Poggio Al Sole

Medieval agricultural origins

Documents preserved in the archives of the nearby Badia a Passignano attest that vines and olive trees were already cultivated on the property in the 12th century. The estate’s medieval title, Casasilia, later provided the name for its Gran Selezione.

The Davaz winegrowing tradition

The Davaz family’s modern winegrowing history began in Switzerland. From the early 1970s, the family made wine from its vineyard in the Bündner Herrschaft, between Fläsch and Maienfeld.

The sons Johannes and Andrea both trained as winegrowers and cellar specialists before completing higher studies in oenology. Johannes had worked in the family vineyards from childhood. The Davaz family subsequently took over Poggio al Sole, and Johannes made Tuscany his home.

1990: Johannes and Kathrin move to Tuscany

In 1990, Johannes and his wife Kathrin moved to Badia a Passignano in the Chianti Classico area. Their work at Poggio al Sole developed around sustainable agriculture and later organic viticulture and winemaking. The estate remained a family operation, with Johannes combining formal oenological training with experience gained from childhood in the family vineyard.

1992: the oldest surviving vines

The estate’s oldest Syrah vines were planted in 1992. Syrah was initially intended to complement Sangiovese in blends, but the fruit developed a sufficiently distinct character for the family to vinify it separately. The resulting single-variety bottling is now made in very small quantities.

Early 2010s: developing white Sangiovese

In the early 2010s, Johannes began experiments with vinifying red Sangiovese grapes as a white wine. With no established examples, literature or empirical data to guide the project, vineyard selection, pressing, fermentation and maturation had to be developed through numerous micro-vinification trials. The objective was to combine the freshness of a white wine with the character of Sangiovese.

2013: first commercial Sangiovese Bianco

The first market-ready Sangiovese Bianco was produced in 2013. It was initially released for Australia under a different label and was among Tuscany’s early commercial examples of white-vinified Sangiovese. The family continued to monitor and refine the technique after each harvest, eventually establishing SANGIOVESE BIANCO as a permanent part of the estate’s identity.

2019: the next generation joins

In 2019, Johannes and Kathrin’s son Valentino and his wife Stephanie joined Poggio al Sole. The estate has since been shaped by the work of these two generations.

Poggio al Sole is managed as an organic, family-run winery. Sustainable agriculture preceded the transition to organic viticulture and winemaking. Synthetic products are excluded from fertilisation and pest control, and ecological requirements continue into cellar work. The wines are also vegan-certified.

Harvesting is manual and timed according to the intended style and physiological condition of the grapes. Across the range, picking extends from early September into early October. Fully ripe, healthy fruit is selected, while the most rigorous Sangiovese selection begins at parcel level. For that selection, individual vines are reduced to one healthy cluster shortly before harvest; it receives another 5–10 days of ripening before every berry is inspected by hand at the winery.

Yields are deliberately restricted to 400–600 g of grapes per m². This low crop level and manual selection are used to concentrate quality and preserve a clear expression of each site.

The cellar maintains a constant temperature and uses modern equipment designed for careful, gentle processing of the crop.

All fruit is harvested manually. Selection intensity varies with the intended cuvée, from the use of fully ripe, healthy bunches to parcel selection, crop reduction and grape-by-grape inspection for the most stringent Sangiovese lots.

White and rosé production can involve the immediate pressing of whole bunches, including the stems. Fermentation is temperature-controlled at 16°C. Malolactic fermentation is avoided for these fresh styles, which remain on fine lees until the end of January before February bottling. White-vinified Sangiovese was developed separately through repeated micro-vinification trials covering vineyard choice, pressing, fermentation and maturation.

Red wines ferment in stainless-steel tanks. Maceration ranges from approximately 12 days to more than 20 days, depending on the required level of extraction. Maturation may combine stainless steel with used oak, or employ barriques of different fill ages. The longest stated maturation is 18 months. Used wood is chosen where the objective is to build depth and structure without obscuring fruit or varietal character.

For the most selectively produced Sangiovese, the family tastes every barrel after maturation. Only barrels meeting its final standard are assembled and bottled. Bottling schedules vary by style, principally from February through October.