The first time was in 1991 when the acrid fumes of smoke wafted out from the chimneys in a non-place where a hidden restaurant was proud of its dishes and existed in its own little world. Years passed and the meeting with Montalcino transformed over time. Staying alive.

Montalcino is a city, if you can call it that, with rhythms that have remained unchanged, like a house with a window over the world. I travel a lot and returning to the colours, the climate and the scents of Montalcino nourishes me. In Montalcino, in its territory, slow steps are needed when travelling and looking at the panorama of light, where getting lost can be the best thing that could happen.

Montalcino changes you. Here, being captivated by the rustling of leaves, the chirping of sparrows, and the lizards that dart around is pleasurable. Breaks get the better of you. Thank you, Montalcino, for letting me be a part of all this.

The cellar complex is on three levels and uses a gravity system. In the cellars, we aim to tap the potential of every single vineyard. The grapes are picked by hand and placed in small trays before being destalked, and they are then allowed to fall into 30-quintal wooden vats. Nothing is added to the bunches except for small doses of sulfur dioxide.

Once alcoholic fermentation is complete, the "wine" is taken down to the ageing cellar, where it will mature in small barrels made from thick wood, or in barriques (225-liter casks) or tonneaux (900-liter casks). The ageing cellar is 15 meters deep, allowing the temperature to remain at a constant, natural level.

The wine is aged for as long as it takes for it to reach optimum maturity, and each part of the ageing process is carried out in accordance with our quality-control guidelines. The bottles are filled one at a time, before being stored in a temperature-controlled environment for a suitable period of in-bottle ageing.