Italy · Chianti Hills

Famiglia Cecchi

Four-generation Tuscan producer based in Castellina in Chianti, farming Sangiovese across Chianti Classico, Morellino di Scansano, and Sagrantino di Montefalco through certified-organic estates.

The producer

Luigi Cecchi did not start with land. In 1983 he rented warehouse space in Poggibonsi, a market town in southern Tuscany, and built a reputation by tasting wines others had made, buying the good ones, and selling them to merchants who learned to trust his palate. The family moved to Castellina in Chianti in the 1970s, closer to their vineyard holdings in the Chianti Classico zone. Over the following decades they acquired four estates across two regions: Villa Cerna and Villa Rosa in Chianti Classico, Val delle Rose in Morellino di Scansano in the Maremma, and a property in the Sagrantino di Montefalco zone of Umbria. The fourth generation, brothers Andrea and Cesare Cecchi, runs the company today.

Sangiovese anchors the Tuscany range. The three Chianti Classico tiers carry the family name directly: Storia di Famiglia at entry level, Riserva di Famiglia at Riserva level, and Valore di Famiglia as a Gran Selezione produced in small quantities. By 2021, 230 hectares of Cecchi vineyards held certified-organic status, with three estates extending that certification into their cellar and vinification operations. For a first bottle, Storia di Famiglia Chianti Classico gives an honest account of what Sangiovese in Castellina tastes like at an approachable price.

Known for

Three-tier Sangiovese-led Chianti Classico range built on certified-organic farming across four estates in Tuscany and Umbria.

Notable facts

The story

The 2022 Valore Release

For the 2022 vintage, Cecchi made Valore di Famiglia as a Chianti Classico DOCG Gran Selezione. The release comprised 6,024 bottles.

From the atlas

Famiglia Cecchi

At A Glance

The Producer

Luigi Cecchi did not start with land. In 1983 he rented two warehouses in Poggibonsi, a market town in southern Tuscany, and began buying wines he believed in and selling them on. His skill was in the tasting, not the growing. From that small trading operation, the family eventually moved to Castellina in Chianti in the 1970s, planted roots in the Chianti Classico zone, and built a four-estate company now run by the fourth generation, brothers Andrea and Cesare Cecchi.

Today, Famiglia Cecchi operates across two Italian regions. In Tuscany: Villa Cerna and Villa Rosa in Chianti Classico, and Val delle Rose in the Maremma coastal zone of Morellino di Scansano. In Umbria: a property in the Sagrantino di Montefalco zone. Sangiovese anchors everything in Tuscany. Sagrantino, the dense, long-aged red of central Umbria, provides the sharpest departure from the core range. Andrea Cecchi joined the company formally in January 1988 and serves as president.

Place

Castellina in Chianti sits in the Chianti Classico zone, the DOCG appellation that runs between Florence and Siena in central Tuscany. Chianti Classico is Sangiovese country: the appellation rules require a minimum of 80 percent Sangiovese, and the best single-vineyard and Gran Selezione wines are usually pure or nearly pure varietal. Castellina occupies the western ridge of the zone, with elevations that slow ripening and preserve the acidity associated with Chianti Classico.

The Val delle Rose estate sits in Morellino di Scansano, a DOCG in the Maremma on the Tuscan coast. Morellino is the local name for Sangiovese in that territory. The climate is warmer and the soils are different from Chianti Classico, producing rounder, more immediate wines from the same grape. The Umbrian property in Montefalco brings a third appellation into the range: Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG, built around the Sagrantino grape and known for some of the highest natural tannin levels in Italian wine.

Soil And Site

Chianti Classico vineyards in and around Castellina sit on galestro, the fragmented schistous limestone that crumbles easily and drains fast, and alberese, a harder compact clay-rich limestone. Both types keep vine stress moderate and encourage the deep root systems that pull minerality through to the wine. The combination of thin, rocky soil and elevation keeps yields in check and favours the firm acidity Sangiovese shows at its best in the zone.

Val delle Rose in the Maremma grows on heavier coastal soils with more clay content, pushing Sangiovese toward a fuller, less angular profile than the inland Chianti Classico vineyards. At Montefalco in Umbria, the Sagrantino vines grow on calcareous clay soils well suited to a grape that needs heat to ripen its thick skins and build the tannin that defines the appellation.

Story

Luigi Cecchi's trading business in Poggibonsi gave the family an early education in wine: buying what others made, judging it well enough to sell, and building a reputation on taste rather than ownership. When Italy introduced its DOC classification system in the 1960s, the new rules encouraged producers to base themselves close to their vineyards. Villa Cerna, the family's first estate acquisition, came in 1962, pulling the business toward Chianti Classico territory. The move to Castellina itself followed in the 1970s.

Andrea Cecchi officially joined the company in January 1988 and completed his first full harvest that year. The expansion that followed was deliberate and geographical: Val delle Rose in Morellino di Scansano came in 1996, adding a coastal Maremma Sangiovese estate to the portfolio. Around the turn of the millennium, the family crossed into Umbria to establish a presence in the Sagrantino di Montefalco zone, moving beyond Tuscany for the first time. In 2015, Andrea and Cesare purchased Villa Rosa, the historic Chianti Classico estate that gave the family a second Classico property and anchored their commitment to the home zone.

Vineyards And Cellar

Cecchi farms 230 certified-organic hectares across its estates. Organic viticulture in a multi-estate operation of this scale means no synthetic herbicides or pesticides across all four properties, and vineyard management that relies on cover crops, targeted copper and sulphur treatments, and soil work to maintain vine health. Three estates have also converted their cellars to organic certification, meaning the organic chain covers both growing and winemaking.

The company runs active water-recycling wetland systems at three estates: Cecchi, Villa Cerna, and Val delle Rose. In the early 1990s, Cecchi built what it describes as the first plant-based wastewater treatment facility constructed by a Tuscan wine business. That plant was renewed in 2012 at Val delle Rose and went on to win the Eco-Efficient Tuscany prize from the Tuscan Region. Vineyard research continues across the estates, with ongoing trials in new clones, training systems, and farming operations.

For the Chianti Classico range, Sangiovese from the Castellina vineyards is vinified with different extraction and ageing parameters at each tier. The Gran Selezione, Valore di Famiglia, represents a small-production, long-aged selection from the best fruit.

Wines

The Chianti Classico range is built around three bottles named for the family. Storia di Famiglia is the entry-level Chianti Classico DOCG. It is built for drinking relatively young. Riserva di Famiglia is the Chianti Classico Riserva, requiring a minimum of two years ageing under DOCG rules, including at least three months in bottle. The Riserva carries more concentration and depth than the Storia tier, with the kind of tannin and acidity that adds years of cellaring potential. Valore di Famiglia is the Gran Selezione, the top DOCG classification in Chianti Classico, produced in small quantities from selected fruit and aged longer in cellar before release. The 2022 vintage totalled 6,024 bottles.

Beyond the Chianti Classico core, Val delle Rose produces Morellino di Scansano from the Maremma estate: Sangiovese from a warmer coastal climate, with a fuller, rounder wine with less angular acidity than the inland Classico bottles. The Umbrian estate produces Sagrantino di Montefalco, a wine with naturally high, grippy tannin from Sagrantino's thick-skinned grape, aged over a long period before release and requiring years in bottle before it opens. These two ranges exist at the opposite ends of what Sangiovese and its Italian relatives can do.

In The Glass

Storia di Famiglia opens with ripe cherry, red plum, and violet. In the mouth it is direct and energetic: a juicy mid-palate, bright Sangiovese acidity, and a finish that carries a light briny character alongside sweet, approachable tannins. Riserva di Famiglia builds on the same varietal foundation with more body, a firmer tannin grip, and the kind of savoury, dried-herb complexity that Sangiovese picks up with time and careful ageing. The finish is longer and the acidity more structured. Valore di Famiglia reaches into the densest part of the Chianti Classico character: dark-fruited, serious in its tannin weight, with the concentration and acid backbone to develop in bottle over a decade or more. The Morellino di Scansano from Val delle Rose sits outside the Classico arc, warmer and more immediately plush, with the fruit weight the coastal Maremma climate delivers to Sangiovese. Sagrantino di Montefalco is the extreme: dense, tannic, and slow, needing years before the grape's natural grip integrates.

A Bottle To Understand It

Storia di Famiglia Chianti Classico is the right first bottle. It is an entry-level Chianti Classico DOCG built almost entirely from Sangiovese, made in Castellina, and named directly for the family. The 2024 vintage opens with fresh cherry and red plum, violet pushing through on the nose, then delivers a juicy, lively palate with a briny finish and sweet tannins that do not demand years of patience. Drink it with food: pasta, grilled meats, aged Pecorino. It is an honest Sangiovese from the zone that produced the family's reputation, and it costs what an entry-level Chianti Classico should.

Anecdote

For the 2022 vintage, Cecchi made Valore di Famiglia as a Chianti Classico DOCG Gran Selezione. The release comprised 6,024 bottles.

Final Word

Famiglia Cecchi is a four-generation Tuscan producer with a range that stretches from an honest entry-level Chianti Classico to a small-production Gran Selezione and out to the coastal Maremma and Umbria. The backbone is Sangiovese in Chianti Classico. The three-tier famiglia range, named Storia, Riserva, and Valore di Famiglia, maps a clear path from early-drinking red to cellar-worthy Gran Selezione. The organic programme across 230 hectares and three certified cellars reflects a long commitment rather than a recent pivot. For a first bottle, Storia di Famiglia gives an accurate account of what Sangiovese in Chianti Classico can be at an approachable price.

Sources

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