Ordinary Members

Created in 1972, the Altesino estate extends over a surface of 175 acres (90 of which vineyards) in the township of Montalcino. The estate consists of four different holdings: Altesino, Velona, Pianezzine, and Montosoli, and is headquartered in the eastern hills of the appellation, in the 15th century Altesi Palace, edified by the noble Tricerchi family. Here as well are the aging cellars and, below ground, the area where the grapes are fermented. Since 2002, the property, now as in the past directed by Claudio Basla, belongs to Elisabetta Gnudi Angelini, who purchased it as, historically, the most innovative estate of Montalcino. In its first thirty years of life it was, in fact, a forge for path-breaking ideas: the first to introduce the concept of cru to the territory, placing proudly on the labels the name of Montosoli, its finest vineyard, the first to experiment with small oak barrels in 1979, the first to create an estate grappa in 1977, beginning a period of collaboration with distiller Gioacchino Nannoni, the first to market futures of Brunello di Montalcino with the 1985 vintage, introducing certificates of future purchases for those who wished to reserve the bottles.
The largest part of the Altesino production comes from the fermentation of Sangiovese grapes, entirely on their own for the Brunello, the Rosso di Montalcino, and for Palazzo Altesi (which differentiates itself by special fermentation techniques, not used for the other wines). The Sangiovese, instead, is blended with Cabernet and Merlot for two other wines, the Rosso Altesino and the Alte di Altesi, less strictly tied to the typical character of the appellation. The pride of the estate, however, is the Brunello di Montalcino produced from the grapes of a vineyard of 12.5 acres in the northern part of the township, situated at an altitude of 1150 feet above sea level: this is the Brunello cru of the Montosoli vineyard, bottled only in the finest vintages (in other vintages it is blended with the other wines and used for the regular Brunello bottling). On different occasions the “Wine Spectator” has selected this wine as among the top 100 of the world.

San Felice’s involvement in the Montalcino zone goes back to the early 1980s. At that time, the area of Brunello was witnessing signifi cant activity, but the area had not yet reached the world-class level of quality that it enjoys today. Our own fi rst bottles of Brunello di Montalcino were released to the market on January 1, 1985. The TENUTA CAMPOGIOVANNI is located on the southern slope of the Montalcino hill, near San Angelo in Colle. This particular area exhibits a complex of soils that produce some of the fi nest-quality Brunellos. In addition to our 20 hectares vineyards, there are 18 hectares of olive trees, woods, and fi elds, for an overall total of 65 hectares. Three separate parcels comprise the vineyards, at an elevation of approximately 300 metres. Of the 20 hectares of vines, 14 are dedicated exclusively to Brunello, and the remainder to a Rosso di Montalcino. In 1998 some Pugnitello vines were also planted. Most of the vines of Sangiovese are planted at a density of over 7,000 per hectare, trained to spurred cordon. Campogiovanni production is strongly focused on BRUNELLO and ROSSO DI MONTALCINO. 1990 saw the fi rst production of a Riserva, entitled IL QUERCIONE, made from fruit rigorously selected from the vineyard of the same name. This wine is only made in exceptional years. Campogiovanni Brunello fully merits its reputation as one of the great wines of this area. It has won, in fact, some of the most prestigious Italian and international wine awards, so much so that the 1990 and 2006 vintages were rated at the 7th and 4th place in the Wine Spectator’s “Top100’s”.

Castello di Querceto, for over a century, since long ago 1897, has belonged to the François family, of French origins, but in Tuscany since the 18th century when one of its members, a functionary of the house of the Hapsburgs of Lorrain, moved to Italy when the Grand Duchy came into their possession. The Castle is situated in the north-eastern part of Chianti Classico, in a small valley of the township of Greve in Chianti just a few miles from Florence; the vineyards and olive groves of the estate lie on the slopes of the valley at altitudes which range from 1300 to 1750 feet above sea level and are accordingly considered “high altitude”. The estate extends over 465 acres of property, 150 of which are planted to vines; the vineyards are located almost entirely around the castle and the estate headquarters, where, alongside the old estate buildings, a production unit of recent and modern construction has been erected with full respect for the tradition and the architectural style of the zone.
After two generations of activity, Alessandro François began an entirely new phase in the late 1970’s, one in which the estate was completely restructured with large investments involving both the viticulture and the transformation of the grapes into wine. Given the important expansion of the house in recent years, it was decided to plan for further development, a larger volume of production, and a rationalization of the entire production process.
Viticulture is conducted with an eye both to high quality grapes and to the ecological compatibility of cultivation practices. The philosophy of Querceto is based on the idea of maximizing character and personality through a thorough study of the characteristics of the single vineyard plots, with the aim of achieving all of the potential of the various grape varieties cultivated on the property. The most important offering is the Chianti Classico Riserva Il Picchio, 90% Sangiovese and the remaining part Canaiolo, a wine of notable structure and personality, very elegant in its impeccably Chianti style. It is an unmistakeably traditional wine, rich in noble tannins and a perfect match for red meat and game.

The Collavini family’s involvement in wine began in 1896, when the founder of the dynasty, Eugenio Collavini, began to supply the better families of Udine with his wines. But the magic moment in the development of the firm came in the 1970’s when his descendent, Manlio Collavini, decided to invest sizeable capital in modern and functional plants and improve both the efficiency of the cellars and the quality of the wines. The move was rewarded with immediate success thanks to Grigio, a sparkling wine from Prosecco and Chardonnay grapes which won widespread and immediate popularity. Doubled with the creation of a sparkling Ribolla Gialla. With the acquisition and renovation, in 1980, of a 16th century mansion in Corno di Rosazzo, this enterprising producer of Friuli not only found a prestigious home for his family but also cellars in which he could concentrate production. And it was then that the qualitative leap of the firm took place, with a far-reaching and comprehensive program which included long-term relationships with the supplier of grapes, and modernization of the cellar technology based on soft pressing and temperature-controlled fermentation. Currently, with 430 acres of proprietary vineyards and an annual production of 1.5 million bottles, Manlio Collavini’s company is one of the most efficient and important of Friuli. This is due to the care and attention with which he has always given both to the volume wines and to the higher level offerings in his line, and to the interest which has always been given to experimentation in the cellars: not only traditional techniques, such as the drying of the grapes, but also new concepts such as the freezing of the grapes, reverse osmosis and so forth. For him, wine is much more than a drink: a conviction which has driven him, as a member of Parliament, to improve wine legislation as well. The most brilliant results, however, of his public activities have been to succeed in baptizing the streets of his home township, Corno di Rosazzo, with the name of the native grape varieties: the address of his house, in fact, is Via Ribolla Gialla. Assisted by his wife Anna and his sons Luigi and Giovanni, he also relies on the cellar work of winemaker Walter Bergnach. The finest achievement has been a white, Broy, a Collio appellation wine which blends Tocai, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon, along with two red wines: Forresco, a Collio blend of Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso, Refosco di Faedis, and Pignolo, and Dal Pic, a Collio Merlot from one of the great international varieties.

The vineyards of the Illuminati family are located between Controguerra and Neretto in the northern part of the province of Teramo, between the Apennine chain and the Adriatic Sea at an altitude of 1000 feet above sea level. At the end of the 19th century Nicola Illuminati founded the Fattoria Nicò winery, which now, a century later, is directed by his grandson Dino with the aid and assistance of wife and children. Total vineyard surface is 275 acres, with an annual production of 1.2 million bottles of fine overall quality. The story of this firm has unquestionably been a stimulus for other producers of the region, habituated until recently to the sale of their grapes to others who used them to produce blending wine for other regions in less successful vintages. Thanks to its pioneering work of the Illuminati, who developed an entire production cycle from grapes to the bottle, the oenology of the Abruzzo is well considered both in Italy and abroad. The two major crus of the house are both Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Colline Teramane Riserva DOCG, and Pieluni has been particularly appreciate and given important recognition. The harvest for this wine is a late one and is carried out by hand during the last ten days of October. The grapes are destemmed, pressed softly, and then fermented in stainless steel tanks at temperatures of 84-86° Fahrenheit. After twenty days of skin contact and at the end of the alcoholic fermentation, the wine goes through a malolactic fermentation, then racked and aged for two years in small oak barrels. After bottling it is given a further 14-15 months of bottle ageing in natural grottoes in order to bring out all of the power, structure, and complexity of its personality. The other cru is the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Doc Riserva Zanna, produced only in superior vintages. The Zanna vineyard is situated on hills to the right of the Tronto river as it descends towards the Adriatic Sea, at 950 feet above sea level in the township of Controguerra. The local climate is mild and the grapes are trained in an overhead system with 400 vines per acre. These are among the last grapes to be picked: after a rigorous thinning of the crop and a careful selection of the bunches, the grapes are destemmed, pressed, and fermented in stainless steel tanks at a maximum temperature of 86° Fahrenheit. The wine is then racked into Slavonian oak casks for an aging period of 24-26 months.

In Ortona in the Abruzzo region, Farnese is a virtual synonym for wine ever since the day, in 1538, when Margaret of Austria, married to a Farnese prince, decided to retire from court life and construct, right in this spot, the splendid Farnese palace. During this period the city lived in splendour and all of its activities received a new stimulus, in particular the cultivation of grapes; the wines were drunk at the banquets of the most important European courts. Farnese wines, a young enterprise of the region which has conquered an important role in major Italian and European markets, is the heir to this story. The firm’s headquarters is in the historic Caldora castle, constructed in the 15th century by military leader Giacomo Caldora to defend the city of Ortona and restored to the splendor of yesteryear. The mission of the house is to give deserved recognition to all of the areas and wines of the Abruzzo region; for this reason it owns vineyards both in the province of Chieti, where the white grape and Sangiovese vineyards are located, and in the province of Teramo where, in the renovated cellars in Roseto degli Abruzzi, are situated the most significant crus of Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.
A major example of the philosophy which concentrates its efforts on behalf of native grape varieties is Edizione Cinque, which blends five of these grapes to create the pride of the house. The intention was to invent a wine which expressed the millennia-old traditions of two regions where the firm has invested important resources, Abruzzo and Apulia (where Farnese is involved in Feudi di San Marzano). This “autochthonous” cru is a blend of the Montepulciano and Sangiovese of Abruzzo and the Primitivo, Negroamaro, and Malvasia Nera from Apulia. A deep garnet red, almost impenetrable in tonality, it is very intense and persistent on the nose with notes of cherries, plums, berries, tobacco, and a final toasty sensation. Large in structure, it is warm and soft on the palate with elegant and supple tannins and a long finish of spice and chocolate. Ready upon release, it can age well for another eight to ten years. Best drunk at 64-68° Fahrenheit, it goes extremely well with rich sauces, red meat, and game.

In his book “The Village of Barolo”, canon Domenico Massé wrote, as clearly and unambiguously as possible: “the creation of the type of wine which is now called Barolo must be credited to various Marquis of the Falletti family of Barolo, who produced the wine with every exacting care and attention in their extensive properties in and around Barolo”. Since the year 1929 the Marchesi di Barolo firm has belonged to the Abbona family, now in its third generation of active control of operations in the person of Ernesto Abbona and his wife Annamaria. The grand crus of the house are produced by giving the maximum attention to the matching of the various grapes which are cultivated to the proper sites, those with the most suitable soil and exposure. The objective is to bring out all of the personality and quality of the traditional varieties of Piedmont and the territory in which they are cultivated in order to magnify their unique and inimitable character. The goal is wines of great aromatic purity along with the proper balance of structure and elegance, Nebbiolo of maximum complexity and pleasure to drink.
Various wines are produced, from Dolcetto and Moscato to Freisa and Barbaresco. But the most prestigious selections are the various Barolo crus. This is confirmed by the Barolo from the Cannubi vineyard, the cellar’s most representative wine. The grapes which are utilized come exclusively from the hillsides of Cannubi, a long, slowly rising hill, a site of exceptional completeness where the two major geological formations of the zone, the Helvetian and the Tortonian, meet and mingle. The fermentation begins with a soft pressing of the hand-picked grapes followed by de-stemming and fermentation – in temperature-controlled tanks – at peak temperatures of 30-32° centigrade (86-90° Fahrenheit). The grapes macerate on their skins for ten days during the fermentation and are run off their skins when fermentation is completed. One part of the wine is aged in 3000-3500 liter casks of Slavonian and French oak. Another part ages in 60 gallon, medium-toasted French oak barrels for a period of twelve months. At the end of the aging process the wine is assembled and then aged for a final period of twelve months in bottle before commercial release. A full ruby in color, the wine offers intense aromas of roses, vanilla, liquorice, toasted oak and tobacco. Full and elegant on the palate, ample in body and austere, its flavors recall the aromas first perceived on the nose. The notes of spice and toasted oak are most pleasurably fused and integrated with the character of the wine, which is well suited for lengthy aging and can last as long as 25-30 years.

The Pala firm, founded in 1950 by Salvatore Pala, father of the current owners Enrico and Mario Pala, is currently one of the most interesting estates in Sardinia. Located less than twenty miles to the southwest of Cagliari, at Serdiana, it has acquired over time real recognition for the quality of its wines, always of high level. Recently, in early 2008, a very favourable opinion of the wines were expressed by international critic Robert Parker in the “Wine Advocate”, which defined the two crus of the cellar, S’Arai and Crabilis, “extraordinary”, and “well above average”. The scores were, respectively, 92/100 and 88/100. The philosophy of Pala aims at the production of wine which is an authentic expression of its territory: for this reason, the grapes varieties used are almost exclusively local or Sardinian, typical of their micro-areas. It was with this in mind that Essentija was created some years ago, a 100% Bovale (only Pala produces a wine purely from this grape variety), intense and persistent on the nose, warm and ample on the palate. The same philosophy informs Crabilis and Stellato, the last the more recent creation, both example of pure Sardinian Vermentino. The most prestigious wine of the firm is S’Arai, a blend of Cannonau, Carignano, Barbera Sarda, and Bovale. Each variety is fermented separately. After destemming and pressing, the wine ferments and macerates for eight to ten days, using selected yeasts and fully controlling fermentation temperatures. At the conclusion of the fermentation the wine is light is lightly fined, reposes for a few days, and then is blended with percentages which vary form vintage to vintage. After blending the wine rests for a month in cement tanks and then goes into 60 gallons French oak barrels for an eight to ten month aging period. The wine is then bottled and ages for a further three to four months. An intense ruby red in color, with a nose of ripe red fruit and almonds, the wine is firm but soft and caressing on the palate, with notes of red fruit on the finish. It is an excellent match to game, roasts, stews, and cheese.

It was in the first years of the 20th century when Giuseppe de Corato decided to purchase the vast estate named Rivera in the Andria plain, one of the finest viticultural areas of northern Apulia. The vine, in fact, has been cultivated there since the days of Magna Grecia, and centuries of selection have identified native grape varieties of high potential, first and foremost Nero di Troia. But this was not de Corato’s sole impulse and inspiration: Andria and its surroundings have a fascination which goes beyond agriculture, to the point that, in the 13th century, it had bewitched even Frederic II of Swabia, the holy Roman Emperor, called for this reason “Puer Apuliae”; it is to him that we owe the construction of the Castel del Monte castle, the mysterious manor, an octagonal edifice of blonde stone which UNESCO has classified as part of the patrimony of humanity and which marks with its enigmatic presence the entire territory. Here, in the 1950’s, Sebastiano de Corato, the son of Giuseppe, founded the Rivera firm on the land purchased by his grandfather: he replanted the vineyards, restructured the old cellars, and created a bottling line. The success of the operation made Rivera a reference point for the oenology of northern Apulia. And precisely for this position of leadership, in the following years, when Sebastiano de Corato was joined by his son Carlo, the house was able to innovate in a way which rendered the viticulture and wine of the region less provincial: noble international grape varieties were planted in the vineyards, both Sauvignon and Chardonnay. Only long and patient work was able to verify the adaptability of these grapes to the local soil and climate, but the final effect was to enrich the viticultural possibilities of the region. Today Rivera gives greater emphasis to native grape varieties, and for this reason has re-launched Nero di Troia, for too long a time a greatly undervalued variety. The two most representative wines from the grape are red wines, both Castel del Monte DOC efforts: Il Falcone represents part of the story of the house, a Riserva wine produced ever since 1950, a blend of Montepulciano and Nero di Troia which reflects the local tradition of that period in time. Puer Apuliae, instead, a relatively recent wine, was first made in 2000 and is a pioneering effort in the creation of high level pure Nero di Troia. It is with wines of this type, produced from close to 240 acres of proprietary vineyards, that Carlo de Corato, now supported by his son Sebastiano who has joined him in the firm, has prepared himself for the challenges of the global markets of the third millennium.

The Mottura estate, owned by the Mottura family since 1933, extends over 325 total acres in an area rich in natural resources located between the hillsides and clay erosion furrows of Civitella d’Agliano and the plain of Umbria, watered by the Tiber river not far from the city of Orvieto. The viticultural potential of the zone was already noted in 1292, when the cadastral registers of Orvieto defined it is one of the finest for the production of the famed wine of the city. The process of modernization and transformation of the estate began in the 1960’s, sharecropping giving way to the use of salaried manpower, research intensifying in order to identify the plots to be cultivated with grapes capable of giving products of real quality. Operating with this philosophy, the primary objective was to give special attention to local grape varieties, particularly Grechetto, and to work with the methods and criteria of biological agriculture, as has been done for the last fourteen years.
There are other varieties, however, cultivated in addition to Grechetto, three clones of which have been identified on the estate, grapes with rich, heady, and persistent aromas, vigorous and ample in body: Procanico, a variety with well spaced berries on its bunches, very resistant to mould, golden in color, and low-yielding; Verdello, with a compact bunch of dark green color, excellent acidity, and an elegant fragrance; Drupeggio, floral in aroma and velvety in body; Chardonnay, used for a classic sparkling wine; Merlot, Montepulciano, and Pinot Noir, red grapes which often find here ideal conditions for important wines. It is the wines produced with these varieties which have attained the widest recognition both nationally and internationally. Particularly the two finest crus, both 100% Grechetto, the Latour a Civitella, golden yellow in color, elegant in aromatic impact, complex with notes of white fruit, citrus fruit, butter, and hazelnuts, full-bodied, soft, and pleasurably fresh with fruit and vanilla on the finish. And Poggio della Costa, very pleasurable on the nose, ample and fruity both in aroma and on the palate, fresh and persistent, long and lightly tannic on the close.