From the atlas
Podere Ciona
At A Glance
- Location: Near Gaiole in Chianti, eastern Chianti Classico zone, Tuscany
- Elevation: 490 to 625 metres above sea level
- Appellation: Chianti Classico DOCG
- Grapes: Sangiovese, Merlot, Alicante Bouschet, Cabernet Franc
- Vineyards: 5.4 hectares
- Signature wine: Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva
- First vintage: 1997
- Family: Gatteschi
The Producer
Podere Ciona sits on a hilltop near Gaiole in Chianti at up to 625 metres, one of the higher positions in the Chianti Classico zone. The Gatteschi family bought a ruined farm there in 1990, rebuilt the main house over three years, and moved permanently to the estate in 1996. Their first official wine, a Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva, came from the 1997 vintage. Everything since has been built on that foundation: 5.4 hectares of vines, a new cellar, and a working agriturismo called Le Diacce.
The estate is small and deliberately so. Average yields are limited to one bottle per vine. Harvest is done by hand, grapes are moved to the cellar within thirty minutes of picking, and a berry-by-berry selection takes place before the fermentation vats are filled. Ageing is exclusively in French oak: barriques, tonneaux from Allier, Nievre, Tronçais and Vosges forests, and large casks between fifteen and thirty hectolitres.
Place
Gaiole in Chianti sits in the eastern part of the Chianti Classico zone, the designated appellation between Florence and Siena where Sangiovese has been the dominant grape for centuries. Chianti Classico DOCG covers the historical core of that territory and operates three quality tiers: Classico, Riserva, and Gran Selezione, each with progressively stricter ageing requirements.
At Podere Ciona, the vineyards occupy ground between 490 and 625 metres. That altitude slows ripening and preserves acidity in the Sangiovese, keeping the wines from the softness that lower, warmer sites can produce. The south-southwest orientation of the slopes compensates by maximising sunlight hours through the growing season, so the grapes reach full phenolic ripeness despite the cool nights.
Soil And Site
The 5.4 hectares of vines grow on a mixture of quartz arenite (sandstone), clay schist, and marl. Quartz arenite drains freely and warms quickly in spring, supporting early vine establishment after the replanting programme of 2000 to 2003. Clay schist retains moderate moisture through dry summers without adding heaviness to the fruit. Marl contributes the kind of mineral buffering that balances the soil's drainage and water-retention properties. Together, the three soil types support Sangiovese with the lean conditions it performs best in: good drainage, limited vigour, concentrated fruit.
Story
When the Gatteschis bought the Ciona property in early 1990, there was a house to rebuild and a farm to learn. The main reconstruction took about three years. The family commuted for several years more before moving permanently to the hilltop in 1996. The first vintage of Chianti Classico DOCG Riserva followed in 1997, from a year that turned out to be one of the stronger recent harvests across Chianti.
That first wine came from vineyards the family had inherited with the purchase. By 2000 they had decided those vines were not good enough. Over the following three years, they pulled out the entire planting, rebuilt the cellar from scratch, and bought a neighbouring farmhouse to convert into the Le Diacce agriturismo. All three projects ran at the same time. The decision to replant completely meant several years without mature-vine fruit; the decision to build the agriturismo alongside the winery meant the estate would support itself through hospitality while the new vines came into production. Both choices shaped the estate that exists today.
Vineyards And Cellar
The 5.4 hectares of south-southwest-facing vines carry four varieties: Sangiovese as the dominant planting, then Merlot, Alicante Bouschet, and a small amount of Cabernet Franc. Yields average one bottle per vine, a figure the estate holds deliberately across all parcels.
Harvest is entirely manual. Grapes are brought to the cellar within thirty minutes of picking, and every lot goes through a berry-by-berry sorting before fermentation. This level of selection means only healthy, fully ripe berries enter the vat, which affects the clarity and depth of the resulting wine rather than just its volume.
Fermentation takes place in stainless steel or French-oak vats depending on the grape selection and the wine being made. All ageing is in French oak: smaller barriques and tonneaux for wines that benefit from tighter wood contact, and large 15-to-30-hectolitre casks where the intention is integration rather than extraction. The Semifonte, a Merlot-led blend, is fermented in stainless steel and aged for one year in large French-oak vats.
Wines
The range is built around Chianti Classico DOCG in three tiers. Sangiovese dominates each level, with fermentation in stainless steel or French oak and ageing in French oak across barrique, tonneaux, and large casks. The Classico tier is the entry point; the Riserva requires extended ageing and represents the estate's original ambition, the wine form that launched the project in 1997; Gran Selezione, when produced, draws on the most concentrated fruit from the best parcels and the longest oak programme. Across all three, the picking and selection work in the vineyard means the raw material entering the cellar is tightly edited.
Semifonte sits outside the Chianti Classico framework. It is a blend of Merlot and Alicante Bouschet: the 2018 vintage was 75% Merlot and 25% Alicante Bouschet. Where the Chianti Classico tiers are built for Sangiovese's firm tannin and high acidity, Semifonte uses the Merlot for a softer mid-palate and the Alicante Bouschet for deep colour and a certain roundness at the edges. It is the younger IGT based on Merlot and Alicante Bouschet in the range.
In The Glass
The Chianti Classico tiers are built on Sangiovese at high altitude on mixed soils, which produces wines with firm tannin, pronounced acidity, and fruit that leans toward dried cherry, iron and dried herbs rather than fresh red berry. The French-oak programme adds integration and depth without dominating the grape character; the large casks in particular keep the wood in the background and let the acidity and tannin carry the wine forward. These are wines that will tighten further in the first few years after release and open over a decade or more.
Semifonte moves in a different direction. Merlot from these elevations produces a rounder, more pliant mid-palate than the Sangiovese-dominant wines. The Alicante Bouschet deepens the colour and adds a fleshy, dark-fruited quality that sits alongside the Merlot rather than cutting across it. One year in large French-oak vats gives the wine enough oak integration to feel complete without matching the Riserva's tannin. The result drinks earlier and more openly.
A Bottle To Understand It
Semifonte is a blend of Merlot and Alicante Bouschet. It is fermented in stainless steel and aged for one year in large French oak vats. The Merlot gives it a soft, round mid-palate; the Alicante Bouschet brings deep colour and a dark-fruited fullness that fills out the back of the glass. There is no sharp tannic edge and no heavy oak character. It is accessible from release, drinks well with food, and gives a clear picture of the Gatteschis' attention to selection and cellar work without requiring the patience that the Chianti Classico Riserva rewards.
Anecdote
In 2000, the Gatteschis had been making wine at Podere Ciona for three years. They had their first Riserva behind them and a small but functioning estate. Then they decided to pull out every vine on the property. The replanting programme ran from 2000 to 2003, which meant tearing out the existing vineyards entirely and waiting for new vines to establish before the estate could produce again at full capacity. The family ran the cellar construction and the new farmhouse conversion in the same window, so for three years the property was simultaneously a building site, a vineyard restoration project, and the beginning of an agriturismo. The three projects finished together and the estate that came out of that period, new vines, new cellar, Le Diacce open for guests, is the one that has been producing wine ever since.
Final Word
Podere Ciona is a small high-altitude estate in eastern Chianti Classico, built up from a ruined farm over roughly a decade and replanted from scratch after the first wines were already made. The Gatteschis farm just over five hectares on quartz arenite, clay schist and marl at up to 625 metres, pick by hand, sort berry by berry, and age exclusively in French oak. The Chianti Classico tiers are the core of the range; Semifonte is a younger IGT based on Merlot and Alicante Bouschet.
Sources
- https://www.podere-ciona.com/en/our-story
- https://www.podere-ciona.com/en/our-wine
- https://www.vetrina.toscana.it/en/attivita/podere-ciona/
- https://augustimports.com/brands/podere-ciona/
- https://www.levantaraimports.com/podere-ciona
- https://www.podere-ciona.com/semifonte
- https://thewineraconteur.net/2023/05/02/podere-ciona-seminfonte-and-chianti-classico/