Benvenuti to Cantina di Montalcino Winery: a wine and architectural project
La Cantina di Montalcino
Cantina di Montalcino is located about 35km from Siena, right opposite the Sienese hilltop town of the same name, surrounded by meadows, olive trees and the beautiful vineyards of the Val di Cava, along the extraordinary Eroica route.
Winemaking
facility
Cantina di Montalcino extends over two floors, a ground floor and a basement, encompassing a total surface area of around 5,000 square meters.
On the ground floor there are temperature-controlled steel tanks that allow targeted interventions during the fermentation phases. Gentle or vigorous pumping over is possible, depending on the needs and decisions taken by our winemaking team. For selected productions, it is possible to proceed using the CO2 naturally produced during fermentation. Thanks to the repeat punching down, we also achieve extraction of the major noble components of the skins. Racking operations are automated.
In the basement is the barrel cellar, with a total of 74 Slavonian oak barrels, the majority of them 5500-liter capacity. The barrels were purchased at different times; this allows for a differentiation of organoleptic characteristics and supports our team in the continuous quest for the right balance that helps create the product. The environment in the barrel cellar is temperature controlled (max 18°C, humidity between 79% and 82%)
Founded in 1970 by a small group of local producers, it established itself as the only cooperative winery in the area.
The original winery building was redesigned and rebuilt starting in 2000.
Without traditional architectural forms and elements, and with its proportions rendering it well anchored to the ground, via its curvy contours and its colors the winery sits in an attractive, symbiotic relationship with its surrounding hilly landscape.
The current architectural design, inaugurated in 2011, recalls the typical character of the Tuscan hills.
Its unique architectural design is both imposing and modern while recalling the traditions, forms and perceptions related to the historical processes involved in the production of Brunello di Montalcino wines.
The winery joined the Toscana Wine Architecture circuit, which brings together the region’s 14 signature and design wineries.
Today Cantina di Montalcino is a winery to which the grapes of about 40 local producers are contributed.
The grapes come from all 4 quadrants of the municipality of Montalcino, which differ in soil and climate characteristics, thus guaranteeing the highest quality of the product, for a total of 90 hectares of vineyards dedicated to the production of Sangiovese.
- 1970
- 2000
- 2011
- 2015
- 2022
- 2024
Founded in 1970 by a small group of local producers, it established itself as the only cooperative winery in the area.
The original winery building was redesigned and rebuilt starting in 2000.
Without traditional architectural forms and elements, and with its proportions rendering it well anchored to the ground, via its curvy contours and its colors the winery sits in an attractive, symbiotic relationship with its surrounding hilly landscape.
The current architectural design, inaugurated in 2011, recalls the typical character of the Tuscan hills.
Its unique architectural design is both imposing and modern while recalling the traditions, forms and perceptions related to the historical processes involved in the production of Brunello di Montalcino wines.
The winery joined the Toscana Wine Architecture circuit, which brings together the region’s 14 signature and design wineries.
Cantina di Montalcino becomes the property of Prosit Group.
The Bologna-based group initiated a new project for Cantina di Montalcino, collaborating with historic winemaking families linked to the winery, representing some 90 hectares planted with Sangiovese.
Today Cantina di Montalcino is a winery to which the grapes of about 40 local producers are contributed.
The grapes come from all 4 quadrants of the municipality of Montalcino, which differ in soil and climate characteristics, thus guaranteeing the highest quality of the product, for a total of 90 hectares of vineyards dedicated to the production of Sangiovese.
MONTALCINO
Montalcino: this small town in the Val d’Orcia south of the city of Siena has become world famous for Brunello.
This beautiful agricultural landscape with its great history was inscribed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004. The small Tuscan municipality, largely made up of woodland, alternates vineyards, olive groves and arable land with a large number of stone buildings that attest to the centuries-old presence of man. The area of the Municipality of Montalcino has an almost square shape, with ‘sides’ that are delimited by the Ombrone, Asso and Orcia rivers. It stretches up to 650 meters above sea level behind Poggio Civitella, which is the highest point in the district.
THE FOUR QUADRANTS
The Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino production area can ideally be divided into 4 quadrants, each of which has a different orientation, elevation, and soil and climate characteristics.
Within a few kilometers’ radius from the village of Montalcino, therefore, there is considerable pedoclimatic variety, which obviously results in differences of up to 20 days in the ripening times of the grapes, earlier in the south and later in the north and west.
The 4 quadrants
- NORTH-WESTIn the North-west, the most wooded area of Montalcino is fresh, bountiful and has loose soil and is breezy. It is fairly fertile and richer than elsewhere.
- NORTH-EASTIn the North-east, the soils are varied, with large areas where clayey marls of Pliocene origin with clayey galestro soils are mixed with sand and gully formations predominate.
- SOUTH-WESTIn the West, sea breezes carried by the northwest wind disperse their brackish waters on the grapes. The soil here is coarser, crumbly, airy and stony. But some clay is also present with a rich range of minerals available.
- SOUTH-EASTIn the South, the land forms an ideal basin, sheltered from prevailing winds. The average temperature is higher, which produces earlier vegetative development in the vines. In this area, rain is rarer and the soils are more permeable, rich in stony matter and limestone. They are not very fertile and are dry, rustic and difficult to work.
What are the stages
in wine production?
THE PROCESS
-
CULTIVATION
Vines earmarked for the production of Brunello di Montalcino are planted on hilly terrain characterized by excellent exposure to the sun and boasting mineral-rich, typically calcareous soil. This type of land confers unique characteristics of structure and complexity on the wine.
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HARVEST
During the summer and autumn, the grapes earmarked for the production of Brunello reach complete ripeness. Harvesting is conducted manually, carefully selecting the best bunches and transporting them to the winery for the winemaking process.
-
FERMENTATION
The Brunello di Montalcino fermentation process is a crucial stage in the production of this prestigious Tuscan wine. Fermentation transforms the grape must into wine, giving Brunello its distinctive organoleptic characteristics.
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AGING
Before it can be released onto the market, Brunello di Montalcino requires a long period of aging as its quality increases with the passage of time: indeed, from the moment of harvest, at least 5 years of aging and finetuning are required, including 2 years for the aging process in oak barrels.
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