Enzo Tiezzi

Seventeenth-century antecedents

Viticulture on the steep approach to Montalcino was documented in 1676 by Bartolomeo Gherardini, Auditor General in Siena under Cosimo III de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. His account described carefully maintained Moscatelli plantings on rocky, rugged and sharply sloping ground, where retaining walls supported the vines. The estate associates this historical description with the small Moscadello vineyard at Podere San Carlo.

Riccardo Paccagnini and Podere Soccorso

The early history of Podere Soccorso is tied to Professor Riccardo Paccagnini, an agronomist and oenologist regarded within the estate’s family narrative as a pioneer of Brunello and one of the first Montalcino figures to attend to its commercial development. In 1870 he produced, from the Soccorso vineyard, a wine carrying the name “Brunello” on its label. It received distinctions in Rome, Paris, Marseille and Bordeaux. Nineteenth-century diplomas, medals and prizes connected with Brunello Soccorso remain preserved at the estate.

Between 1870 and 1907 Paccagnini worked in the historic cellar at Soccorso, producing one of Montalcino’s early single-vineyard wines. Ten-hectolitre oval Slavonian oak casks associated with his approach to Brunello maturation are retained there. Podere Soccorso was also his country residence.

Enzo Tiezzi’s professional path

Enzo Tiezzi built his career as a Montalcino agronomist and oenologist, working in the Siena area and particularly in Montalcino. Before establishing the family estate, he held senior positions and served as director or oenological consultant to established agricultural properties. His experience also led to leadership responsibilities within the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino, including service as an executive and president.

During the 1970s Enzo supported the development and formal recognition of Rosso di Montalcino. The wine had previously been treated as table wine; his efforts contributed to its recognition as a DOC.

Founding the family estate

Enzo began producing his own Brunello from Cerrino in 1980. During the 1980s he decided to operate independently, founding the estate that bears the Tiezzi family name through the purchase of Cerrino. Cigaleta was acquired a few years later, followed by San Carlo and Poggio Scopeto. The first Brunello bearing the Tiezzi name and sourced from Cerrino reached the market in 1985.

The return of Podere Soccorso

In 1999 Enzo acquired the historic Podere Soccorso, which had belonged to a relative of his wife, Maria Vittoria. After a long period of neglect and abandonment, the property was restored and incorporated into the estate. It became the operational heart of Tiezzi Vini, housing the winery, offices, direct-sales facilities and agriturismo.

The same year marked Monica Tiezzi’s active entry into the business. Having followed her father’s work from an early age, she left medicine to work alongside him. Her responsibilities came to include sustainability, organic certification, expansion of the agriturismo and the development of cellar hospitality. Her approach follows Enzo’s principles of respecting the territory, nature and vineyards, limiting cellar intervention and closely observing fermentation and maturation rather than directing them aggressively.

Monica and Enzo subsequently revived elements of Montalcino tradition, including the return of cement fermentation vessels and the replanting of Moscadello. They also developed foreign markets while strengthening sales in Italy. Monica’s daughter Rachele was born in 1999 and later joined Enzo and Monica in the family management, bringing three generations together.

New vineyards and renewed historical references

Vigna Tre Querci was planted beside the older Poggio Cerrino vineyard in 2017. That same vintage marked Poggio Cerrino’s establishment as a separately identified estate cru alongside Vigna Soccorso. Tre Querci produced its first Brunello from the 2021 harvest, becoming the estate’s third Brunello. Its label adapts the first design used by Tiezzi in the 1980s.

A second Rosso di Montalcino, Per il Babbo, was introduced from the 2021 vintage as a tribute to Enzo and as a practical consequence of the estate’s focus on individual crus: selected Sangiovese from recently acquired or non-cru vineyards, principally San Carlo and Poggio Scopeto, could be assembled separately. From the 2022 vintage, the estate’s established Rosso di Montalcino was instead presented as a cru from Vigna Poggio Cerrino.

The family also restored the historical connection between Moscadello and Paccagnini. The wine comes from the replanted Moscadellaia at San Carlo and carries a recreated version of the label Paccagnini designed for his late-nineteenth-century Moscatello.

A dispersed Montalcino estate

The approximately 12-hectare property is divided among five farm units in different parts of Montalcino. About 6.5 hectares are planted with Sangiovese, approximately 0.5 hectare with Moscadello, two hectares with olive trees and groves, and two hectares with woodland. This dispersed configuration places vineyards at elevations ranging from about 350 metres at Cerrino and Cigaleta to 500 metres at San Carlo and about 560 metres at Soccorso.

Cerrino and Cigaleta

Cerrino lies about two kilometres northeast of Montalcino along the Brunello road toward Siena, at approximately 350 metres. The Poggio Cerrino soils are predominantly clay, with abundant limestone and stony material, calcium agglomerates and fossils. Sandy portions also contain marly schist and alberese stones. The central vines are over 50 years old.

The adjacent Tre Querci vineyard occupies ground where soil composition changes within a short distance and the limestone component becomes more pronounced. Three old turkey oaks rise above the site. The name links both these trees and the Cerrino place-name with Quercus cerris.

Cigaleta contains approximately 50-year-old vineyards undergoing renovation, together with old olive groves.

Podere Soccorso

Soccorso stands a short walk from Montalcino’s historic centre, beside the fourteenth-century walls and the Santuario della Madonna del Soccorso, from which the property takes its name. At about 560 metres, the vineyard forms an amphitheatre: it initially faces north, then turns west and southwest.

The soil is loose and silty-sandy, with coarse material derived from sedimentary rock and arenites. Large magmatic and sedimentary rocks lie beneath the friable upper layer. The terraced vineyard resembles a stepped garden, bounded by hand-laid stone walls and integrated with roses, Mediterranean aromatic plants, wild berries, fruit trees and olives.

San Carlo and Poggio Scopeto

San Carlo and Poggio Scopeto lie below Soccorso. They are reached from the Vicolo del Topo, a narrow, winding historic mule track that circles the town walls and passes medieval approaches and small masonry gates.

San Carlo retains a traditional mixed-cropping landscape in which olive and fruit trees grow among short, low rows of Sangiovese and Moscadello. Its small Moscadellaia lies at approximately 500 metres on the steep, rocky, wall-supported approach to Montalcino.

The slopes become pronounced at Poggio Scopeto. Its upper-Montalcino terraces have remained intact for more than a century. Centuries-old olive trees stand within round dry-stone walls, while Sangiovese occupies the surrounding terraces.

All vineyards are farmed organically by the Tiezzi family and trusted workers. The viticultural approach emphasizes attentive agronomic care, low yields, manual pruning and hand harvesting. Crop thinning and meticulous bunch selection are used to control production and retain the most suitable fruit.

Training varies by site. Cerrino, Cigaleta and Poggio Scopeto use spurred cordon. The older part of Cerrino includes vines grafted in place and derived from massal selection. Vigna Soccorso is bush-trained, eliminating posts and wires to reduce visual impact within its terraced setting. San Carlo preserves mixed cultivation: low Sangiovese rows use spurred cordon, while Moscadello follows the traditional Tuscan capovolto system. Olive trees, fruit trees, roses, aromatic plants, wild berries and woodland form part of the agricultural landscape around the vines.

Harvesting is manual throughout the estate. Recent technical descriptions give site- and vintage-dependent yields ranging from approximately 30 to 65 quintals/ha. The estate identifies Monica Tiezzi’s responsibilities as including sustainability and organic certification, although no certification body or initial certification year is identified.

Cellar structure

The winery is organized over three levels. One section is completely underground, a second is semi-underground to reduce the building’s architectural impact, and the third is the historic cellar in which Riccardo Paccagnini worked between 1870 and 1907. Historic ten-hectolitre oval Slavonian oak casks are preserved there.

Fermentation

Production follows a deliberately traditional, low-intervention regime. Fermentations are slow, prolonged and spontaneous, commonly lasting about 30–40 days for the estate’s red wines. Wooden vats and unlined cement tanks are used, with steel employed for selected lots and styles. Fermentation proceeds without temperature control or added commercial yeast, relying on indigenous, unselected yeasts. Extraction is managed through manual pump-overs. Recent production descriptions also refer to restrained sulfiting.

Maturation

The principal red wines mature in large Slavonian oak casks rather than small new barrels. The cellar uses capacities of 10, 40 and 50 hl. Maturation is monitored through repeated tasting. For Brunello, oak aging can extend beyond three years, followed by bottle maturation; the historical production description specifies at least six months in bottle, while current bottlings vary according to wine and vintage. Bottle aging is treated as an essential stage rather than a simple pre-release holding period.

Cement vessels were reintroduced as part of Enzo and Monica’s effort to reinterpret older Montalcino practices. Steel is used for Moscadello and rosato production and for part of the maturation of the second Rosso. The rosato revives the saignée method: must is drawn from fermenting Sangiovese after limited skin contact and vinified separately. Moscadello ferments spontaneously in steel without temperature control or added yeast.