Storia
Ancient roots
The land occupied by Fattoria Quercia al Poggio preserves a history that predates the modern estate. Etruscans and Romans inhabited the area, followed in later centuries by nobles and subjects of the Florentine Republic. This succession of cultures left material remains and enduring local traditions among the vineyards and olive groves.
The monastery and the rural village
During the Napoleonic period, Vallombrosan monks expelled from the nearby Badia di Passignano under Napoleonic laws found shelter within the estate's substantial walls. The monastic connection contributed a spiritual dimension to the rural landscape.
The operational heart of the estate developed within a 19th-century farming village. Its surviving farmhouses include the former convent, while the old cellars form part of the same historic complex.
The Rossi family project
The modern chapter began in 1997 with the project conceived by Michela and Vittorio and associated with the Rossi family. Their programme was intended to recover buildings as well as local memories, inherited customs, traditional knowledge and a respectful relationship with nature.
The buildings were modernised so that the village could once again support agricultural work. The project addressed all 15 hectares of vineyard, replanting vines while recovering native Tuscan varieties. Sangiovese was progressively replanted through clonal selection and propagation material taken from part of the old Vigna le Cataste vineyard. Additional ground was devoted to Ciliegiolo, Canaiolo, Malvasia Nera and Colorino.
The historic cellars were restored at the same time. Medium-sized wooden vessels were introduced for maturation, linking the renewed facilities to a production philosophy centred on Sangiovese and other indigenous grapes.
The estate's first recorded Chianti Classico and Vin Santo vintages date from 1997. The first vintage of Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna le Cataste followed in 2012. The contemporary estate continues to present itself as a meeting point between the memory of the old village and an outward-looking future.
Terroir
Fattoria Quercia al Poggio lies at Monsanto, in the commune of Barberino Tavarnelle, in the heart of the Chianti Classico area. The estate occupies gentle slopes within one of the most heavily wooded parts of central Tuscany. Native pine, cypress, durmast and oak woods form a ring around the cultivated land.
The vineyards stand at approximately 400 metres above sea level on a hill with two principal aspects. One side overlooks the northern valley toward Barberino Tavarnelle, while the other faces the sunnier slope toward Castellina in Chianti. Vigna le Cataste has a more specific north-western exposure toward Barberino Val d'Elsa. The vineyards used for Vin Santo face south and south-east.
The dominant soils are clay-limestone, enriched by schist and galestro marl, with sandstone also occurring in parts of the vineyards. This combination, together with the hill's contrasting exposures and the surrounding woodland, is associated with structured wines intended for medium- and long-term maturation.
The encircling woods shelter the vineyards and help maintain clean air around them. Air currents arriving from the Tyrrhenian Sea moderate cold conditions, reduce the risk of spring frost and temper daytime temperatures. At 400 metres, the vineyards are described as benefiting from clean air without major temperature fluctuations. The interaction of altitude, maritime air and woodland creates the estate's protected microclimate.
Vinificazione
The vineyards are cultivated within an explicitly organic and biodynamic approach. The organic status is certified under control code MIPAAF IT BIO 014, operator no. 10683, with EU agricultural origin indicated. No biodynamic certifying body is identified.
Vineyard renewal has combined modern planting methods with research into clones and rootstocks. Sangiovese was progressively replanted through clonal selection, including the use of propagation material from the old Vigna le Cataste vineyard. The programme also preserved and replanted indigenous Tuscan grapes: Ciliegiolo, Canaiolo, Malvasia Nera and Colorino.
The agricultural philosophy follows natural and seasonal rhythms, including observation of lunar and stellar cycles. Work is presented as a continuing dialogue with the land rather than a fixed annual formula, with each growing season treated as a new challenge.
Grapes documented for the principal estate bottlings are harvested by hand. The surrounding woods, cultivated ground, olive groves and arable land are managed as parts of the same 100 ha environment, with emphasis on preserving native flora and fauna and using natural resources carefully.
The production facilities occupy restored historic cellars within the 19th-century rural village. Their renewal formed part of the 1997 rehabilitation programme, when medium-sized wooden vessels were introduced for maturation. An ageing cellar measuring approximately 6 × 5 m also serves as one of the estate's tasting spaces.
The principal red-wine process is traditional vinification in temperature-controlled stainless-steel and cement vessels. Depending on the selection, maceration may be medium-long or long. Maturation uses oak vessels of medium size, including 5 hl and 27 hl barrels. The estate's Chianti Classico programme is built around a principal selection of Sangiovese and traditional native grapes, with smaller Sangiovese-led selections receiving longer maturation in wood and bottle. The Gran Selezione comes from the oldest vineyard.
A separate traditional process is retained for Vin Santo. Whole bunches are suspended from the ceiling of a well-ventilated drying room for three to four months. After the grapes reach the required concentration, berries are detached from the stems by hand and gently pressed in small specialised presses. The resulting juice is placed in caratelli together with the estate's madre, the concentrated residue preserved from earlier vintages. Maturation lasts five to six years in oak and chestnut caratelli of different sizes.
Filosofia
The estate's guiding idea is the recovery of a living rural culture rather than the restoration of buildings alone. Its modern project joins inherited customs, traditional agricultural knowledge and contemporary vineyard research, with nature treated with the respect attributed to earlier inhabitants of the area.
Work in the vineyard is aligned with seasonal, lunar and natural rhythms. At the same time, the estate employs modern planting techniques, clonal selection and rootstock research to express the potential of its indigenous grapes. Tradition and technical development are therefore presented as complementary rather than opposing forces.
Environmental responsibility is expressed through certified organic farming, a stated biodynamic vocation, protection of native flora and fauna, attention to natural resources and management of the vineyards within a larger wooded and mixed-farming landscape.
Wine is understood as the outcome of labour, place and accumulated human stories rather than merely a chemical transformation of grapes. The contemporary objective is to preserve the memory embedded in the village, vineyards and cellars while maintaining a clear orientation toward the future.