Colle Carli

A family property begins in 1972

Il Colle began in 1972, when Caterina Carli’s father, a notary born and raised in Siena, purchased the property at Montalcino as a holiday home for the family. Caterina was born in the same year. Her father immediately planted the first 3 ha of vineyards at Il Colle: Casa, Matrichese and Bosco.

Winegrowing initially coexisted with his legal career. He spent his weekends driving a tractor through the vineyards, treating the estate as an enthusiastic personal pursuit. In 1977 he opened the first bottle of his Brunello with a small group of friends.

During one of his tractor journeys, a bronze-coloured object caught in the plough. Its figure resembled a greyhound curved into the shape of a letter C, linking both Carli and Colle. Although the people consulted could not establish its origin with certainty—it was thought possibly Etruscan—the figure became the enduring emblem on the estate’s labels.

The frost of 1985

The severe frost of 1985 damaged the Casa and Matrichese vineyards and even destroyed centuries-old olive trees. Both vineyards were replanted that year. Bosco survived because the vigorous woodland around it sheltered the vines from the extreme cold. Its original 1972 planting consequently remained intact.

Expansion at Castelnuovo dell’Abate

In the late 1990s, Caterina’s father chose to plant Merlot. In 1998 he also established another 5 ha of vineyards at Castelnuovo dell’Abate: Ponte, Pozzi and Ciliegio. He lived to see their first harvest.

From a personal pursuit to Caterina Carli’s profession

Caterina transformed her father’s pursuit into her own profession. She took responsibility for the estate and made winegrowing and winemaking the centre of her working life, despite her father’s concern that the occupation depended too heavily on weather and other forces outside human control. She regarded that uncertainty as freedom and its risks as opportunities.

Giulio Gambelli became her long-standing guide and inspiration. His technical competence, personal integrity and minimally interventionist approach helped shape her work in both vineyard and cellar. After Gambelli, Francesca Arquint began accompanying Caterina in the cellar, tasting the wines with her and following their development from year to year. Maurizio Castelli and Simone Rossi also joined her circle of advisers, with Rossi closely involved in vineyard decisions alongside Gianni Rubegni.

Separazione

Bosco remained Caterina’s favourite vineyard and the focus of a long-held ambition to make a separate cru. That ambition was realised with the 2020 vintage: the first bottling produced exclusively from Bosco grapes was given its own identity as Brunello Separazione. By then the surviving 1972 vines were more than 50 years old.

Il Colle di Carli works with two contrasting vineyard areas within Montalcino.

Il Colle

Casa, Matrichese and Bosco occupy a combined 3 ha at approximately 480 m above sea level, facing north-east. The soils derive principally from a disintegrating sandstone massif and contain a limited clay component. Limestone and alberese insertions contribute a moderately present stony skeleton. These conditions are associated with minerality and elegance in the resulting wines.

Bosco is bordered by oaks, holm oaks and manna ashes. This surrounding vegetation protected it during the destructive frost of 1985. The vineyard’s soil is additionally described as loamy.

Castelnuovo dell’Abate

Ponte, Pozzi and Ciliegio cover 5 ha at approximately 230 m above sea level, facing south-east. Heavy clay is the dominant component, moderated by tuff associated with the Monte Amiata massif. The soil skeleton comes from alluvial pebble deposits: these are substantial in the lower part of the vineyards and progressively diminish toward the top of the ridge. Wines from this area are characterised by greater concentration, muscularity and power.

Climatic pressures

Rising temperatures have increased grape sugar levels, making fermentation-temperature management increasingly important. In the vineyard, alternating spring rain and sunshine can produce vigorous growth, while increasingly torrid summers and episodes of heavy rainfall have prompted adaptations in canopy and soil management.

Organic farming is treated as respect for the vineyard ecosystem rather than simply a production technique. Synthetic chemicals are excluded. Vine protection relies on copper and sulfur, supplemented with algae and zeolite to reinforce the plants’ natural defences.

Wild grasses are allowed to grow freely between the rows. Their roots form an underground network that helps hold the soil against erosion during increasingly frequent heavy rainfall. The vegetation also supplies habitat for beneficial insects, making biodiversity part of soil-health management.

Spring alternations of rain and sunshine generate vigorous shoot growth. Gianni Rubegni and Dario monitor individual vines and use green pruning to remove excess shoots. The canopy strategy has been adjusted for increasingly hot summers: more foliage is retained to form a natural umbrella over the bunches, protecting them from aggressive sunlight and helping preserve acidity and freshness.

Selection standards are strict. Caterina Carli aims to work only with healthy, fully ripe grapes and discards bunches that do not meet her requirements. The estate’s recent Brunello technical information records spontaneous fermentation and yields of 30 q/ha for the principal blend, while the first Bosco-only Separazione recorded 27 q/ha; Bosco is more generally described as a very-low-yielding vineyard.

Il Colle di Carli follows a traditional, minimally interventionist cellar approach shaped by Giulio Gambelli’s principles: the decisive work occurs in the vineyard, while cleanliness, time and careful observation govern the cellar.

Fermentation is spontaneous in stainless-steel vats. The tanks have thermo-conditioned external jackets that act gently on the must and keep the peak of alcoholic fermentation below 28°C. Temperature control is intended to provide a less stressful environment for yeasts during the extended period required to consume the sugars, particularly as warmer conditions have raised grape sugar levels. Fermentations and macerations are long.

Ageing takes place exclusively in large, round or oval Slavonian-oak casks of 30 and 50 hl. The wood is carefully selected, bent over fire and lightly toasted by artisan coopers. These large vessels allow extended maturation while limiting overt wood flavour and preserving each vintage’s character. Recent Brunello vintages have spent 40–50 months in these casks. The wines are not filtered, and sulfur use is kept very low.

Closure selection is equally exacting. The cork is sourced through specialist artisans working exclusively with material at least 13 years old and of above-average density. Their cork crus come predominantly from south-facing hillside sites. Processing remains manual, with the material cut into squares; final control is analytical and rigorous, and the corks are fire-branded.

Caterina Carli’s central conviction is that wine is made in the vineyard. She devotes most of her work to the vines because quality begins with healthy plant material and natural care throughout growth. Organic cultivation is understood as an act of respect for the entire ecosystem, with biodiversity supporting both soil beauty and health.

Her approach combines old Montalcino practices with measured responses to climate change. Intervention is purposeful rather than formulaic: wild vegetation is retained where it protects soil and insects, and a fuller canopy is now preserved where it shields grapes from excessive heat. In the cellar, temperature control is accepted as a necessary tool for natural fermentation under warmer conditions.

Gambelli’s influence is expressed through a few concise priorities: intensive vineyard work, time, passion and absolute cleanliness. Caterina favours a small range and close personal control over every stage. Rather than create numerous labels by grading fruit of varying health and maturity, she seeks uniformly ready grapes and rejects what she does not like.

Large casks, long ageing and restrained intervention are intended to preserve vintage variation and territorial character rather than impose wood flavour. Caterina associates Sangiovese from Montalcino with harmony, balance, elegance, intensity and the capacity to age. Her belief that old vines retain memory is central to her understanding of Bosco: decades of adaptation are seen as enabling it to give balanced fruit under changing conditions.