Palazzo

From Benevento to Britain

Cosimo Loia and Antonietta Palazzo came from Benevento. They spent approximately 30 years in England and Scotland, where they worked as restaurant entrepreneurs. They retained close ties to Italy, returning annually to visit relatives in Tuscany and Campania. Their journeys gradually strengthened their desire to settle again in their native country.

During one of those trips they stopped in Montalcino. Its rounded hills, woods, vineyards and old olive trees reminded them of the Sannio Beneventano and prompted them to look for a place where they could retire.

1982: the Palazzo estate

In 1982, after viewing several properties around Montalcino, Cosimo and Antonietta chose a 12-hectare hillside estate overlooking the Val d’Orcia. The property included a rural farmhouse dating from the 17th century. Its existing name, Palazzo, also happened to be Antonietta’s surname.

Rather than treating the property solely as a retirement home, they decided to become winegrowers and acquired planting rights for 5 hectares destined to Brunello di Montalcino.

1985–1994: vineyards and first harvests

In 1985 the founders planted Sangiovese Grosso for Brunello, beginning with the vineyard now known as Vigneto Cosimo. Cosimo selected the planting areas according to soil composition, slope and exposure.

Further parcels followed: Vigna del Bosco in 1987; Vigna della Pietra in 1990 and 1991; Vigna Bel Vedere in 1995 and 1999; and Vigna del Rigo in 2001.

The family began vinifying its Sangiovese in 1990, initially as Rosso di Montalcino, with help from Cosimo and Antonietta’s children. In 1994, when the first vines had reached nine years of age, Palazzo harvested its first Brunello di Montalcino crop.

Development of the winery

An ageing area was established inside the old farmhouse. A separate structure, designed to remain consistent with the architecture of the original farm, was subsequently built for vinification, bottling, storage and maturation. Part of this structure lies underground, where the environment remains at 14–16°C.

Production remained deliberately small, at approximately 22,000 bottles annually, allowing the family to oversee cultivation, vinification, maturation, bottle ageing, bottling and packaging directly.

2008–2021: organic conversion

The estate began its conversion to organic agriculture in 2008. Full organic certification followed in 2021, formalizing an approach based on manual vineyard work, green manuring and parcel-specific soil analysis.

Three generations

Antonietta Palazzo continues to supervise the estate’s daily activity. Her son Angelo is principally responsible for the vineyards and cellar, while her daughter Elia primarily handles sales. Sons Aldo and Manio live in southern Scotland but regularly return for important stages of harvesting and winemaking.

The third generation has also begun contributing. Nadia and Sabrina, Elia’s daughters, assist with events and communication alongside their respective careers and studies. Antonietta’s younger grandchildren—Maya, Nico, Carlo, Ottilia and Antonio—are growing up in close contact with the family’s agricultural work.

Eastern Montalcino

The estate lies on the eastern slope of Montalcino, open toward the Val d’Orcia and sheltered by the Montalcino ridges from maritime breezes arriving from the west. Its vineyards generally descend on gentle, east-facing slopes from approximately 350 to 320 metres above sea level, receiving sunlight from dawn onward. The more distant Vigna del Rigo occupies lower ground near the slopes of Monte Amiata.

The panorama encompasses the Val d’Orcia, Monte Amiata, the Apennines, the Crete Senesi, the Montalcino hills and the medieval town. Woodland borders the vineyards and acts as a moderating element in the estate’s vegetative environment.

Winds and microclimate

The wider area is exposed to the cold, dry tramontana and the summer scirocco. At Palazzo, constant ventilation reduces persistent moisture during the growing season and limits pressure from botrytis and downy mildew. It also permits bunches to remain on the vines for extended ripening, supporting healthy fruit and polyphenolic maturity.

Soils down the slope

The vineyard soils combine clay with a substantial stony fraction and layers of galestro, the local friable marl. Marl strata dominate the highest and steepest areas. Descending the slope, marl becomes less prevalent while clay, sand and tuffaceous material increase.

The estate associates the upper, marl-rich sites with greater power and structure, ripe-fruit character and soft, sweet-textured tannins. The lower combinations of clay, sand and tuffaceous components are associated with freshness, aromatic complexity, savoriness and mineral character.

Palazzo has followed a certified-organic regime across the estate since 2021, following a conversion begun in 2008. Soil fertility relies on sovescio, or green manuring: selected cover crops are incorporated into the soil to return nutrients and organic matter. Chemical and physical soil analyses identify the requirements of each parcel, and seed mixtures are chosen to supply the corresponding nutrients.

Vineyard work is meticulous and largely manual. It includes cleaning the vines, green pruning, bunch selection and harvesting by hand. Selection during the vegetative cycle regulates production and helps the remaining fruit reach harvest with suitable ripeness and health.

Sangiovese Grosso yields remain below 65 quintals per hectare, equivalent to less than 6.5 tonnes per hectare. Rose bushes planted at the heads of the vine rows serve as early indicators of potential phytosanitary pressure. The estate also treats its 4.5 ha of woodland as a natural buffer and as a resource supporting the vines’ vegetative balance.

Annual output is approximately 22,000 bottles. The small production scale allows the Loia Palazzo family to direct the entire chain: vine cultivation, vinification, maturation, bottle ageing, bottling and packaging.

All wines undergo spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeasts under temperature control. General maceration lasts 22–25 days. Gentle pump-overs accompany fermentation and become progressively softer as fermentation subsides.

The original 17th-century farmhouse contains a dedicated wine-ageing area. A newer building, designed in harmony with the old farm architecture, accommodates vinification, bottling, storage and maturation. Part of this facility is underground, maintaining a stable environment of 14–16°C.