Storia
A seventeenth-century farmhouse
Poggio al Vento occupies a historic country house dating from the 1600s. Before becoming an independent farm, it served as a home for sharecropping families.
1961 — the Mascelloni family takes possession
The Mascelloni family purchased Poggio al Vento in 1961 with a thirty-year mortgage from the Ente Maremma. The property was immediately reorganized as an independent, family-run agricultural enterprise.
Early 1970s — grain and bulk wine
Cereal and wine production began in the early 1970s. The wine was initially commercialized in 54-litre glass demijohns rather than conventional bottles.
1985 — a destructive freeze
An exceptional frost in 1985 brought temperatures down to −20°C and irreparably damaged every olive tree. The trees were cut back to their stumps and allowed to regenerate; they resumed bearing olives four years later. Additional trees representing selected varieties were also planted. After an eight-year wait, the farm began producing and marketing the olive oils that form its present range.
1994 — hospitality at the estate
Part of the property was converted to agritourism in 1994, adding guest accommodation to the family’s agricultural activity.
2000 — bottled Orcia DOC wine
The decisive change in wine production came in 2000. Poggio al Vento moved from a small local operation with a predominantly artisanal process to a more professional production model that included maturation in barriques. On Saint Valentine’s Day that year, the family bottled its first Sangiovese Orcia DOC. The Orcia denomination itself was established in the same year.
The resulting range comprises four red wines: one Toscana IGT and three Orcia DOC wines. Stated production capacity is 25,000 bottles annually.
The family today
Roberto Mascelloni, born in 1968 and raised in Val d'Orcia, joined the family enterprise after studying agriculture. He works alongside his parents, Lido and Marisa Mascelloni. Their farming is directed toward quality while observing ethical and environmental principles, and the enterprise is certified organic.
Terroir
Poggio al Vento lies in the municipality of Castiglione d'Orcia, in the hills of Val d'Orcia in Tuscany. The farmhouse stands in an isolated position about 5 km from San Quirico d'Orcia, at approximately 43.026399° N, 11.577424° E.
The vineyards occupy a hillside at 500 m above sea level. Published vineyard descriptions identify south-, north- and west-facing exposures. Their soils are described as clay-rich tuff with abundant coarse mineral material.
The property overlooks the rolling hills crossed by the Orcia River. Its wider panorama includes Monte Amiata, which reaches 1,738 m, Rocca d'Orcia and the Rocca di Tentennano, the crenellated twelfth-century Castello di Ripa d'Orcia, and the vineyard-patterned valleys around Montalcino. The vineyard landscape is accompanied by 2,700 olive trees, centuries-old oaks, and dense stands of pines and cypresses.
Vinificazione
Poggio al Vento cultivates grapes and olives under certified-organic management. The certification organization and the date on which certification began are not identified.
The vineyards are trained to spur-pruned cordon. Published block data give planting densities of 4,500–4,600 vines/ha and average yields of 1–1.5 kg per vine. All four documented red-wine harvests were picked by hand. Their harvest windows extended from the third week of September through the first week of October, depending on the variety, vineyard and release.
The estate grows Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Foglia Tonda. Foglia Tonda is presented as a native variety rediscovered in Tuscan vineyards; its name refers to the rounded rather than pointed form of its leaves.
Poggio al Vento’s modern bottled-wine phase began in 2000, when the cellar moved from small-scale local production to a professional process incorporating barrique maturation. Roberto Mascelloni describes his cellar work in artisanal terms, grounded in personal passion and the traditions of the territory.
Across the four documented red wines, grapes are harvested by hand from the third week of September to the first week of October. Fermentations and macerations take place without stems in stainless-steel tanks at a controlled maximum temperature of 28°C. Maceration lasts 14–18 days. Malolactic fermentation is completed in stainless steel.
Maturation varies across the range. Sangiovese may remain in stainless steel or mature for 12 months in French-oak barriques. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are matured in medium-toast French-oak barriques. Other lots mature for 18 months in new and used French-oak vessels described as 500-litre barriques, or for a minimum of 24 months in used 500-litre French-oak tonneaux. Blending is carried out in stainless-steel tanks. Bottling follows a coarse filtration. Depending on the cuvée, bottle maturation ranges from no stated minimum to at least 3 or 18 months.
Filosofia
The Mascelloni family frames Poggio al Vento around work, tradition, family unity, care for people and attachment to the land. Its stated objective is to transform the fruits of the farm into high-quality products while respecting ethical and environmental principles.
Roberto Mascelloni characterizes himself in the cellar as an artisan of wine: passionate, closely connected to local tradition and personally involved in production. The approach combines this artisanal identity with the professional cellar practices adopted in 2000, including controlled vinification and maturation in French oak. Certified-organic agriculture provides the environmental basis of the farming program.