Italy · Chianti Hills

Fattoria Viticcio

Organic Chianti Classico estate in Greve in Chianti, farming Sangiovese and international varieties across hillside vineyards since 1964, with a range extending from Chianti Classico DOCG through a Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot IGT to a coastal Bolgheri Rosso DOC.

The producer

Fattoria Viticcio has farmed the hillsides around Greve in Chianti since 1964, working 120 hectares of land at the geographical centre of the Chianti Classico zone, between Florence and Siena. Roughly 60 of those hectares carry vines under organic management, certified from the 2017 vintage after the estate converted its entire production to organic farming in 2013. Eight hectares had been under biodynamic management since 2003, a decade before the full conversion.

The range divides across three appellations. Sangiovese-led Chianti Classico DOCG wines, including the Beatrice Gran Selezione named for a Landini family daughter, come from the hillside parcels above Greve. Monile, a Toscana Rosso IGT, blends Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from old estate vineyards for a fuller, rounder profile outside the Chianti Classico rules. Viticcio Bolgheri, a Bolgheri Rosso DOC, extends the estate's reach to the Maremma coast.

Known for

Chianti Classico DOCG, Toscana Rosso IGT (Monile), Bolgheri Rosso DOC

Notable facts

The story

Four Years Between Farming and Paper

In 2003, Viticcio converted eight hectares of its Chianti Classico vineyards to biodynamic farming. No announcement accompanied the change. The estate reorganised how those parcels were managed, following lunar calendars, using plant and mineral preparations instead of synthetic treatments, and working the soil without chemicals. By 2013, that approach had extended to every row of vines on the property, a full conversion for a 60-hectare vineyard holding. When the estate applied for organic certification, the paperwork required multiple consecutive seasons under verified management. The certification arrived with the 2017 vintage. Four years had passed since the estate stopped using anything that certification would have prohibited, and the label finally said what the farming had been doing since 2013.

From the atlas

Fattoria Viticcio

At A Glance

The Producer

Fattoria Viticcio has farmed the hillside vineyards around Greve in Chianti since 1964, working land that sits at the geographical and qualitative centre of the Chianti Classico zone, between Florence and Siena. The estate holds 120 hectares across the Chianti Classico hills and the Maremma, with roughly 60 of those hectares planted to vines under organic management. A separate Bolgheri portfolio extends the range to the Tuscan coast.

Sangiovese anchors the estate's Chianti Classico production, but the range runs wider: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah, and Vermentino all grow on estate ground. The hierarchy climbs from Chianti Classico DOCG through the Beatrice Gran Selezione, named for a daughter of the Landini family, to a pair of bottles that leave the Chianti Classico appellation entirely. Monile, a Toscana Rosso IGT blending Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from old estate vineyards, sits alongside Viticcio Bolgheri, a Bolgheri Rosso DOC from the coastal holding.

Place

Greve in Chianti is the main market town of the Chianti Classico zone, positioned in the valley that runs south from Florence toward Siena. The vineyards that supply Viticcio's Chianti Classico range climb the hillsides above the town, where altitude, hillside exposure, and the dry Tuscan summer combine to moderate ripening and preserve the firm acidity that Sangiovese needs to age.

Chianti Classico is a DOCG, a protected designation of origin at the top of Italian wine law, and the zone's regulations require Sangiovese to form the majority of any wine carrying the name. Within that framework, Gran Selezione is the highest category: wines must come from a single vineyard or the estate's best selection, and spend a minimum of thirty months before release. Viticcio's Beatrice occupies that tier.

Bolgheri sits on the Maremma coast, more than an hour's drive southwest of Greve. The climate there is warmer and the soils heavier, conditions that suit the international varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc, that have defined Bolgheri's reputation since the 1970s.

Soil And Site

The Chianti Classico hills around Greve carry a mix of galestro, the crumbly schist that drains freely and stresses the vine into small, concentrated berries, and alberese, a harder clay-limestone that holds more water and gives Sangiovese a firmer tannic line. Both soil types favour acidity and longevity over immediate weight. The hillside positions, rather than the valley floor, provide the drainage and diurnal temperature shift that allow Sangiovese to ripen evenly without losing freshness.

Story

Viticcio's farming record is one of the clearest documented organic transitions in Chianti Classico. In 2003, the estate moved eight hectares of vineyard to biodynamic management, a decision that required adapting cellar rhythm, calendar farming, and soil treatment for a section of the property before any formal system recognised the change. Ten years later, in 2013, that approach extended to all 60 vineyard hectares and every wine in the range.

The certification did not follow immediately. Four years passed between the estate's claim of fully organic production and the formal certification that arrived with the 2017 vintage. Those four years are not a gap in the record; they reflect the timeline of organic certification bodies, which require multiple consecutive growing seasons before issuing approval. The estate was farming organically in practice before the label said so.

The Beatrice Gran Selezione carries a different kind of family mark. Gran Selezione as a category was introduced to the Chianti Classico DOCG in 2014, giving producers a sanctioned route to identify their finest selection above the Riserva level. Viticcio named its entry in that tier after a daughter of the Landini family, attaching a family name to the appellation's highest classification.

Vineyards And Cellar

At harvest, the estate applies a double selection in the vineyard before the grapes reach the cellar. A further hand sort on a sorting table removes anything that escaped the field pass. The varieties are then vinified separately at controlled temperatures, a practice that allows the cellar to track how each variety is developing before any blending decisions are made.

For the red wines, the grapes are pressed gently to avoid extracting harsh compounds from the skins, and racking is carried out with oxygen excluded to keep the wine clean and fruit-forward from the earliest stages. Maturation takes place in French oak barrels and tonneaux, chosen by the estate rather than selected through a standard supplier list. French oak at the barrel and larger tonneau scale gives the wines oak character without the more aggressive vanilla and spice that smaller new barrels can impose.

Wines

The range divides across three appellations, each with a different grape logic.

The Chianti Classico DOCG wines are Sangiovese-led, drawn from the hillside vineyards around Greve. They carry the red fruit, dried herb, and firm tannin that Sangiovese on galestro and alberese produces: cherries and dried tomato leaf on the nose, a mid-palate with some grip, and the acid line needed to cut through food. The Beatrice Gran Selezione takes the best selection from those same vineyards, ages longer, and arrives with more concentration, finer tannin from the extended ageing, and greater capacity to develop in bottle.

Monile steps outside the Chianti Classico appellation as a Toscana Rosso IGT, a category that allows producers to use grape varieties and blending ratios that Chianti Classico rules would not permit. The blend is Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, both from old estate vineyards. Old vines produce smaller crops, and smaller crops concentrate flavour. The wine is full-bodied with rich, dark fruit and tannins described as soft and silky, a profile that contrasts with Sangiovese's harder edge.

Viticcio Bolgheri is a Bolgheri Rosso DOC from the estate's coastal holding on the Maremma. Bolgheri Rosso DOC permits a blend of the international varieties that defined the appellation, and the warmer, heavier coastal conditions typically produce rounder, fuller-bodied wines than those from the Chianti hills.

In The Glass

The Chianti Classico wines open with sour cherry and dried herbs, the characteristic aromatic register of Sangiovese grown at altitude on well-drained hillside soils. In the mouth, there is firm tannin from the alberese clay beneath the topsoil and a bright acid line that keeps the mid-palate lively. The Beatrice Gran Selezione builds on that frame with denser fruit and tannin that has softened through longer ageing, but the acid backbone remains. The finish is dry, long, and faintly savoury.

Monile reads differently from the first smell: darker fruit, black cherry rather than red, with the Merlot contributing a rounder, fuller texture. The tannins are less angular than in the Sangiovese-based wines, and the body is broader. French oak ageing adds a layer of cedary warmth without obscuring the fruit from the old vineyards.

The Bolgheri Rosso is the most coastal of the three styles: warmer-climate ripeness, softer acidity, and a fuller body that reflects both the grape mix and the heavier soils of the Maremma coast.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Monile Toscana Rosso IGT. It is Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from old estate vineyards, grown in the Chianti Classico hills but vinified outside the appellation rules as a Super Tuscan. The old vine origin concentrates the fruit without adding extract or weight; the Merlot keeps the tannins round and the body generous, while the Cabernet Sauvignon holds the line at the finish. In the glass: dark cherry, a hint of cedar from the French oak, full body, and tannins that are silky rather than grippy. It is an easier entry into Viticcio's range than the Sangiovese-based Chianti Classico wines, which need food and time, and it shows what the estate does with its international varieties before moving to the hillside Sangiovese that defines the address.

Anecdote

In 2003, Viticcio converted eight hectares of its Chianti Classico vineyards to biodynamic farming. No announcement accompanied the change; the estate simply reorganised how those parcels were managed, following lunar calendars, using plant and mineral preparations instead of synthetic treatments, and working the soil without chemicals. By 2013, that approach had extended to every row of vines on the property, a full conversion for a 60-hectare vineyard holding. When the estate then applied for organic certification, the paperwork required multiple consecutive seasons under verified management. The certification arrived with the 2017 vintage. Four years had passed since the estate stopped using anything that certification would have prohibited, and the label finally said what the farming had been doing since 2013.

Final Word

Viticcio covers substantial ground: 60 organically farmed vineyard hectares in the Chianti Classico hills, a Maremma holding, and a separate Bolgheri portfolio on the coast. The range gives a buyer three distinct Tuscan wines from a single estate, each reflecting a different appellation logic and grape set. The Chianti Classico wines carry the acidity and dry grip that Sangiovese from Greve in Chianti produces; Monile shows what the same estate does when it steps outside the appellation with old-vine international varieties; and the Bolgheri extends the picture to the coast. The organic commitment, held in practice since 2013 and certified from 2017, runs across all of it.

Sources

Open Fattoria Viticcio in the interactive map →