Italy · Chianti Hills

Fattoria Montellori

Fourth-generation family estate in Fucecchio, western Florence province, farming 55 hectares across three parcels. Still reds led by Sangiovese, including Chianti and the Super Tuscan blend Moro; traditional-method sparkling wines from a three-hectare parcel at 500 metres.

The producer

Fattoria Montellori farms 55 hectares in Fucecchio, a town in the western part of Florence province, well outside the Chianti Classico zone. Giuseppe Nieri bought the property in 1895 with proceeds from the leather trade; the family farmed and sold wine in bulk for the next half century before putting the Montellori name on a bottle in the 1950s. Alessandro Nieri, the fourth generation, has been owner and winemaker since 1998. His stated priority is doing the principal work in the vineyard before grapes reach the cellar.

The estate splits across three parcels with different soils and altitudes. The two large Cerreto Guidi blocks, 12 and 16 hectares on deep limestone clay-loam at 150 to 200 metres, grow the Sangiovese that goes into Chianti and the blended reds. A sandy, silty hilltop parcel at Fucecchio suits the international varieties. The outlier is Podere del Montalbano: three hectares at 500 metres, on loose silica and limestone soils, trained on a half-Trentino pergola and dedicated entirely to the Brut and Pas Dosè sparkling wines.

Known for

Sangiovese-led Tuscan reds and traditional-method sparkling wine from a high-altitude mountain parcel

Notable facts

The story

The Leather Trade and the Vineyard

In 1895 Giuseppe Nieri took money he had earned in the leather trade and used it to buy a farm in the hills west of Florence. The property was called Fattoria Montellori, it sat in the township of Fucecchio, and nothing about the transaction suggested wine was the point. Nieri intended to farm seriously. For the next half century the family did exactly that: they worked the land, sold wine in bulk to merchants, and put no label of their own on a bottle. It was not until the 1950s that the first bottles carrying the Montellori name left the property. Sixty years of farming before the family considered the wine ready to carry their name on the front.

From the atlas

Fattoria Montellori

At A Glance

Producer: Fattoria Montellori Country: Italy Region: Tuscany Location: Fucecchio, western Florence province Generation: Fourth (Alessandro Nieri, owner and winemaker) Founded: 1895 Vineyards: 55 hectares across three parcels Key Wines: Chianti, Moro, Dicatum, Poggio alla Luna, Brut, Pas Dosè Grapes: Sangiovese, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon

The Producer

Fattoria Montellori farms 55 hectares across three distinct parcels in Fucecchio, a town in the western part of Florence province. Alessandro Nieri, the fourth generation of the family to run the estate, has been both owner and winemaker since 1998. He grew up with two inheritances: the land his great-grandfather Giuseppe bought in 1895, and a cellar philosophy that treats vineyard work as the primary job, with winemaking following rather than leading.

The estate's range divides sharply by geography. The Sangiovese-led still reds come from lower-altitude parcels in Cerreto Guidi and the Fucecchio hills. The traditional-method sparkling wines come from a separate three-hectare parcel at 500 metres, grown on completely different soil and trained on a different trellis system. Those two parts of the portfolio rarely appear together on the same shelf, which can make Montellori harder to place than producers with a single-style focus.

Place

Fucecchio sits between Florence and Pisa, west of the Chianti zone and outside its boundaries. The town and its surrounding hills belong to the broader Toscana IGT category for wines that fall outside the named Chianti subzones. Cerreto Guidi, the township where Montellori's two largest vineyard blocks sit, is close enough to the Montalbano hills and the Arno valley that the landscape is open and the altitude moderate. That position gives Sangiovese reliable warmth for ripeness without the high-elevation cool that defines Chianti Classico to the east.

The estate's Chianti, though, carries that appellation name: the label reads Chianti rather than Toscana IGT, placing those wines within the Chianti DOCG, the broad denomination covering much of central Tuscany outside the Classico zone. Moro, as a Sangiovese blend with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, falls under Toscana IGT, the appellation category created specifically to accommodate wines that add international varieties to native grapes.

Soil And Site

Montellori farms three named parcels, and the soils are as different as the altitudes.

The two large blocks in Cerreto Guidi total 28 hectares between them, sitting on deep limestone clay-loam at 150 to 200 metres. Clay-loam holds water through dry summers, gives Sangiovese a firm base for ripening, and tends to produce wines with body and grip rather than the lighter, more aromatic style of sandy soils.

Podere Montellori on the Fucecchio hills runs to 13 hectares on predominantly sandy and silty soils with little clay. Sandy soils drain freely, warm up fast in spring, and express aromatic varieties more openly. The estate uses this parcel for international grapes and native varieties.

Podere del Montalbano is the outlier. Three hectares at 500 metres, on loose soils rich in silica and limestone, trained on a half-Trentino pergola rather than the standard Guyot or cordon. At this altitude the growing season is longer, the nights cooler, and the acidity in the grapes higher at harvest. Montellori uses this parcel for nothing but the Brut and Pas Dosè sparkling wines.

Story

Giuseppe Nieri bought Fattoria Montellori in 1895 with proceeds from the leather trade. For the first half century the family farmed, sold wine in bulk to merchants, and accumulated land without putting their name on a bottle. In the 1950s that changed: the family began bottling under the Montellori label for the first time, and the estate shifted from supplier to producer.

The next significant turn came in 1981, when the estate bottled its first traditional-method sparkling wine, a Brut produced from the high-altitude Montalbano parcel. Pas Dosè followed in 1982. These were not obvious choices for a Tuscan estate at that time: traditional-method sparkling wine had little precedent in the area around Florence, and the mountain parcel required a different training system and a different approach to harvest timing.

Moro arrived with the 1988 harvest, conceived from the outset as an accessible Super Tuscan. Super Tuscan was the informal name for wines made by blending Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and labelling them as table wine or IGT rather than Chianti, partly to escape the stricter rules of the DOC system and partly to position them alongside international varieties in export markets. Alessandro Nieri assumed leadership in 1998 and has since expanded the vineyard base to its current 55 hectares, maintaining the same division between the still-red programme and the sparkling project.

Vineyards And Cellar

The half-Trentino pergola at Podere del Montalbano is worth pausing on. The Trentino pergola is a high-trained system that lifts the canopy away from the ground, increases airflow, and reduces fungal pressure. A half-Trentino variant keeps some of those benefits while giving the grower more control over yield and ripeness. At 500 metres, where the growing season is already extended and the risk of underripeness is real, the training choice affects how much leaf cover protects the grapes from cold nights and how evenly the fruit ripens.

In the cellar, Alessandro Nieri uses temperature-controlled fermentation tanks for primary fermentation and French-oak barriques for ageing the still reds. Temperature control during fermentation lets the winemaker manage extraction and preserve aromatic freshness; French oak barriques are used for ageing the still reds.

The stated philosophy is to do the principal work in the vineyard and reduce the need for intervention in the cellar. In practice selection decisions, farming choices, and harvest timing carry most of the quality burden before the grapes arrive.

Wines

Montellori's range runs across three categories: Chianti, blended reds under Toscana IGT, and traditional-method sparkling wines.

Chianti is the entry point for the still reds: Sangiovese from the limestone clay-loam blocks in Cerreto Guidi, medium-bodied, with the red fruit and firm acidity that Sangiovese gives on clay-rich soils. The 2018 Chianti showed dark cherry, dried herbs, and a lightly tannic finish in an independent tasting.

Moro is the estate's most internationally positioned wine: Sangiovese at roughly 70% blended with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2017 ran 70% Sangiovese, 15% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Merlot softens the mid-palate; the Cabernet adds dark fruit and a firmer tannic frame at the finish. A 2013 vintage tasted by Wine Enthusiast, blended to 70% Sangiovese, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Merlot, showed dried cherry, leather, cedar, and a balanced finish with moderate tannins. Blend proportions have shifted across vintages.

Dicatum is a Sangiovese-only wine, the range's closest equivalent to a varietal statement without the international additions of Moro. Poggio alla Luna blends Sangiovese with Merlot.

The sparkling wines sit apart from all of this. Brut and Pas Dosè are traditional-method wines from Podere del Montalbano, made by secondary fermentation in the bottle rather than in tank. Pas Dosè carries no dosage at all.

In The Glass

The Chianti opens with red cherry and dried herbs, straightforward fruit carried on firm Sangiovese acidity. The mid-palate is medium-weight, the tannins present but not aggressive, and the finish is clean with a mineral note that the clay-loam soils pull through.

Moro is fuller and darker: black cherry and plum from the Sangiovese base, with the Cabernet Sauvignon adding cedar, a touch of tobacco, and tannins that are firmer at the edges. The Merlot rounds the mid-palate, keeping the blend from feeling austere. Ageing in French barriques adds a light spice note and helps the tannins knit. It drinks well a few years after release and has enough tannic grip to develop further in bottle.

The Pas Dosè rises from the glass with a fine, persistent mousse and stone-fruit aromas, green apple, and a chalky mineral note that reflects both the limestone soils at Montalbano and the altitude. Without dosage, the wine is fully dry, and the acidity from the mountain site keeps the finish long and clean. The mousse is delicate rather than aggressive; the lees ageing adds some brioche depth without pushing the wine toward a toasty style.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Pas Dosè. It is the clearest example of what Montellori does that is genuinely its own: a traditional-method sparkling wine grown at 500 metres in three hectares of mountain vineyard, on silica and limestone soils, with no dosage added after disgorgement. In the glass it is fully dry, with fine mousse, stone fruit, green apple, and a chalky, mineral finish driven by the altitude and the soil. No other part of the Montellori range comes from this parcel, and nothing about it resembles a Chianti or a Super Tuscan. It is where the geography of the estate is most legible.

Anecdote

In 1895, Giuseppe Nieri took money he had made in the leather trade and used it to buy a farm in the hills west of Florence. The property was called Fattoria Montellori, it sat in the township of Fucecchio, and there was no obvious reason why a leather merchant should become a winegrower. Nieri intended to farm seriously. For the next half century the family did exactly that: they worked the land, sold wine in bulk to merchants, and put no label of their own on a bottle. It was not until the 1950s that the first bottles carrying the Montellori name left the property. Sixty years of farming before the family considered the wine ready to carry their name on the front.

Final Word

Fattoria Montellori does not fit a single category. It produces Chianti and a Super Tuscan blended red from low-altitude clay-loam vineyards, and a dosage-free traditional-method sparkling wine from a three-hectare parcel at 500 metres that might as well be in a different province. The fourth generation runs both sides of that range from the same family estate in Fucecchio. The Pas Dosè is where the estate's most individual work is visible; the Moro is where the estate meets the international red-wine market. Each is worth knowing independently.

Sources

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