History
1989 — From Rome to Montalcino
The Angel family’s wine venture began in 1989. The three sisters’ father, then a young Roman lawyer, fell in love with Montalcino and was drawn into its wine culture. Sant’Angelo in Colle gradually became home for the family, replacing the faster rhythms of Rome with the daily work of vineyards and wine production. La Togata identifies 1989 as its founding year.
The father chose the name La Togata from toga, the robe associated with lawyers and judges. The name linked his legal profession with the wine project he was creating and the passion for wine that he later passed to his daughters.
1990 — First vintage and the beginning of the family archive
La Togata’s first vintage was 1990. Bottles have been retained from every vintage since that inaugural release, forming a family collection that now occupies a purpose-built caveau. The first bottle produced in 1990 is displayed in an 18th-century stone stoup at its entrance.
2009 — Development of the winery’s digital presence
Vanessa Angel assumed responsibility for La Togata’s online presence in 2009. Her work in communication and marketing helped broaden the winery’s reach, complementing her representation of the family at major European wine fairs.
The second generation
La Togata is now owned by the three Angel sisters—Stephania, Vanessa and Azzurra—and identifies itself as a family-owned winery led by its second generation. Their responsibilities are divided across production, administration, communications, international representation and label design. Jeanneth Angel contributes management and international wine-marketing experience, while the vineyard and cellar team includes Mario and Ivan.
The business remains deliberately hands-on: the family personally oversees the sequence from vineyard care and manual pruning through grape selection and temperature-controlled fermentation. The winery currently reports 20 ha of vineyards and annual production of 145,000 bottles.
Terroir
La Togata’s winery and principal vineyards are based at Sant’Angelo in Colle, approximately 8 km from Montalcino. The medieval hilltop village lies within the Val d’Orcia Natural Park, an area recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004.
The Montalcino vineyards occupy hills at differing elevations and retain sunlight until sunset. The broader estate description places vines between approximately 250 and 350 m above sea level; individual production descriptions commonly give an average elevation of 250 m. Vineyard locations include Sant’Angelo in Colle, Torrenieri and Pietrafocaia, with southern Montalcino also identified as an important production area.
Soils vary among the holdings. They are principally clay and marl, while specific descriptions also identify tuffaceous clay or mixed clay with abundant stony material. Red earth, a locally described “smoke stone,” and dark mineral stone also occur. These variations are associated with differences in grape character, tannin and sugar development.
The cellar itself is cut into the hills of Sant’Angelo in Colle, using the earth’s naturally balanced humidity and temperature for wine storage and maturation.
Winemaking
Vineyard work is personally supervised by the family and includes manual pruning. The estate applies organic products for annual fertilization and limits pest-control treatments to a minimum.
For the principal Brunello selections, crop control includes two rounds of bunch thinning. In favorable vintages, the stated harvest-selection criterion is approximately three bunches retained or chosen from every five. Harvest for the Riserva selection takes place around the end of September. The fruit undergoes further selection after reaching the cellar, creating successive vineyard and winery selection stages.
La Togata emphasizes hand selection of Sangiovese and presents its vineyard decisions as part of a traditional, quality-focused approach. The estate’s vines are trained to a bilateral, balanced cordon.
La Togata’s cellar is carved into the hills at Sant’Angelo in Colle. Its underground position makes use of naturally balanced humidity and temperature during storage and maturation.
The family personally follows production from grape selection through fermentation. Fruit receives further selection in the cellar—described for the signature wines as a double selection—before processing. Fermentation is temperature controlled.
For the Montalcino reds, cellar work follows a traditional extraction sequence: intensive extraction during the early phase of fermentation, followed by a long, relatively undisturbed maceration on the marc. For the principal Brunello lots, temperature can reach 33°C and remains high until racking. Another red-wine protocol uses medium-length quiescent maceration, reaches a maximum of 30°C, and then allows the temperature to fall during the final fermentation phase.
Oak maturation centers on Slavonian oak. The signature Brunello protocol uses small Slavonian oak barrels for 36 months, followed by 12 months in bottle. Rosso di Montalcino matures for approximately 12 months in oak, followed by bottle refinement; the range description gives six months, while its dedicated production profile specifies at least four months. Selected lots also employ barriques and tonneaux, including small French-oak barrels. The Riserva protocol extends wood ageing to 48 months, principally in 17.5 hl Slavonian oak barrels with a small component in barrique, followed by 12 months in bottle.
Philosophy
La Togata frames wine as an expression of emotion and passion and defines its objective as producing wines that can be genuinely appreciated. The family’s approach centers on personal responsibility for each production stage, close attention to detail and daily involvement in the vineyard and cellar.
Tradition is expressed through manual pruning, hand selection of Sangiovese, restrained vineyard treatments, traditional extraction and maturation in Slavonian oak. Innovation is associated with controlled fermentation and the design of a cellar cut into the hillside to exploit stable natural humidity and temperature. The two approaches are presented as complementary rather than opposed.
Family continuity is another central principle. The father’s passion created the project, the three daughters now own and lead it, and the business explicitly identifies itself with second-generation stewardship. Stephania, Vanessa and Azzurra bring different responsibilities—production and administration, communications and international representation, and visual identity—into a shared family project.
Within the La Togata signature brand, the intended stylistic direction is classic: structured and mineral, with velvety tannins, breadth and roundness. The simple blue label was designed to reinforce that classic identity.