Italy · Montalcino

Le Ragnaie

Montalcino estate farming three geographically separate corners of the hill, bottling each parcel under its own label to show what the same Sangiovese says in different soils and elevations.

The producer

Le Ragnaie farms 28 hectares inside the municipality of Montalcino, planting every row to Sangiovese and spreading its parcels across three distinct sectors of the appellation. The estate was founded in 1991, but it was Riccardo Campinoti who bought it in 2002 and rebuilt it with a specific logic: acquire land in the appellation's most interesting corners, apply the same vinification to each parcel, so differences among parcels remain visible. Over the following years, he and his wife Jennifer added parcels in Fornace to the south, in the north-facing cru of Montosoli, and in the high-altitude site of Petroso, eventually covering the full climatic range of the hill.

All fermentation takes place in concrete tanks with indigenous yeasts, and macerations run long. The wine then moves into large Slavonian oak barrels. Brunello spends roughly three years or more in large Slavonian oak before bottling. The range runs from the estate Brunello, a multi-area blend, through three single-vineyard crus and down to the Rosso di Montalcino. Wines that fall short in a given vintage can be declassified rather than blended up: the hierarchy flows from the vineyard outward.

Known for

Single-vineyard Brunello di Montalcino from geographically separated parcels, vinified identically to expose site differences across the hill.

Notable facts

The story

The Pass of the Extinguished Light

One of Le Ragnaie's parcels carries a name that predates the appellation by centuries. Passo del Lume Spento translates as the pass of the extinguished light, a reference to the fierce winds that come down the Montalcino hillsides and were said to blow out the lanterns of travellers crossing on foot after dark. The name survived as local topography long after lanterns stopped being necessary, and when the estate came to bottle wine from those vines, Riccardo Campinoti kept the old phrase on the label unchanged. The Rosso di Montalcino from those parcels has gone out under that name ever since, carrying a piece of landscape memory that no appellation regulation required and no marketing brief would have invented.

From the atlas

Le Ragnaie

At A Glance

The Producer

Le Ragnaie farms 28 hectares inside the municipality of Montalcino, planting every row to Sangiovese and spreading its parcels across three distinct corners of the appellation. The estate was founded in 1991 and produced creditable wine, but it was Riccardo Campinoti who bought it in 2002 and decided to turn it into something more ambitious.

Riccardo and his American wife, Jennifer, did not stop at the original holding. They searched out parcels in terroirs they admired around the appellation and added vineyards in Fornace to the south, in the cru of Montosoli to the north, and in the high-altitude site of Petroso. The strategy was deliberate: by owning land in geographically separate corners of Montalcino, they could compare what the same grape and the same cellar work would express in different soils and elevations. That comparative logic now organises the whole range.

Place

Montalcino sits on a hill in southern Tuscany, southeast of Siena, and its name on a label means a single grape: Sangiovese, grown inside a tightly drawn appellation and aged under rules that set Brunello di Montalcino apart from other Tuscan reds. The hill faces multiple directions, rises above 500 metres at its highest points, and carries soils that shift from clay-rich galestro in the cooler northern and northeastern sectors to sandier, warmer ground in the south toward Castelnuovo dell'Abate.

Le Ragnaie draws from both climatic registers. The home vineyard and the Petroso parcel sit high on the hill, where the growing season is longer and cooler. Fornace, down near Castelnuovo dell'Abate, works at lower elevation with more warmth. Montosoli, a north-facing slope that has attracted attention from multiple serious estates, sits in the coolest sector of the appellation. The label consequence is real: the estate Brunello is a deliberate blend across these three zones, while vineyard bottlings carry the single-origin address when the fruit justifies it.

Soil And Site

The vineyards follow organic-agriculture guidelines. No synthetic fertiliser goes into the ground; instead, cover crops are planted in autumn and turned in to feed the soil naturally through the winter. Vine ages in the home vineyard range from five to forty years, giving the estate a mix of youthful energy and older-vine depth in the same parcel.

The Ragnaie V.V. vineyard sits at 600 metres, the highest ground in Le Ragnaie's holdings, where cool air and a longer ripening window concentrate fruit without losing the acidity that Brunello needs to age. Montosoli is among the most-discussed north-facing crus in the appellation, with galestro-rich soils that deliver aromatic lift and firm tannin. Petroso is also among the highest vineyards in Montalcino, sharing the altitude character of V.V. Fornace works the warmer, rounder side of the hill.

Story

When Riccardo Campinoti bought Le Ragnaie in 2002, the estate was eleven years old and modestly regarded. He did not simply take over what was there. He and Jennifer went looking for parcels in the appellation's most interesting sectors, adding land incrementally over the years until the estate's map covered the north, the south and the high ground at once.

The decision to acquire parcels in separate corners of Montalcino was also a decision about how to bottle wine. Rather than blending everything into a single estate expression, Le Ragnaie kept the parcels separate in the cellar and gave each one the same vinification. That equivalence was deliberate: if the cellar work is constant, the differences between bottles trace back to the land. Wines that fall short in a given vintage can be declassified rather than blended up; the logic flows from the vineyard outward, not from commercial targets inward.

Vineyards And Cellar

All fermentation takes place in concrete tanks, with indigenous yeasts cultivated from the estate's own grapes to start each vintage. Macerations are long: somewhere between 25 and 90 days depending on the vintage character, with the extraction kept gentle so tannin integrates rather than dominates. Concrete holds temperature steadily and adds nothing to the wine, leaving the Sangiovese character direct and undisguised.

After fermentation, the wine moves into large Slavonian oak barrels. Brunello spends roughly three years or more in large Slavonian oak before bottling. Sangiovese develops complexity through time in barrel rather than through oak extraction, arriving in bottle with the grape's natural red-fruit and dried-herb character intact.

Wines

The estate Brunello di Montalcino is Le Ragnaie's widest lens: a blend drawing fruit from Fornace, Montosoli and the home vineyards, vinified and aged identically to the single-vineyard bottles. It reads as Montalcino from multiple directions at once, with tart cherry, dried rose, iron and firm but granular tannin, and enough acidity to age for well over a decade.

Ragnaie V.V. comes from old vines at 600 metres in the home vineyard. The elevation gives the wine a cooler, tighter character: tighter fruit, a stronger mineral thread, and a finish that holds longer and leaner than the estate blend. It is the most site-specific bottle in the range.

Casanovina Montosoli is sourced from a vineyard in the Montosoli area in northern Montalcino. Like the estate's other Brunelli, it is vinified and aged in the same manner, showing deep, lifted fruit with lithe tannins that are well integrated. It matures for 36 months in large Slavonian oak barrels.

Troncone comes from younger vines across the estate. It drinks earlier and with less austere tannin than the cru wines, showing the same Sangiovese character but with more forward red fruit and a softer finish.

Passo del Lume Spento is Le Ragnaie's Rosso di Montalcino. Declassified-lot wine and younger vines feed it; it is vinified more quickly and reaches the market earlier, carrying the house signature of direct Sangiovese fruit, cool-climate acidity and minimal oak influence.

In The Glass

Across the range, Le Ragnaie's Sangiovese opens with dried cherry, wild rose and dried herbs, often with an iron or earthy undertone from the hill soils. The mid-palate is firm rather than generous: the long maceration builds tannin that is present and textured but not hard, and the acidity stays high enough to keep the wine lively at any point in its life.

The estate Brunello is the most balanced expression, with fruit from warmer and cooler sectors smoothing the edges. V.V. and Montosoli push further toward the lean, mineral end: longer finish, tighter tannin, and a chalky note on the back of the palate that calls for time in bottle. Troncone and Passo del Lume Spento show the same acidity but in a more approachable frame, with fruit more forward and tannin less demanding.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the estate Brunello di Montalcino. It brings fruit from all three of Le Ragnaie's growing areas into a single wine, vinified in concrete with indigenous yeasts and aged for three or more years in large Slavonian oak. In the glass it shows dried cherry, rose petal and dried herbs on the nose, then a firm, structured mid-palate with high acidity and granular tannin that softens over the first hour in the glass. There is no oak sweetness, no cosmetic texture: this is Sangiovese on Montalcino soil, expressing the hill across multiple elevations and aspects. Open it with a few years of age on it and decant before serving.

Anecdote

One of Le Ragnaie's parcels takes its name from an old travellers' warning. Passo del Lume Spento translates as the pass of the extinguished light, a reference to the fierce winds that come down the Montalcino hillsides and were said to blow out the lanterns of anyone crossing on foot after dark. The name survived as local topography long after lanterns stopped being necessary, and when the estate came to bottle wine from those vines, it kept the old phrase on the label. Riccardo Campinoti did not change or soften it. The wine from those parcels has gone out under that name ever since, carrying a piece of landscape memory that predates the appellation by centuries.

Final Word

Le Ragnaie is a Montalcino estate built on a specific argument: that the same grape and the same cellar work, applied to parcels in different corners of the hill, will say different things. Riccardo Campinoti assembled that experiment parcel by parcel after 2002 and organised the range so the comparison is visible from bottle to bottle. The estate Brunello is the entry into that logic; V.V. and Montosoli are where it sharpens into something more particular.

Sources

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