Pian delle Querci Societa Agricola

The story

The Plain of the Oaks

The name of the estate is also the name of the place: Pian delle Querci, the plain of the oaks. The Pinti family has farmed this specific patch of land above Montalcino for four generations, which in agricultural Tuscany means at least a century of contact with the same clay soils and the same summer rhythms. When the estate registered its Brunello with the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino, it was not joining a new movement. It was attaching a legal designation to land the family had already been managing for decades before Brunello became a name on international market lists. The 8.5 hectares of vine sit inside a 50-hectare farm, and most of that farm grows something other than Sangiovese. That proportion, unchanged across generations, is still visible in how the estate describes itself: an agricultural family that produces wine, rather than a wine estate that also farms.

From the atlas

Pian delle Querci

At A Glance

The Producer

The Pinti family has farmed this corner of the Montalcino hills for four generations. They are agricultural people first: the estate covers 50 hectares, and only 8.5 of those hectares are planted to vine. The rest grows something else. Brunello is the commercial centre, but it sits inside a broader relationship with this specific piece of land in Siena province.

The vineyards divide clearly: 6 hectares committed to Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, 2 hectares to Rosso di Montalcino DOC, and 0.5 hectares to a small Sant'Antimo bottling. Annual production runs to 38,000 bottles of Brunello and 14,000 bottles of Rosso. The numbers suggest a mid-sized family operation working at a scale that allows hands-on management without industrial volume.

In the cellar, Pian delle Querci holds to the traditional Montalcino template: slow fermentation in steel vats without added yeast, followed by maturation in large Slavonian oak casks. The Brunello specifically spends three years in new, medium-toast, 50-hectolitre Slavonian botti before a further ten months in bottle. These are not small barriques. They transfer oak character slowly, and a three-year cycle in new large wood is a specific choice.

Place

Montalcino is a hilltop town in the province of Siena, roughly 40 kilometres south of Siena city. The Brunello di Montalcino DOCG covers the entire commune, and every bottle must be made from Sangiovese grown within those boundaries. Locally, this Sangiovese clone is called Brunello, a name that distinguishes the Montalcino biotype from the same grape grown elsewhere in Tuscany under Chianti or Morellino designations.

Pian delle Querci sits at 250 metres elevation. At that altitude, the Montalcino climate is warm enough to ripen Sangiovese fully but cool enough at night to preserve the acidity that holds Brunello together through its long ageing. The clay soils at this address are dense and mineral-rich, retaining water into the dry summer months and slowing vine development in a way that concentrates fruit without forcing it.

Rosso di Montalcino DOC uses the same grape and the same vineyard zone as Brunello but carries a shorter ageing obligation. It is released younger and drunk sooner, drawing on the same clay-and-mineral character before the long oak cycle begins.

Soil And Site

The vineyards stand at 250 metres on clay soils described by the estate as rich in coarse mineral material (scheletro in Italian, referring to rock fragments and gravel within the clay matrix). Clay holds moisture and warms slowly in spring, which delays budbreak and concentrates sugars and tannins as the growing season extends. The mineral skeleton within the clay aids drainage, preventing waterlogging and encouraging roots to go deeper.

At this elevation in Montalcino, south and southwest exposures receive direct afternoon sun through the growing season. The diurnal temperature variation at 250 metres is meaningful: warm days build phenolic ripeness, and cool nights in August and September slow the pace, allowing Sangiovese to develop complexity rather than simple sugar concentration.

Vines are trained to low spur-pruned cordons and cut short to restrict yield per vine. Fewer bunches per vine means more concentrated juice in each.

Story

Four generations of the Pinti family have farmed this land. Agricultural families in southern Tuscany often held mixed-use estates: cereals, olives, livestock alongside vines. That pattern shaped a particular understanding of land management, one in which the vineyard is part of a wider organism rather than the whole operation.

The shift from farming family to wine producer did not happen overnight, and the verified record does not pin down its exact timing. The estate describes itself as agricultural first, with slow fermentation in steel vats without added yeast and maturation in large Slavonian oak casks. The Brunello is made the way Montalcino traditionalists have always argued it should be made: steel, Slavonian wood, time.

The use of new oak in the Brunello cycle is worth noting as a deliberate position. Many Montalcino houses use old botti and rotate them over decades. Pian delle Querci specifies new, medium-toast, 50-hectolitre casks for a three-year maturation. New wood at that volume imparts more tannin and oak character than seasoned wood of the same size. The Brunello from this cellar carries the mark of that choice.

Vineyards And Cellar

The vineyards are trained to low spur-pruned cordons with short pruning. Low cordon training keeps the canopy close to the ground, where reflected heat from the soil aids ripening. Short pruning reduces the number of buds left after winter cutting, which limits the number of shoots and ultimately the number of bunches per vine. The consequence is lower yield and more extract per berry.

In the cellar, Brunello fermentation begins with medium-long skin maceration. During the early phase, pump-overs are frequent and described by the estate as especially intense. Pumping juice over the floating cap of skins extracts colour, tannin, and aroma compounds. Intense early pump-overs at Pian delle Querci produce a Brunello with deep colour and firm tannins from the outset.

Fermentation proceeds slowly in steel vats without added yeast, relying on ambient yeasts present on the grapes and in the cellar. Slow, indigenous fermentation is associated with more complex aromatic development and a less standardised result from vintage to vintage.

After fermentation, the Brunello moves into new, medium-toast, 50-hectolitre Slavonian oak casks for three years. Medium toast means the inside of each cask is lightly charred, which softens harsh wood tannins and adds vanilla and spice notes without dominating the fruit. At 50 hectolitres, each cask holds roughly 67 standard cases of wine. The ratio of wine volume to oak surface area is large, so oak influence builds gradually over three years rather than quickly as in a small barrique. The wine then spends at least ten months in bottle before release.

Wines

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG is made from Sangiovese grown on the estate's 6 hectares within the Montalcino commune. Annual production is 38,000 bottles. The wine is the result of medium-long maceration, indigenous yeast fermentation, and three years in new large Slavonian oak. The estate describes it as intense ruby with garnet reflections, clear, with ethereal and complex aromas and fruit that has integrated with wood over the ageing cycle. The tannins from intense early pump-overs give it the backbone required for extended bottle development. Brunello di Montalcino by regulation cannot be released before five years from harvest for standard bottlings.

Rosso di Montalcino DOC draws from 2 hectares and produces 14,000 bottles a year. It is made from the same Sangiovese grown in the same clay soils with the same fermentation approach, but it carries a shorter ageing requirement under DOC rules and is released younger. The Rosso is the way into the estate's vineyards and cellar before committing to the Brunello's price and drinking window.

Sant'Antimo comes from a 0.5-hectare parcel producing roughly 4,000 bottles annually. The Sant'Antimo DOC covers a range of varieties grown within the Montalcino commune, and no specific grape composition for this bottling is established from the verified record. It is the smallest part of the range and functions as a secondary line.

In The Glass

The Brunello from Pian delle Querci opens with a dense, dark ruby colour that carries garnet at the rim, reflecting both the Sangiovese variety and the years in oak. On the nose, the aromas sit at a remove from fresh fruit: the combination of indigenous fermentation and three years in new large wood pushes the profile toward dried cherry, earth, leather, and faint vanilla rather than bright berry. The mid-palate is concentrated, built from the clay soils and the yield-limited vines.

The tannins are firm. Intense early pump-overs during maceration extract tannin from grape skins, and new Slavonian oak contributes a secondary tannin layer. Together they give the wine a grip that needs bottle age to resolve. Acidity runs through the wine as it does in most serious Sangiovese: it is the line that keeps the concentrated fruit from feeling heavy and the element that will allow the wine to develop over ten or more years in the right cellar.

The Rosso, from the same clay parcels, will carry a similar fruit register in a lighter frame, with less oak integration and less tannic mass, released closer to the harvest it comes from.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG. It is 100 per cent Sangiovese from 250-metre clay parcels, fermented without added yeast, and aged three years in new 50-hectolitre Slavonian oak before ten months in bottle. The wine needs time after release: the firm tannins from intense early extraction and new wood are present and require either patience or food. Open it with a few hours of air, or plan to cellar it for several years after purchase. What you get is a classically built Montalcino Sangiovese with deep colour, dried-cherry and earth aromatics, concentrated mid-palate weight, and the long tannic finish that defines the appellation at its most traditional.

The Rosso di Montalcino is the quicker route to the same clay-soil Sangiovese character, without the full oak cycle, and it will show the estate's fruit register in a more accessible window.

Anecdote

The name of the estate is also the name of the place: Pian delle Querci, the plain of the oaks. The Pinti family has farmed this particular piece of land in the hills above Montalcino for four generations, which in agricultural Tuscany means at least a century of contact with the same clay soils, the same summer heat, the same autumn rains. When the estate decided to certify its Brunello with the Consorzio del Brunello di Montalcino, it was not joining a new project. It was attaching a legal designation to land the family had already been managing for decades before Brunello became the most expensive Italian red wine appellation on most market lists. The 8.5 hectares of vine sit inside a 50-hectare farm. Most of the land grows something other than Sangiovese. That proportion, unchanged across generations, says something about where the wine fits in the family's understanding of what they are doing on this hill.

Final Word

Pian delle Querci is a traditional Montalcino estate working at a human scale. Six hectares of Sangiovese on clay soils at 250 metres, fermented without cultured yeasts and aged three years in new large Slavonian oak. The Brunello is made for the cellar, not the shop floor: firm tannins, concentrated fruit, and the kind of acidity that keeps Sangiovese alive across a decade. The Rosso is where to start if the Brunello's ageing window is inconvenient. Four generations of the Pinti family have farmed this land, and the wine reflects that continuity: no pivot to international varieties, no small-barrique experiment, no renovation story. Just Sangiovese and large wood and time.

Sources

• https://www.piandellequerci.it/azienda.php
• https://www.piandellequerci.it/
• https://www.piandellequerci.it/contatti.php
• https://www.consorziobrunellodimontalcino.it/en/592/wineries
• https://www.francowineimport.com/collections/pian-delle-querci
• https://www.piandellequerci.it/vini-dett.php?url=brunello-di-montalcino
• https://www.piandellequerci.it/vini-dett.php?url=rosso-di-montalcino
• https://www.piandellequerci.it/en/wines.php
• https://www.vinmonopolet.no/Land/Italia/Toscana/Brunello-di-Montalcino/Pian-delle-Querci-Brunello-di-Montalcino-2018/p/5499301