. Deer and wild boar can consume young shoots and grapes, and the estate tested an organic olfactory deer repellent based on sheep fat. The product is odourless to people and was recognized as suitable for organic agriculture; the initial trial prevented damage to young shoots.

Environmental field practice also includes avoiding chemical herbicides and maintaining the sloping vineyards so that water does not stagnate. All wines are made exclusively from estate-grown grapes.

Harvest begins with preparation of a native pied-de-cuve. Small samples of the ripest, healthiest bunches are selected so that microorganisms naturally present on the skins—shaped by the environment, soil and agronomic management—can begin spontaneous alcoholic fermentation.

The main crop is picked by hand into small cases and transported to the cellar. Bunches undergo a further conveyor-belt selection. Grapes are destemmed and gently crushed in a destemmer-crusher, then transferred to vats for natural alcoholic fermentation without added selected yeast. The wine is run off after fermentation. Pomace receives an additional pressing before malolactic fermentation, followed by racking and removal from the lees.

Depending on the wine, portions are transferred to barriques while others remain in stainless-steel vats. Components are blended and continue their respective maturation for the required months or years. Estate-wide examples include skin-contact fermentation in stainless steel, complete malolactic fermentation, maturation in new or previously used French-oak barriques and extended bottle ageing, although precise regimes differ among labels.

A traditional two-part glass airlock is fitted to tanks and casks. It permits topping-up and the release of gas or liquid while limiting the entry of oxygen. Its transparency also allows the cellar team to monitor changes in wine level without opening the vessel.

The barrique cellar is completely underground. Its design maintains suitable temperatures without air-conditioning, avoids altering the landscape and uses specially placed natural-light openings that reduce the need for electric lighting.

After bottling, wines are stored without labels or capsules in Vinplast/Vinplac containers under controlled temperature and humidity. This permits examination of bottle condition immediately before dispatch. Every wine and vintage is checked periodically to follow its development and quality.

I Balzini was conceived to express a Tuscany distinct from the regulatory model of Chianti. Vincenzo D’Isanto’s founding objective was to combine Tuscan and international varieties in Supertuscan wines that conveyed the estate’s specific, crag-shaped landscape while remaining elegant and pleasurable to drink.

The family defines its work as a continuously renewed love story founded on conscious choices and the desire to create wines outside conventional formulas. Its quality ideal combines strong character with elegance, drinkability and an ability to communicate both terroir and family identity.

Under Diana D’Isanto, Ritorno al Futuro seeks to recover the project’s original assumptions through contemporary methods and environmental awareness. Tradition and innovation are intended to coexist without severing continuity with the estate’s history. Returning wine names from English to a family and territorial vocabulary is one expression of that aim; organic certification and changes in enological management extend it into production.

Spontaneous fermentation is valued as a means of preserving the influence of the estate’s environment, soils and agronomy. The family accepts that native fermentation is less controllable than fermentation with selected yeasts in exchange for what it considers a more individual and forceful expression of place.

Environmental care is presented as inseparable from wine quality and as a responsibility to consumers and future generations. The approach covers organic farming, energy, packaging, cellar architecture and the conservation of the agricultural landscape.

Family management extends to the wider team: leadership is clearly assigned, but differing perspectives, shared objectives and the contribution of every member are treated as essential parts of the business.