Gabriele Buondonno

In the late 80s Gabriele Buondonno and his wife Valeria bought 20 hectares of land, of which 8 of vines. The rest is used for wood, farming and growing olive trees. Located in the beautiful Castellina in Chianti, between Florence and Siena, their "Podere" Casavecchia alla Piazza goes back to the 1500s and was apparently home to nonetheless than Michelangelo Buonarroti’s family. They began producing biodynamically pretty much straight away, and obtained their first recognition in 1989.

At 400/450 meters above sea level, the vineyards are high, and the land has much clay and limestone. 

In the cellar pretty much all the wines go through a similar process: 20 to 25 days of fermentation with skin contact, followed by 7 to 8 months in either steel or concrete, then a year in oak barrels for the “Chianti Classico”. The Riserva is a pure Sangiovese that is produced only in the best years.

They make less than 40'000 bottles per year. Classical handpicking of the grapes, light filtration and low amount of sulphites added: this is easy, classic Tuscan drinking. Fruity, intense and long, slightly spicy.