Lamole di Lamole

Ancient viticultural and medieval roots

Vines and olive trees were already cultivated around Lamole in Roman times. During the Middle Ages, the Florentine Gherardini family built a castle to control the area. Most of the castle was subsequently lost, but its surviving cellars remained in use for ageing wine.

The estate’s historic cellar dates from the middle of the fourteenth century and once formed part of the Castle of Lamole. It still contains the ageing rooms and the vinsantaia, the dedicated cellar where Vinsanto matures.

1945 and the post-war estate

The Historic Vineyard was planted on 20 March 1945. It preserves 110 vines representing more than 30 recognized Sangiovese clones, with rows trained in the traditional alberello form.

Lamole di Lamole was established shortly after the Second World War. The medieval cellar remained the centre for maturation and Vinsanto, while the estate later added a modern winery nearby and a further facility in the valley at Greti.

Vineyard renewal

Campolungo was planted in several stages between 1982 and 2009. Il Prato combines alberello vines planted in March 1945 with newer plantings dating from 2009, 2011 and 2013.

Organic conversion and research

In 2005 the estate began a long-term conversion toward sustainable land management. The entire vineyard surface is now managed under certified organic farming. Alongside the preserved Historic Vineyard, an Experimental Vineyard is used to research, cultivate and conserve Sangiovese clones selected for their ability to adapt to Lamole’s environment. The programme aims to identify material particularly suited to the local terroir while reducing the need for human intervention.

2015 and Lam’Oro

The 2015 harvest produced the first vintage of Lam’Oro, conceived as a new Toscana IGT project for the estate. Its name combines “Lam,” from Lamole, with oro, the Italian word for gold, referring to the light of the high hills. The project selects its blend according to the vintage; in 2015 it combined Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in similar proportions.

Position and elevation

Lamole is a high-lying hamlet within the municipality of Greve in Chianti, in the central-northern to northern part of Chianti Classico. The estate’s vineyards extend from approximately 420 to 655 m above sea level, and the highest exceed 650 m, described as the upper altitudinal limit for Sangiovese in Tuscany.

Wooded escarpments, isolated houses and narrow cultivated terraces shape the landscape. The predominantly southern, southwestern and western exposures receive intense light and regular breezes. Strong differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures continue through July and August, slowing ripening and helping Sangiovese retain aromatic freshness and acidity.

Geology and soils

The soils are highly draining and dominated by ochre-coloured sandstone known as macigno toscano. This is interspersed with galestro, a flaky clay schist, and hard, stratified alberese limestone. Conditions vary from hard underlying rock, penetrated by roots through fissures, to loose, sandy and crumbly material. Campolungo also lies over a large bed of quartz.

Terraces and dry-stone walls

Lamole’s cultivated platforms are associated with the old words lama and lamulae, meaning flat blades of ground set into steep slopes. These stratified terraces are also connected with the name Lamole.

Kilometres of dry-stone walls were built by hand over centuries using local stone. They create cultivable ground, restrain the downhill loss of topsoil, reflect daylight toward the vines and stimulate photosynthesis. The stones store solar heat by day and release it after nightfall. Their continued maintenance is both an agronomic practice and an act of landscape conservation.

Local flora and seasonal conditions

Iris, locally called giaggiolo, and flowering gorse scent the hills in late spring as the vines flower. The iris was historically an important local crop and continues to appear among Lamole’s fields and vineyards.

Certified organic management

The sustainable conversion begun in 2005 developed into certified organic management across the estate’s entire vineyard surface. Organic farming is treated as a means of preserving the land rather than simply an administrative objective. Synthetic substances are excluded from vineyard management, with priority given to the health and biological balance of the soil.

Circular composting

Vine prunings and stalks left from the harvest are transformed into organic compost. Fermentation continues for several years, allowing potential pests to be eliminated and the material to become a nutrient-rich natural soil amendment. Returning this material to the vineyard reduces waste and the need for outside inputs.

Plant defence

Resistance inducers based on aloe, propolis, seaweed and orange oil are used to stimulate the vines’ own defence systems. These natural preparations strengthen cell walls, encourage the accumulation of reserves and help the plant respond to external attacks. Vineyard protection relies on natural substances rather than synthetic chemical products.

Annual vineyard cycle

The cycle begins with winter pruning. Ploughing and earthing-up at the end of March prepare the soil. In May and June, shoots are selected manually and a second ploughing controls weeds without chemical herbicides while improving water absorption. Summer canopy work is calibrated to Lamole’s altitude: enough foliage is retained to shade clusters during the hottest hours and prevent sunburn while still admitting the light required for polyphenolic ripening.

Shallow summer cultivation breaks the compact surface layer, interrupts capillary water rise, reduces evaporation and retains moisture deeper in the root zone. Harvest is carried out by hand between September and October so that healthy, intact fruit can be selected.

Terraces and biodiversity

The dry-stone terraces are maintained to prevent erosion, regulate heat and light around the vines and preserve a centuries-old cultivated landscape. The Experimental Vineyard conserves diverse Sangiovese clones and investigates which selections adapt best to local conditions with the least intervention.

Production is distributed across three facilities: the mid-fourteenth-century historic cellar, a modern winery nearby and another facility in the valley at Greti. The modern vinification cellar provides contemporary processing technology, while the historic structure contains the ageing rooms, large oak casks, barriques and the vinsantaia.

Harvesting is manual. Fruit selection begins in the vineyard and continues in the winery; destemmed berries can pass through an optical sorter before fermentation. Large traditional casks are favoured where a restrained oak influence is sought, while barriques are also used according to the intended composition and maturation regime.

Vinsanto follows a distinct traditional process. Bunches from Ridaldi are laid on mats to dry from September until the beginning of January. After pressing, the must is transferred immediately into 50–100 litre caratelli made from oak and chestnut, where it ferments and matures for at least three years in the vinsantaia.