Montevertine

Three kilometres south of Rada in Chianti, atop a 425-metre-high hill halfway between Florence and Siena in Tuscany, the Montevertine winery has been producing wine since 1971. The estate chose not to use the ‘Chianti Classico’ designation, unwilling to compromise on the quality of its wine, and has gained an even greater reputation as a result.

History

Sergio Manetti, an industrialist from Milan who worked in the iron and steel industry, bought the abandoned village of Montevertine in 1967 as a holiday home. He planted 2 hectares of vineyards and built a small cellar, intending to produce wine for family and friends. The first vintage, from 1971, was presented at the Vinitaly exhibition in Verona through the Siena Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was an immediate success. Manetti left the steel business and devoted himself entirely to winemaking.

The turning point came in 1977, when he and his long-standing oenologist, Giulio Gambelli, created Le Pergole Torte , the first wine in Tuscany made from 100% Sangiovese. At that time, the rules for producing Chianti Classico required the addition of white grape varieties, including Trebbiano and Malvasia. Manetti refused and in 1981 withdrew completely from the Chianti Classico consortium. Since then, all Montevertine wines have been labelled as IGT Toscana rather than Chianti Classico, despite being produced on land in the very heart of the region. Sergio Manetti passed away in November 2000. The business passed to his son Martino, who worked alongside Paolo Salvi, a protégé of Giulio Gambelli. Since 2009, the estate has been fully certified organic.

Vineyards

The estate comprises 18 hectares of vineyards spread across nine separate plots. The oldest vines, on the Pergola Torta plot, were planted in 1968. Sangiovese accounts for around nine-tenths of all plantings, with the remainder divided between Canaiolo and Colorino.

Terroir

Radda in Chianti is the highest and northernmost of the three historic communes of Chianti Classico. The soils around Montevertine are a mixture of clay, shale and limestone, which gives the wines freshness, mineral tension and a longer ageing curve compared to the warmer areas in this zone. The altitude moderates temperatures throughout the growing season.

Grape varieties

Sangiovese, Canaiolo and Colorino, all are indigenous to the Chianti region. Nothing else. Manetti planted these varieties, and Martino has never strayed from them.

Winemaking

The approach to winemaking has remained virtually unchanged since the first harvests. Fermentation takes place in the traditional manner in the estate’s old cellars. Large oak barrels are used for ageing, with no small barriques employed. Each wine has a fixed blend: Le Pergole Torte, 100% Sangiovese; Montevertine and Pian del Ciampolo, 90% Sangiovese each, with 5% Canaiolo and 5% Colorino.

Total production amounts to around 80,000 bottles.

Wines

The range comprises three wines.

Pian del Ciampolo is the entry-level wine, intended for early consumption and made from grapes grown on young vines.

Montevertine, is produced from grapes grown on older plots and requires longer ageing.

Le Pergole Torte, made from the 1968 vintage from the Pergole Torte plot, is the flagship wine, produced since 1977 with a label hand-painted by the artist Alberto Manfredi for each vintage. It is produced only in outstanding years.