This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

San Felice Farm is a famous winemaking company which became particularly active in the 1980s when the territory of Montalcino had not reached its current popularity yet, especially when it comes to the internationally acclaimed Brunello wine.
Campogiovanni is a vineyard owned by San Felice and since January 1985, it has massively supported the production of the abovementioned wine with its own brand name.
San Felice owns several other vineyards as well, in different terroirs, also in the Chianti Classico area and in Maremma (Perolla estate).

The estate of Campogivanni is on the South-Western side of the Montalcino Hills, near S. Angelo in Colle – one of the very best areas for the production of Brunello wine.
The estate covers some 160 acres: 50 are reserved to the vineyards (14 of them only for Brunello, the rest for Rosso di Montalcino), while some other 45 are used for olive trees, vegetables and woods.
The vineyards grow at an altitude ranging from 820 ft to 984 ft above sea level; the slope on which they are planted is more exposed to the beneficial mild winds coming from the sea, allowing an early ripening of the grapes, especially when compared to the North-Eastern slope.

The new generation vineyards are cultivated according to the “spurred cordon” training system and their average density is quite impressive, with 7.000 plants per hectare. Such modern technique is aimed at a reduced production of grapes per each single plant, thus obtaining a more balanced distribution of the available nutrients.

The typically Mediterranean microclimate, with average rainfall and good ventilation, is perfectly integrated with the geological features of the soil, mainly made of clay and sand; it also contains a large amount of mineral salts (since these lands used to be completely covered by the sea), extremely valuable for the development of the vine.

In these climate and soil conditions, “Sangiovese” has found one of its highest quality, also thanks to a gradual growth of the plant and the full ripeness, hardly ever achieved elsewhere.

In the plots planted with olive trees, with a total of 2.000 plants, the main varieties are “Frantoio”, “Moraiolo”, and to a lesser extent “Leccino” and “Olivastra di Montalcino”; the latter is typical of this area, and the climate mitigated by the sea brings the olives to early ripening.

San Felice estate, in Chianti, on the other hand, is active on many different fronts: the precious vineyards and olive groves, the Vitarium, where specific experiments are regularly carried out, the cellars, where the wine production takes place (from vinification to ageing in wood barrels, and finally bottling), and the mill, where the excellent oil is produced.

The village includes the company headquarters, the wine shop and the residential centre which has been recently turned into a very nice hotel.

Finally, the Perolla estate covers about 2.471 acres stretching from the Maremma plain to the hills around Massa Marittima, including 124 of them for selected vineyards.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)