Fattoria Di Sammontana, ‘San Firenze’, Chianti Superiore, Tuscany, Italy

Fattoria di Sammontana has a long history, dating back to the Medici family. But it was bought in the mid nineteenth century by Michele Dzieduszycki, a Polish nobleman and it is his family that has carried on the tradition of wine growing and olive farming. The current team is Daniele and Andrea Dzieduszycki with Dario Geri. All of the grapes are estate-grown, the vineyards located all around the farm. The soils are pretty consistent around most parcels - limestone and an alluvial influence, very stony, gravelly, a soil where not much else but vines and olive trees can thrive. The farming has been organic since the first generation in the 1860’s (though officially certified since 2012), and biodynamic across all 16 hectares since 2012.

This is classic Chianti, supple, muscular, but not over-blown (that is overly hench or "gym-bro" as my kids would say, a fate a lot of international-style Chianti suffers from).