Storia
Acquisition and development
Le Tavolelle entered the Zingarelli family’s holdings in 1998. The acquisition formed part of a plan to improve and diversify the production base of Rocca delle Macìe. The property comprised 22 hectares, approximately 15 hectares of which were planted with Sangiovese; the detailed estate inventory records 15.1 hectares under vine.
A dedicated facility for the bottle maturation of selected red wines was established within the property, giving Le Tavolelle a role not only as a Sangiovese-growing estate but also as an ageing site within the family’s production structure.
Winegrowing development under family ownership
Le Tavolelle became part of the family holdings during the quality-focused phase initiated by Sergio Zingarelli in the 1990s. The programme sought higher-quality fruit and an oenological process centred first on the quality of the grapes and then on the finished wines.
From 2000, the family progressively abandoned a number of environmentally invasive techniques and adopted an internal sustainability protocol intended to reduce pressure on water, air and soil. A further technical step followed in 2010, when agronomist and oenologist Lorenzo Landi began advising Andrea Zingarelli and the technical team on vineyard and cellar decisions. In 2021, the sustainability programme was supported by the VIVA certification process for the wine sector.
Terroir
Le Tavolelle belongs to the family’s group of estates in the Chianti Classico area of Tuscany. Its vineyards extend across elevations of 217–302 metres above sea level.
The soils derive from Miocene deposits and have a clay-loam texture. They are described as slightly alkaline. These characteristics apply to the estate’s 15.1 hectares of Sangiovese vineyards.
Vinificazione
Le Tavolelle is managed within the Zingarelli family’s sustainability programme. Beginning in 2000, the family abandoned numerous environmentally invasive techniques and introduced an internal protocol designed to rationalise the use of water, air and soil, prevent unnecessary consumption of natural resources and reduce the effects of human activity on ecosystem balance.
Vineyard management combines contemporary monitoring technology with established agricultural practices. The programme includes:
- vineyard-health and phytosanitary warning systems supported by installed weather stations;
- infrared mapping of vineyard vigour and condition;
- monitoring of harmful insects and the introduction of antagonistic insects;
- mating disruption using pheromones;
- beehives positioned along vineyard margins;
- organic fertilisers and green manure;
- recovery of rainwater and wastewater.
The VIVA certification process, adopted in 2021, evaluates sustainability through four indicators: Air, covering the climate footprint; Water, covering the water footprint; Vineyard, assessing the effects of agronomic management; and Territory, addressing socioeconomic and cultural impacts.
Le Tavolelle contains a cellar specifically dedicated to the bottle maturation of selected red wines. This gives the property a defined production role beyond growing Sangiovese: it serves as an ageing location for bottled selections within the Zingarelli family’s wider cellar system.
Production is guided by a quality programme that places grape quality at the beginning of the oenological process. Technical decisions are overseen by Andrea Zingarelli and the estate team with the support of consulting agronomist and oenologist Lorenzo Landi.
Filosofia
Le Tavolelle was acquired to improve and diversify the family’s production base. Its management consequently sits within a broader philosophy that places vineyard quality, territorial identity and family continuity at the centre of production.
The family describes drinkability as only the starting point: a wine should also convey an idea and evoke the landscape beyond the glass. This approach has encouraged a transition from treating vineyards merely as a source of grapes to examining their individual, internally consistent plots as the basis for wines with distinct territorial character.
Modern production technology is combined with knowledge retained by long-standing employees and passed between generations. Environmental responsibility is treated as part of territorial identity, with the land regarded as an asset to be protected through measured resource use, ecosystem-conscious vineyard management and formal sustainability assessment.