Potazzine

Before the estate

In 1987, Gigliola Giannetti opened the Montalcino Produce wine shop in Piazza Garibaldi, Montalcino. The shop became a showcase for Tuscan wines, leading Italian labels and local food products.

1993 — The beginning of Le Potazzine

The winery’s history began in 1993, the year Gigliola’s first daughter, Viola, was born. Its name comes from a Montalcino expression: potazzine are great tits, the small, lively and colourful birds found in the Tuscan countryside. The word is also used affectionately by parents and grandparents for little girls. Viola and her younger sister Sofia were called potazzine by their maternal grandmother, and the nickname became the identity of the estate.

1996 — Sofia and the vineyard expansion

Sofia was born in 1996. Her arrival coincided with a two-hectare expansion of the estate and the planting of vineyards in the Sant’Angelo in Colle area, at approximately 420 metres above sea level. The winery’s growth was thus explicitly connected to Gigliola’s two daughters from its earliest years.

Development of the vineyards and cellar style

The estate subsequently grew to 6.5 hectares registered for Brunello di Montalcino. Its principal vineyard areas are Le Prata, beside the winery at 507 metres, and La Torre in the Sant’Angelo in Colle sector at 420 metres.

From its first vinification, Le Potazzine pursued the most natural production possible, making balance, elegance and a distinct personality its objectives. The cellar adopted large 30- and 50-hectolitre Garbellotto casks made from Slavonian oak, rather than small-format oak, for the maturation of its principal wines.

The Brunello di Montalcino Riserva has always been reserved for exceptional material identified in the vineyard. The estate produced Riserva from the 2004, 2006, 2011 and 2015 vintages. The 2019 became its fifth Riserva release and was matured for about 50 months in a single 30-hectolitre cask.

Gigliola, Viola and Sofia

By 2018, Gigliola was presented as the public face of the estate, which had formerly been known as Le Potazzine Gorelli, and was running it with Viola and Sofia. By 2022, Gigliola and her daughters were identified as co-owners. Their shared management gives the property a two-generation family structure closely connected to the origin of its name.

The vineyards are planted to certified-organic Sangiovese. The Brunello di Montalcino and Rosso di Montalcino parcels are trained to Guyot, while the Toscana IGT Sangiovese is associated with spur-pruned cordon training. Published specifications give a planting density of 5,952 vines/ha and typical yields of 55–60 quintals/ha; an earlier specification for the 2016 Toscana IGT recorded 60 quintals/ha.

Work in the vineyards is described as manual and meticulous. In the difficult 2023 season, prolonged spring rain led to downy-mildew development, which was addressed with targeted, timely organic treatments. High elevation and free-draining soils helped limit the effects, although the harvest finished approximately 15% below normal annual production. Grapes reached optimal phenolic maturity, and selection on a sorting table allowed only sound fruit to enter vinification.

The cellar’s approach was established with its first vinification: make wine as naturally as possible while pursuing harmony, finesse, cleanliness, balance, elegance and a distinct identity.

Fruit from Le Prata and La Torre is vinified and matured separately before the components are brought together for bottling. Selection on a sorting table is used to admit only sound grapes. Fermentations are spontaneous, driven solely by indigenous yeasts, and proceed without temperature control. They are deliberately long: current descriptions refer to approximately 30–40 days, while individual fermentations have lasted 40, 42 or more than 50 days.

The estate has consistently used large Garbellotto Slavonian-oak casks of 30 and 50 hl. Brunello generally spends about 40 months in cask; a current example was matured for 42 months. Rosso di Montalcino receives 12 months in the same 30- and 50-hectolitre casks, despite its production rules not requiring wood maturation. Nearly half of the fruit otherwise destined for Brunello may be declassified into Rosso. Both Brunello and Rosso are bottled without filtration.

Riserva is selected first in the vineyard, when the family identifies fruit of exceptional character. The 2019, the estate’s fifth Riserva, underwent the customary long spontaneous fermentation and approximately 50 months of maturation in one 30 hl cask.

The Toscana IGT Sangiovese follows a separate, wood-free path. It ferments in stainless-steel tanks with indigenous yeasts for around 30 days, matures for 12 months in stainless steel, and rests for approximately four months in bottle before release.