story…

The founding of the Monteraponi estate is one rooted deeply in the ancient history of Italy, however it’s existence as a wine producing estate is only about 50+ years old. The buildings and hillside that now make up the the Monteraponi estate were once a medieval village, called Monteraponi, owned by Count Ugo the Marchese & Governor of Tuscany in the late 10th century. Today the remaining structures of this tiny ancient village house entirety of Monteraponi’s wine making & agriturismo operations. The estate pretty much passed through the years unscathed and left to its own accord until the mid-70’s when Antonio Braganti, a silversmith by trade, purchased the estate and the surrounding 200 hectares of land. There are about 12 hectares of vines & 8 hectares of olive groves that already existed on the property, and for a time Antonio had a local crew who tended them and would produce a small amount of wine to share with his clients & friends in Florence. This was all part of a bigger dream of his to establish the estate as a wine domaine, but the 1986 methanol-spiked wine scandal in Italy he abandoned this dream due to no one wanting any wine from anywhere in Italy.

Fast forward to twelve years later in 1998 Antonio’s son, Michele, was banished to the family’s now mostly useless estate in Chianti Classico. Michele had been sent there as a punishment for wasting his time in school and for having what his parents deemed as no drive or ambition. For several years Michele lived on the property and worked the vineyards and olive groves with one other employee while he was finishing his studies. This time that was meant to be a punishment and a life lesson for Michele for quickly morphed itself into a new found passion for wine which led Michele to want to pick up where his father left off in the 80’s. Michele having had the chance to taste some of the great expressions of Sangiovese in and around Chianti Classico wanted to create an estate that championed the hills of Radda and the unique expression that Sangiovese can give from his vineyards. Although his father had little faith that the venture could make any money, he lent Michele money to help establish this dream. Michele worked tirelessly to prove his father wrong and to achieve what he believed to be possible, a dream he achieved and brought to fruition in a relatively short period of time.

The first vintage of Monteraponi under Michele’s new directive was with the 2003 vintage, everything prior to that was just a hobby for his father. The majority of the estate is dedicated to ancient oak & chestnut trees that surround the estate and its vineyards which make it quite idyllic and secluded from any of its neighbors. The estate is set in a natural amphitheater that is exposed to the south, only about 30 hectares of the land is planted to vines, expanded from the original 12 and another 8 hectares are planted to olive trees for their small production of olive oil.

farming & Philosophy…

All farming is done exclusively with organic practices, all of their vineyards & olive groves are certified organic by ICEA Italia. The philosophy in the vineyards is reflected in their work at the winery & in the cellar. Putting all their focus on having excellent quality grapes and avoiding any additives or adjustments along the way to become wine.

Harvesting is carried out entirely by hand, the grapes are transferred from the vineyards to the cellar in small crates that are then laid out on a conveyor belt to be rinsed before going through a gentle destemmer. The destemmer was made in Burgundy and is built specifically to work with delicate varietals such as Pinot Noir & Sangiovese. The grapes are then hand sorted on a vibrating sorting table. The wines themselves are made very naturally; all native/ambient yeasts, no added nutrients, no added malolactic bacteria and only low amounts of SO2 used. All vinification takes place in unlined cement tanks with no temperature controls, the reds are left on the skins for at least 25 days. Their entire wine production is aged in large oak only, wood comes from Austria, Slavonia, & Burgundy. Michele is not a fan of stainless steel containers for ferments or aging of any wines.

Vineyards…

Since Michele took over the estate he has expanded the vineyard plantings from 12 hectares to a total of around 30 hectares. Which seems like a lot, except when you consider the whole of the estate is 200 hectares. There are two old vine vineyards on the property that Michele bottles as single vineyard expressions, Il Campitello & Baron’ Ugo. He bottles a single vineyard red from each site, as well as a Trebbiano bottling exclusively from these two vineyards. He has also started another single vineyard bottling from a vineyard he planted in 2015, this wine has yet to be named or released.

• Il Campitello

  Campitello is the oldest vineyard on the Monteraponi property with 50+ year old vines | vineyard is planted to mostly Sangiovese with lesser amounts of Canaiolo, Colorino & Trebbiano | vineyard lies at around 420 masl is planted in a roughly 50/50 mix of galestro (friable marl with limestone) & alberese (sandstone) soils

• Baron’ Ugo

  Baron’ Ugo is a rather unique vineyard on the property that due to its vine age, around 45+ years, and its high elevation it tends to produce a incredibly light and delicate wine that is generally both lighter in color and lower in alcohol than their other sites | the vineyard is planted to mostly Sangiovese with lesser amounts of Canaiolo, Colorino, & Trebbiano in 100% alberese soils at around 570 masl, making it one of the highest in all of Chianti Classico | the vineyard has historically been bottled as single vineyard wine since the 70’s, and from 2006-2011 Michele labeled it as a Chianti Classico Riserva | in 2012 the consortium denied the wine Chianti Classico Riserva status, since then Michele has chosen to just bottle it as an IGT bottling

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