Salicutti

History

The estate came into being almost by chance. Francesco Leanza, a chemical engineer from Catania in Sicily, developed a habit in the 1980s of travelling from Rome to the hills around Montalcino at weekends. In 1990, he sold his flat in Rome and bought an 11-hectare plot in the south-eastern part of the appellation. In 1994, he planted Sangiovese and, from the very beginning, cultivated it according to the principles of organic farming, at a time when there were only around 80 producers in Montalcino and organic farming in the region was a rare occurrence. By 1996, Salicutti had become the first certified organic estate in the entire Montalcino appellation.

Leanza had no children to whom he could pass the estate on, and in 2015 he sold it to Felix and Sabine Eichbauer, a German couple from Munich who had been regular customers of the estate for many years. The Eichbauers own the two-Michelin-starred restaurant ‘Tantris Maison Culinaire’ in Munich. Sabine is an architect by training and, under the Eichbauers’ guidance, carried out a subtle renovation of the estate’s buildings and cellars, drawing on her experience working at the architectural practice of Massimiliano Fuksas. Under the Eichbauers’ leadership, the estate has gone beyond simply organic farming: in 2018, with the help of consultant Adriano Zago, it began the transition to biodynamic farming and received Demeter certification in 2022.

Vineyards and terroir

The 4.5 hectares of vineyards are divided into three separate plots, all walled and situated in the immediate vicinity of the estate. The Piagione plot covers 1.2 hectares, faces east-southeast and lies at an altitude of between 420 and 450 metres above sea level. Teatro is the smallest and highest-altitude plot, covering 0.7 hectares; it faces south at an altitude of around 500 metres and stretches across the hillside like a natural amphitheatre, containing the estate’s oldest vines, all planted in 1994. Sorgete is the largest plot, covering 1.5 hectares, situated at an altitude of 450 metres on heavier, clay-rich soils. Under Leanza’s management, the ‘Sorgete’ plot was used to produce Rosso di Montalcino. Under the Eichbauer family, all three plots now yield grapes for ‘Brunello’.

The soils across the entire estate consist of calcareous marl and marly rocks, estimated to be 60–80 million years old; they are layered, with a limestone interlayer rich in fossils and varying clay and sand content from plot to plot. The altitude, ranging from 420 to 520 metres above sea level, is high for Montalcino and lends the wines a freshness that the warmer, lower-lying plots within this appellation cannot easily replicate. Monte Amiata, Tuscany’s largest extinct volcano, is visible on the horizon and plays an important role in moderating the local climate, shielding the south-eastern part of Montalcino from the intense summer heat.

The grapes

Every wine from every plot at Salicutti is made from 100 percent Sangiovese, grown on vines mainly planted in 1994, with later plantings in Piagione dating from 2007 onwards. No synthetic chemicals have ever been used for soil treatment on the estate.

Winemaking and wines

The grapes are harvested by hand and fermented using indigenous yeasts in concrete tanks, with maceration typically lasting over a month. After fermentation, the wines are aged in large oak barrels, one with a capacity of 40 hectolitres and one of 10 hectolitres, both crafted by a cooperage in Alto Adige, for approximately 40 months before bottling. The winemaking approach is resolutely traditional: no temperature control, no use of commercial yeasts and no shortcuts in the cellar. The estate now also generates its own electricity via a hydroelectric power station.

The wines

Under the guidance of the Eichbauer family, the range has been streamlined and refined.

• Sorgente is a single-vineyard Brunello di Montalcino from the ‘Sorgente’ plot, displaying notes of red fruit and a fresh, mineral structure.
• Piaggione is another single-vineyard Brunello, more structured and dense, reflecting the fossil-rich limestone soils of this plot.
• Teatro is the wine with the smallest production volume of the three, produced only in select vintages from grapes grown on the highest-altitude and oldest vines; it effectively serves as a ‘Riserva’ and goes on sale a year later than the other two wines.
• Rosso di Montalcino rounds off the range, serving as the entry-level wine, ready for consumption at an earlier stage.

The total annual production of all the wines amounts to around 15,000 bottles.