Italy · Montalcino

Azienda Agricola Cordella Maddalena

Maddalena Cordella farms Sangiovese Grosso on the heavy sandy clays of Torrenieri, in the northeastern sector of Brunello di Montalcino, where Crete Senesi soils produce a rounder, riper house style than the limestone zones closer to town. The estate began bottling under its own label in 2006 and built its dedicated winery four years later.

The producer

Cordella is a newer name in an old appellation, working from Torrenieri's sandy clay soils. Torrenieri sits in the northeastern sector of the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, where the soils run to heavy sandy clay of marine origin rather than the limestone and galestro that define the historic hilltown centre. That difference shows in the glass: Cordella's Brunello is ripe and round, with plum-forward fruit and tannins that settle softly rather than grip, a direct reflection of the Crete Senesi formation beneath the vines.

Orlando Cordella founded the farm in 1972. His daughter Maddalena took management in 1998 and spent eight years selling grapes and bulk wine before bottling under the estate label for the first time in 2006. She released four vintages before the winery on the property opened in 2010. The estate holds TUV Austria environmental certification and expanded its land base with the acquisition of Podere Borgasso in the Val d'Orcia in 2017. Production runs to approximately 93,000 bottles per vintage across the Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino labels.

Known for

Brunello di Montalcino from Crete Senesi sandy clays, Torrenieri.

Notable facts

The story

The Wine Before the Winery

Orlando Cordella planted the farm in 1972 and sold his grapes and bulk wine for more than thirty years without putting his name on a bottle. When his daughter Maddalena took over in 1998, that arrangement continued unchanged for eight more years. Then in 2006, Maddalena bottled the estate's wine under the Cordella name for the first time. There was no winery on the property. She made the wine, released the label, and waited. Four years later, in 2010, she built the winery. In an appellation where most neighbours had been estate-bottling for a generation or more, Cordella's label existed for four vintages before the building that usually comes first.

From the atlas

Azienda Agricola Cordella Maddalena

At A Glance

The Producer

Maddalena Cordella farms Sangiovese Grosso from the northeastern corner of Montalcino, in the hamlet of Torrenieri, where the soils run heavier and sandier than the limestone and marl that define the hilltown's historic centre. Her father Orlando planted the farm in 1972 and sold grapes and bulk wine for decades. When Maddalena took management in 1998, she inherited that arrangement. In 2006, she ended it, putting the estate's wine into bottle under her own label without yet having a winery on the property. The building came four years later.

That sequence matters. Cordella arrived as a label name in 2006, built the physical infrastructure to match in 2010, then expanded by acquiring Podere Borgasso in the Val d'Orcia in 2017. The estate now produces roughly 93,000 bottles of wine per vintage across 9 hectares of Sangiovese Grosso, holds TÜV Austria environmental certification covering waste management, energy use, and water retention, and operates as a working farm with hospitality alongside the winery.

Place

Torrenieri sits in the northeastern sector of the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, a large and varied appellation spread across the slopes and valleys surrounding the hilltop town of Montalcino in central Tuscany. The appellation is built entirely on Sangiovese Grosso, the local name for the Sangiovese clone permitted here. Within those shared rules, position within the appellation matters considerably: the zones closer to the town of Montalcino tend toward limestone and galestro soils that push the wine toward firmer tannins and more austere acidity. Torrenieri is different.

The Crete Senesi formation that underlies Cordella's vineyards is an ancient marine sediment of clay and yellow sand deposited roughly five million years ago. That heavier, sandier clay drains and warms differently from the limestone-dominant soils to the west, and the wines it produces tend toward a rounder, riper profile. A Brunello from Torrenieri on Crete Senesi does not taste the same as a Brunello from the slopes directly above the town, even from the same grape and the same DOCG rules.

Soil And Site

The Crete Senesi soils at Torrenieri are clay and sand of marine origin, deposited when this part of Tuscany lay under a shallow sea. The clay fraction retains moisture through dry summers; the sandy component keeps the soil from compacting and provides moderate drainage. Sangiovese Grosso planted in this profile ripens differently than on the calcareous soils of the central Montalcino zone: the tannins develop with more give, the fruit character leans toward plum and ripe berry rather than the drier cherry and iron notes more common in limestone-grown Brunello.

Story

Orlando Cordella founded the farm at Torrenieri in 1972, during a period when most Montalcino producers sold grapes or bulk wine rather than estate-bottle their own production. For more than thirty years, Cordella operated that way. When Maddalena took over in 1998, she was inheriting a working farm with established vineyards and an established selling arrangement, not a winery with its own label.

She changed that in 2006, bottling under the Cordella name for the first time. The decision was commercially and logistically bold: the estate had no dedicated winery. She made the wine, then built the building. The winery opened in 2010. By that point Cordella had four vintages on the market under its own label and was already earning scores in the low-to-mid 90s from professional critics. The 2017 expansion into Podere Borgasso extended the estate's footprint into the Val d'Orcia, broadening the land base while keeping Torrenieri as the home of the core Brunello production.

Vineyards And Cellar

The estate works approximately 9 hectares of Sangiovese Grosso at Torrenieri, at elevations consistent with the northeastern sector of the appellation. TÜV Austria environmental certification covers the operation, with formal evaluation of waste and energy practices, water use, and retention. That certification reflects an approach to farming that goes beyond minimum compliance and treats the land as a resource to maintain across years rather than exploit by vintage.

In the cellar, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG rules require minimum ageing of five years from harvest, including at least two years in oak and four months in bottle before release. The Riserva tier extends that ageing further. Cordella follows these requirements, and the sandy-clay composition of the Crete Senesi soils means the fruit arriving at the cellar carries a particular ripeness profile that the oak ageing rounds rather than tightens.

Wines

Cordella makes two labelled wines from Sangiovese Grosso.

The Brunello di Montalcino DOCG is the flagship. It spends a minimum of two years in oak and four months in bottle before release, with total ageing from harvest to shelf running to five years at minimum. The wine reflects Torrenieri's sandy-clay terroir: ripe, round, and generous in fruit rather than angular or austere. The 2017 vintage earned 93 points from James Suckling, 92 from Luca Maroni, and 87 from Vinous, with tasting notes pointing to ripe berries and plums and tannins that sit softly rather than grip.

The Rosso di Montalcino DOC occupies the lighter, earlier-drinking position in the range. Made from the same Sangiovese Grosso grape on the same Torrenieri soils, Rosso di Montalcino typically spends one year from harvest before release. It carries the sandy-clay fruit character without the extended oak and bottle time that shapes the Brunello. For someone wanting to understand the house style before committing to a Brunello price point, the Rosso is the practical entry.

Total production runs to approximately 93,000 bottles per vintage across both labels.

In The Glass

Cordella's Brunello opens with ripe dark fruit, plum and berry forward, without the reduction or iron notes that appear in more limestone-driven Brunellos. The nose is generous and immediate. In the mouth, the tannins arrive with give rather than grip, a product of the sandy-clay soil that produces Sangiovese Grosso with softer phenolic development than the galestro and limestone zones. Acidity holds the wine upright and provides length, but it integrates rather than dominates. The finish is warm and fruit-sustained, and the oak character from the mandatory two-year minimum in wood adds a dark spice note without drying the palate.

The Rosso di Montalcino shares the house fruit profile but arrives without the weight of extended ageing. Lighter on tannin and rounder in body, it gives the same plum-forward character in a form that works earlier at the table.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Brunello di Montalcino. This is the wine the estate was built to make and the label that defines what Torrenieri's Crete Senesi soils produce from Sangiovese Grosso. It is a round, ripe Brunello with velvety tannins, dark fruit, and warmth from the sandy clay. The 2017 vintage scored 93 points from James Suckling and gives the clearest read of the house character: generous fruit, soft grip, a finish that holds without hardening. It costs more and takes more patience than the Rosso, but it answers the question of what Cordella is doing and where it is doing it.

Anecdote

Orlando Cordella planted the farm in 1972 and sold his grapes and bulk wine for more than thirty years without putting his name on a bottle. When his daughter Maddalena took over in 1998, that arrangement continued unchanged for eight more years. Then in 2006, Maddalena bottled the estate's wine under the Cordella name for the first time. There was no winery on the property. She made the wine, released the label, and waited. Four years later, in 2010, she built the winery. In an appellation where most neighbours had been estate-bottling since before she took management, Cordella's label existed for four vintages before the building that usually comes first.

Final Word

Cordella is a younger estate in an old appellation, working from a geographic position with sandy clays that produce a distinct and characterful wine. Torrenieri's sandy clays produce a Brunello that sits apart from the limestone-dominant central zones, riper and rounder without sacrificing the length and ageing capacity the DOCG is known for. Maddalena Cordella built the label before the building and the building before the reputation. The wines are there now.

Sources

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