Montevertine

### History Sergio Manetti, a Milanese industrialist, purchased the Montevertine property in the Radda in Chianti commune during the early 1970s as a country retreat. What began as a personal project turned serious quickly, in no small part because of his friendship and working relationship with Giulio Gambelli, the legendary Sangiovese taster and consultant who shaped the palate and direction of the estate for decades. Manetti's pivotal decision came when he chose to exclude white grapes from his Sangiovese-based wine entirely, a move that disqualified it from the Chianti Classico DOC regulations of the time and led him to bottle under the then-humble Vino da Tavola designation. That wine was Le Pergole Torte, first released from the 1977 vintage, and it became one of the canonical examples of what critics would later call the Super Tuscans, though Montevertine has always sat apart from the Cabernet-driven wing of that movement. Manetti died in 2000 and the estate passed to his son Martino, who has run it since with a conservatism that honors rather than revises his father's approach. Gambelli continued consulting until his death in 2012; his influence on the style of the wines, particularly their transparency and restraint, remains legible in every bottle. The estate has never sought Chianti Classico DOCG status and continues to release under the Toscana IGT designation, a choice that is by now entirely deliberate.

### Vineyards The estate sits in the Radda in Chianti zone at elevations that moderate the Tuscan summer heat meaningfully. Soils are the galestro and alberese mix typical of the better Radda hillsides: rocky, well-draining, relatively poor, with a limestone and clay character that keeps yields low without irrigation. Le Pergole Torte takes its name from a specific parcel of old pergola-trained vines, though the training system has been updated in parts of the vineyard over the years. The estate grows essentially only Sangiovese, with small amounts of Canaiolo and Colorino used in the second wine. Farming details beyond this are not extensively documented in public sources, though the estate's scale and long-held identity suggest a hands-on, low-intervention approach to viticulture.

### Winemaking The house style is defined by Sangiovese picked at genuine ripeness rather than overripeness, fermented in open-top vessels with extended maceration, and aged in large Slavonian oak casks rather than barriques. The result is wines with firm tannin, high-toned red fruit, and an acidity that allows them to age without relying on new oak for structure. Le Pergole Torte is the flagship: 100 percent Sangiovese from the named parcel, aged for an extended period in large casks, bottled without heavy intervention, and capable of developing for well over a decade in good vintages. Pian del Ciampolo is the estate's second wine, blending Sangiovese with Canaiolo and Colorino; it is lighter in frame, earlier-drinking, and historically one of the more honest values in the Chianti Classico orbit despite not carrying that appellation. Montevertine also produces a wine simply labeled Montevertine, which sits between the two in weight and ambition. The cellar approach has not changed substantially since Gambelli's time, and that consistency is the point.