Storia
The family estate since 1865
The Tornesi family has owned the eponymous Montalcino property since 1865. Wine has long been part of the estate’s activity, and successive members of the family were born, lived and worked there, enlarging and developing it over time. A medal awarded to an ancestor of the present owner is preserved as evidence of the family’s attachment to its origins.
Gino Tornesi and Brunello
In 1967, Gino Tornesi registered the family vineyards for Brunello production. He became one of the first members—and is also described as one of the founding members—of the newly established Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino. At that stage Tornesi participated as a grower and producer rather than as a bottler.
Maurizio Tornesi begins commercial production
Gino’s son Maurizio began the estate’s production and commercial activity in 1993. The first Rosso di Montalcino was produced that year. The first Tornesi Brunello also came from the 1993 harvest and was released in 1998, marking the estate’s transition from grape and bulk-wine production to a bottled family label.
A new cellar
A purpose-built cellar opened in 2009. Constructed with locally sourced stone in a deliberately traditional style, it was designed to limit its visual impact on the surrounding landscape while providing the equipment required for production. The building also incorporated a tasting room and the panoramic Terrazza del Cuculo overlooking the Val d’Orcia and Monte Amiata.
The present generation
Maurizio subsequently led the estate with his daughter Elisa. Renata, Maurizio’s wife and Elisa’s mother, participates in vineyard work and hospitality, while the elder Renata—Elisa’s grandmother—remained an active presence at harvest, supervising the younger generations and passing on her experience. She died in March 2021. Today Elisa continues the family project alongside her father and mother, personally following the estate’s work and welcoming visitors.
Terroir
Tornesi’s vineyards occupy two markedly different parts of the Montalcino area, around the Benducce hill and Castelnuovo dell’Abate. They differ in altitude, exposure and soil expression, providing contrasting components for the wines.
Elevations extend from approximately 300 to 600 metres above sea level, with an additional high vineyard reference at about 610 metres. Exposures are predominantly south and south-west; individual technical descriptions also identify south-east and south-west sectors.
The soils are principally stony galestro—marl-rich ground with abundant skeletal material—which promotes the drainage of rainwater. Part of the vineyard remains on traditional Tuscan terraces.
The local microclimate is influenced by proximity to both the sea and Monte Amiata. Fruit from the vineyards at around 300 metres is associated with greater structure, while the approximately 600-metre vineyards produce more elegant and fragrant expressions. Late-season day-to-night temperature variation helped the Montalcino fruit complete ripening in 2019; that year Castelnuovo was harvested in September, followed by the Montalcino vineyards after several additional days.
Vinificazione
The vineyards are managed through guided-control and ecological practices. Herbicides are not used, and fertility is maintained with organic fertilizer. The same meticulous environmental approach extends to the family’s olive groves.
Most vineyard operations are performed manually. The family describes this hands-on work as care entrusted to experienced, mature hands and connects it to respect for both the land and the people working it. The vines are trained as balanced unilateral spurred cordons at a stated density of 4,600 plants per hectare. Yields generally range from 60 to 70 quintals of grapes per hectare.
Harvest is manual and normally falls between September and October, depending on site and variety. The two vineyard areas can ripen at different times: in 2019 Castelnuovo was picked in September, while the Montalcino fruit remained on the vine several days longer. Renata, Elisa and other team members cut the bunches by hand, while Maurizio received the grapes in the cellar and made the final decisions. Grapes intended for Vinsanto are also selected by hand before drying.
Seasonal conditions are assessed closely. In 2019 the family monitored frost and hail risk and credited late day-to-night temperature variation with completing ripening. During the dry 2022 season, the family feared serious losses but ultimately harvested healthy fruit.
The present cellar was built in 2009 from local stone. Although equipped for modern production, its architecture deliberately follows a classical, traditional idiom and minimizes its impact on the landscape. Separate areas accommodate vinification and maturation, and the family follows production personally from harvest through bottling.
Across the red-wine range, alcoholic fermentation is spontaneous, without added yeast. Initial pump-overs are intensive, with the temperature maintained at or below 30°C. The Sangiovese wines receive either medium or long skin maceration according to the intended style. Brunello fermentation is described in 50-hL oak vessels.
The principal Brunello matures for 24–30 months in 7–30-hL Slavonian oak casks. Benducce 570 matures for 30 months in 25-hL Slavonian oak, while Brunello Riserva spends 36 months in 7–30-hL Slavonian oak and is released six years after harvest. Riserva is made only in the best vintages from a selection of the best grapes.
Younger Sangiovese is matured for six months in steel followed by six months in bottle. Ciliegiolo Gino passes through steel, barrel and bottle. Vinsanto grapes are selected by hand and dried in the Tuscan tradition before the wine undergoes five years of maturation in small oak and chestnut caratelli.
Filosofia
Tornesi defines itself through continuity between generations. Vineyard and cellar knowledge passes from older family members to younger ones through shared work, supervision and correction during the agricultural cycle. The family sees progress as inseparable from the memory and practical experience of preceding generations.
The stated approach combines stubborn commitment, manual work and respect for native land, local traditions and the people involved in production. The family aims for its wines to reflect the character of the person who makes them and personally follows every stage from picking to bottling.
Tradition also shapes the physical estate: part of the vineyard retains old Tuscan terraces, and the modern cellar was built in local stone to fit the surrounding landscape. Ecological cultivation, organic fertilization and the exclusion of herbicides form the environmental expression of this philosophy.
As independent growers, Maurizio and Elisa identify with a close relationship between winegrower, territory and production. Hospitality follows the same principle: tastings are led by family members or people closely connected to them so that visitors encounter the family, its food and the working rhythms of Montalcino together.