MONTEVERTINE lies within the heart of the Chianti hills, in the community of Radda at an altitude of 425 m above sea level. Documents show that the site has been dwelled since the 11th century. Traces of the original construction, which undoubtedly was of defensive nature and which later on had been converted to a rural housing, are still preserved.
In 1967, Sergio Manetti, at that time a manufacturer of steel products, bought Montevertine as a holiday house. He restored the house and returned it to its original dwelling destination, and right from the beginning, he planted two hectares of wine and he set up a small cellar. The idea was to produce some wine for friends and customers.
The first vintage produced, 1971, was more than decent and Sergio Manetti decided to present some bottles at Italy's leading wine show, Vinitaly in Verona, via the Chamber of Commerce of Siena. That was an immediate success and Mr. Manetti was so enthusiastic about it that only a few years later he decided to give up his main former activity, in order to dedicate all his efforts exclusively to winemaking. New vineyards were planted, new cellars installed, and that activity has been continued without any interruption. The expansion of our enterprise has been going on until this very moment.
After Sergio Manetti had passed away in November 2000, the management of the vineyard is now in the hands of his son Martino Manetti, who is assisted by Klaus Johann Reimitz and Bruno Bini, the latter being born in Montevertine and an in-depth expert of the zone and the soil. Giulio Gambelli, the expert wine taster, is our consultant and offers his assistance during the production of the vines.
The total surface of our company's vineyards covers currently approximately 13 hectares, divided in the following areas:
LE PERGOLE TORTE, planted in 1968, surface 2 hectares, exposed towards N-NE
MONTEVERTINE, planted between 1972 and 1982, surface 2.5 hectares, exposed towards SE-S
IL SODACCIO, planted in 1972 and completely replanted in the year 2000, surface 1.5 hectares, exposed towards SE
IL CASINO, planted in 1999, surface 2 hectares, exposed towards S
SELVOLE, planted in 1997, surface 3.5 hectares, exposed towards SE-S
PIAN DEL CIAMPOLO, planted in 2003, surface 1.5 hectares, exposed towards W-NW
About 90% of all vines planted are Sangiovese grapes. The remaining 10% includes Colorino, Canaiolo, and Malvasia Bianca grapes. The density amounts to 5,000 vines per hectare in the vineyards planted since 1997, and to 3,200 vines per hectare for older vineyards.
In the older vineyards, the vine is pruned using the Guyot procedure, and in the newer vineyards the cordon technique is used.
The earth around the vine is turned up by hand and, in addition to ploughing in the winter, the land is ploughed at five or six other times during cultivation.
For the fertilization of the land, we use exclusively organic fertilizer to which mineral salts are added if the regularly executed soil test shows that this is necessary.
The traditional "bouillie bordelaise" is used to protect the grapes.
We have deliberately avoided cultivating other types of grapes such as Cabernet, Pinot Nero or Merlot because we want to distance ourselves from the worldwide trend. Some say that the aforementioned grapes reflect the current globalized taste. And what happens if one day, after an excessive production, we are bored by such grapes? Switching back to traditional grapes would take many years. And, after all, isn't it altogether possible to make great wine from Sangiovese? Our own experience says "yes", especially when the Sangiovese in question is Tuscan, even if the results obtained with this variety in other parts of the world have not necessarily been encouraging.