Winery & Vintage Info
Aldo Bianchi, a native of San Gimignano, left Tuscany before the Second World War to seek fortune in the North of Italy. In 1960, he came back to the area for a wedding and was enchanted by the view from the terrace of Castello di Monsanto: all the Val d’Elsa with the inimitable backdrop of the Towers of San Gimignano. It was love at first sight which made him buy the property within a few months. But if Aldo was bewitched by the landscape, Fabrizio, his son, immediately fell in love with the wines he found in the cellar.
Thanks to a passion for wine handed down to him by his grandmother, who came from Piedmont, and to an innate entrepreneurial spirit, Fabrizio, together with the untiring help of his wife Giuliana, started to plant new vineyards and convert the numerous farmhouses….and an incredible story of love, passion and joy for wine and everything concerned with it, started from here.
When Giuliana and Fabrizio Bianchi reached Monsanto for the first time, in 1961, they were enraptured by the beauty of the landscapes which can be enjoyed from the top of the Poggio; from the height of its 310 metres of marl, it is possible to appreciate a bird’s eye view which takes in the paternal towers of San Gimignano to the tops of the Chianti Fiorentino, from Monte Amiata to the peaks of the Apuan Alps.
With closed eyes, it is possible to sense the breath of the intuition which seduced Fabrizio to believe in this area. It was tasting the wines in the historic cellar that strengthened any premonition. His Piedmontese culture and his passion for Burgundy gave him the instruments to discover an elixir of longevity in that wine, rich in vibrant tannins and precious mineralities. Thus the idea to make a Cru in the Chianti Classico area was born for the first time between a climb up the Poggio and a descent to the cellar. Winery Notes
