Piombaia

The Rossi origins

Piombaia’s history begins in the first half of the 20th century with Mario Rossi and his wife Carolina. Both worked as farm managers and privately cultivated part of the Pecci family holding. Carolina descended from a branch of the Pecci, an old noble family of Montalcino. This activity formed the entrepreneurial foundation of the future estate.

The Rossi and Cantini families unite

The Cantini family entered the story when Vittorio Cantini, a Pisan farm manager employed at another estate, married Mario and Carolina’s daughter Lida. Vittorio and Lida subsequently acquired additional land, including the Piombaia farm, joining the Rossi family’s Montalcino roots with the Cantini family’s Pisan origins.

Vittorio died prematurely. Lida continued to run the business with advice and practical support from her brother Remo, who was preparing for the priesthood.

Expansion in the Brunello era

During the 1980s, amid the expansion of the Brunello wine sector, the family acquired the property where the agriturismo would later be established. The next phase was led by Vittorio and Lida’s son Roberto Cantini, born in 1950. Although he also worked in banking, Roberto managed the family enterprise for many years. He modernized its business structure and developed its hospitality activities, including the renovation of the Montalcino farmhouse La Crocina.

The agriturismo began operating in 1995 in a traditional rural building. The project preserved the farmhouse character while adapting the property for guest accommodation and estate visits.

Organic and biodynamic transition

In 2008 the family adopted organic and biodynamic principles. The transition changed both daily work and the broader relationship with the farm: synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides and large agricultural machines were rejected in favor of natural cycles, manual work, biodiversity and horses moving through the vineyards.

Francesco Cantini, who studied agriculture, assumed responsibility for farming and production in 2009. His interest in alternative and sustainable methods was instrumental in introducing biodynamics to the estate.

Fifth-generation management

Roberto eventually transferred day-to-day responsibility to his children Vittorio, Francesco and Cecilia, the fifth generation of the Rossi-Cantini family. Roberto remained the owner and, together with the siblings’ mother Stefania, continued to supervise their work.

Vittorio took responsibility for the technical and daily management of the agricultural business and for the agriturismo. Francesco directed agriculture and production. Cecilia handled communication and tastings and assisted Vittorio with hospitality before becoming a full-time mother; she continues to follow the estate from a distance.

The operating team expanded over the following decade. Maurizio Giannelli joined in 2015, Almudena Prieto in 2017, Federico Cantini and Agron Sikaj in 2019, and Ambra Vegni in 2020. Matteo Manzoni became cellar manager in 2025 after professional experience at wineries in Italy and abroad.

Piombaia has followed organic and biodynamic principles since 2008. The change eliminated synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides and the use of large agricultural machinery from its stated approach.

The vineyard is treated as the center of the estate’s work. Practices include sensitive pruning, green manure, crop rotation, mechanical pest control and plant- and mineral-based crop-protection products. Fertility is supported primarily with compost made from solid farmyard manure and plant material. Plants and flowers are intended to feed the subsoil and assist vine growth.

Horses move freely through the vineyards, providing natural weed control and replacing tractors in vineyard tasks. This approach is intended to protect the rhythms of the land while strengthening soil and vine fertility and vitality through natural means.

The surrounding woodland, undergrowth, resident fauna and biodiversity are regarded as parts of a self-regulating living system rather than as elements separate from the vines. Harvesting is carried out strictly by hand.

Cellar work is deliberately gentle in relation to the intensive manual attention given to the vineyards. Fermentation takes place in tanks without temperature control and begins spontaneously, without added yeasts or sulphites. Wines intended for wood remain there for extended maturation, and cellar interventions are restricted by minimizing both racking and filtration.

The wines mature in barrels before bottling. The objective is to leave each wine as free as possible to express the fruit, growing season and vineyard rather than impose a standardized profile. Grapes and other agricultural products are processed directly by the owners through a combination of inherited farming practice and modern innovation.