History
Montosoli before Baricci
Montosoli has been associated with winegrowing for at least five centuries. The first local settlement was centred on the villa bearing the hill’s name, built in 1555 by the architect Baldassarre Peruzzi. The historic Fattoria di Montosoli had its own cellar and olive mill and incorporated several farms, including Colombaio. By about two centuries ago, Montosoli was already widely regarded among Montalcinesi as one of Montalcino’s best places for wine production. In Nello Baricci’s youth, wines from the fattoria regularly won the annual competition organised by the Enoteca Italiana di Siena.
1921–1955: from sharecropping to ownership
Nello Baricci was born in Montalcino on 26 May 1921 into a family of Montalcino sharecroppers and vine growers. He married Ada in 1946.
The 1950s brought rural abandonment and migration to the cities. Montalcino, then among Italy’s poorest municipalities, saw its population fall rapidly from 12,000 to 2,000. Nello chose to remain on the land. Having long known Montosoli’s reputation, he invested the family’s hard-earned savings and, with financing from the Cassa Contadina, made the transition from sharecropper to proprietor.
In 1955 the Baricci family purchased the small Podere Colombaio di Montosoli and founded the estate. Its land lay on the east and southeast side of Montosoli, selected for its sunlight, soil and microclimate. At the time, Brunello was still little known and made in small quantities by only a few committed producers. Nello restored the house and cellar, reorganised and enlarged the existing vineyards, eventually bringing them to 3 ha.
1966–1971: registration, the Consorzio and the first wines
On 10 October 1966, Baricci became the first estate established on Montosoli to enter vineyards in the Brunello register at the Siena Chamber of Commerce. The estate identifies this year as its first expansion.
In 1967 Nello became one of the 24 founders of the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino and its first signatory. The producers formed the association to protect, defend and promote a wine whose prestige was beginning to grow. Nello served as vice-president for several years and subsequently sat on its board of directors.
Baricci produced its first Rosso di Montalcino in 1968. Its first commercial Brunello di Montalcino was the 1971 vintage; in addition to wood maturation, that wine spent time in the cellar’s striking pink cement tanks.
1980–2009: DOCG, renewal and the third generation
Nello received the first official DOCG numbered strip in 1980. The Brunello di Montalcino 1983 later earned Baricci’s first Tre Bicchieri in the 1989 edition of Vini d’Italia. The estate records 1988 as a year of renewal, without defining the works or organisational changes involved.
The third generation joined the estate in 2009. Nello’s grandsons Federico and Francesco Buffi subsequently took responsibility for carrying the family name forward, continuing the work at Colombaio Montosoli through an approach centred on tradition, commitment and close involvement with the land.
Nello’s legacy
Nello remained closely identified with Montosoli throughout his life. He died in hospital in Siena at the age of 95. His work encompassed the restoration and expansion of the original vineyards, reconstruction of the house and cellar, participation in the institutional development of Brunello, and the transmission of the estate to his grandsons. Federico and Francesco continue to lead Baricci as its third generation.
Terroir
Location and relief
The estate lies in the northern part of Montalcino, facing towards Siena, at approximately 280 m above sea level. Podere Colombaio occupies land on Montosoli between the hill of Montalcino and the Valdarbia plain. The estate’s vineyards form a contiguous body on the hill and face predominantly south and southeast, receiving sunlight throughout the day.
Montalcino’s hill shelters the area from the southerly scirocco. Montosoli stands at the meeting point of the maestrale, tramontana and levante winds, making it cool and well ventilated. Night-time temperatures are cooler than in other parts of Montalcino, and the pronounced summer diurnal range supports steady, measured ripening.
Climate and water
The microclimate tends to be dry, with rain arriving from Atlantic systems. Wind naturally limits humidity. Seasonal temperatures remain comparatively moderate in hot years, while the soil’s drainage is advantageous in wet seasons.
Soils
The stony, lean and difficult-to-work ground combines marl, quartz-rich schist and galestro in a medium-textured matrix of Pliocene marine origin. Rainwater does not remain on the surface: it supplies the roots and drains away. These conditions are regarded as particularly suited to pure Sangiovese.
Historical vocation
Montosoli has been associated with wine for at least five centuries. Its reputation as one of Montalcino’s preferred places for wine was already established among local growers around two centuries ago, well before Brunello achieved international prominence.
Winemaking
Work begins in spring with close, daily observation from bud development through the ripening of the bunches. Three selection passes are made during the summer so that only the most suitable fruit remains for harvest.
Both mechanical and manual vineyard work are used, requiring substantial labour to avoid herbicides and provide detailed care to vines and grapes. Harvest usually occurs in the final week of September, earlier than in the past as the climate has changed. All grapes are picked by hand, inspected and selected before entering the cellar. Harvest normally takes about three days, allowing the team to choose the picking window around the grapes’ best degree of maturity.
Cellar and harvest reception
The cellar has always occupied rooms beneath the family residence, keeping the route from the adjoining Montosoli vineyards to the winery short. Harvest is entirely manual. Three vineyard selections during summer are followed by inspection and selection of the bunches before cellar reception. The harvest normally lasts about three days.
Fermentation
The grapes ferment in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks. Alcoholic fermentation generally lasts slightly less than 20 days, with regular pump-overs. The underlying process has remained in use for decades; newer technology is employed to improve precision and the organisation of cellar work, while the individual cellar worker remains decisive in shaping the wine’s identity.
Maturation
Maturation takes place in medium-to-large Slavonian oak casks with capacities from 20 to 40 hL. Brunello rests in cask for approximately 36 months, while Rosso matures for slightly less than one year. The combination of Slavonian oak, large cask format and extended ageing is central to the estate’s traditional approach and its aim of preserving the ruby character of Sangiovese rather than following newer stylistic trends. Another historical account gives Brunello at least three years in cask followed by eight months in bottle.
Total annual production is approximately 30,000 bottles: about 12,000 Brunello di Montalcino and 18,000 Rosso di Montalcino.
Philosophy
Baricci’s identity is built around continuity between family, land and Sangiovese at Montosoli. The family presents wine as an expression of the bond between its place of origin and the people who cultivate it, embracing the principle that wine should convey truth.
The approach gives priority to patient vineyard work. Nello’s maxim—what the earth gives depends on what has first been given to it—summarises a belief that quality is established in the vineyard rather than created only in the cellar.
In production, established methods are retained while technology is accepted where it improves precision and working efficiency. Technology does not replace individual judgement: the hand of the person making the wine is considered decisive to its identity. Slavonian oak, large casks and long maturation are maintained as defining choices, with resistance to stylistic trends that might obscure Sangiovese’s ruby colour and the character of Montosoli. The intended profiles are freshness and balance for Rosso and elegance, finesse and drinkability for Brunello.
Family continuity is equally central. Federico and Francesco’s decision to work alongside their grandfather and continue as the third generation represents the transmission of practical knowledge, responsibility and an honest, committed way of working.