Italy · Montepulciano & Valdichiana

Poliziano

Certified organic estate in Montepulciano farming Prugnolo Gentile across four Tuscan zones, with a range that moves from an approachable Rosso through village Vino Nobile to two single-vineyard crus, Asinone and Pieve di Caggiole.

The producer

Poliziano farms 170 hectares of certified organic vineyard in southern Tuscany, with its home and flagship label in Montepulciano. The estate takes its name from a local word: a person born in Montepulciano is called a poliziano, and the most famous of them was the humanist poet Angelo Ambrogini, born there in 1454, who became one of the central literary figures at the Medici court in Florence. His portrait appears on every bottle the estate produces today. Dino Carletti bought the original 22 hectares in 1961 as a country project, selling wine in bulk. His son Federico, an agriculture graduate who took over around 1980, rebuilt the model from the ground up: estate-only grapes, a push into single-vineyard wines, and a sustained expansion that brought the vineyard to its current 170 hectares across four zones.

The grape at the centre of everything is Prugnolo Gentile, the local name for Sangiovese, which runs through every wine in the Montepulciano range. Federico eliminated chemical weeding and insecticides across all 170 hectares, adopted the Simonit and Sirch vine-training method, which preserves the root health and flow channels of each individual plant, and from the 2021 harvest the wines carry certified organic status. In the cellar, the direction has moved toward lower-temperature fermentation, natural yeasts, and less time in new wood, allowing the fruit and acidity of Prugnolo Gentile to come through clearly at every level of the range.

Known for

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG, single-vineyard Prugnolo Gentile

Notable facts

The story

The Name That Came Back

Poliziano first bottled Pieve di Caggiole as a named single-vineyard wine with the 1988 vintage and continued through 1994. Then Federico Carletti stopped. The vineyard remained, the vines kept growing, the fruit went into other bottles, but the Caggiole name disappeared from the range for more than two decades. In 2015, Federico brought it back, releasing the 2015 vintage under the Caggiole label again after a gap of twenty-one years. The wine had not been absent because the vineyard failed or the wine had been poorly received. Federico had decided it was not yet ready to say what he wanted it to say. The revival came with a precise barrel programme: malolactic in barrique, then 24 months in tonneaux and barriques, with Colorino blended alongside the Prugnolo Gentile to add depth and tannic weight. The name returned when he was satisfied with what the parcel was giving him.

From the atlas

Poliziano

At A Glance

The Producer

Poliziano farms 170 hectares of certified organic vineyard across four zones in southern Tuscany, with its home and core label in Montepulciano. The estate takes its name from a local word: in Italian, a person born in Montepulciano is called a poliziano. The most famous of these was the humanist poet Angelo Ambrogini, born there in 1454, who rose to become one of the central literary figures at the Medici court in Florence. His portrait appears on every bottle the estate produces today.

Dino Carletti bought the original 22 hectares in 1961 as a country project, growing grapes and selling wine in bulk. His son Federico, an agriculture graduate who took over around 1980, rebuilt it from the ground up: estate-only grapes, a range of distinct wines, and a sustained expansion that brought the vineyard to its current 170 hectares. Federico described himself as a self-made winemaker who learned through experimentation rather than formal winemaking training. The third generation, Francesco and Maria Stella, joined as advisors to Federico in 2019 and 2021 respectively.

Place

Montepulciano sits in the Val di Chiana in southern Tuscany, on a high ridge between the Chiana and Orcia valleys. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano DOCG is one of Italy's oldest classified wine zones, predating the modern DOCG system by centuries. The grape at the centre of it is Prugnolo Gentile, the local name for Sangiovese, which accounts for most of the estate's planted area and every wine in the Montepulciano range. The classification requires Prugnolo Gentile to be the dominant variety, giving every Vino Nobile from Poliziano a common structural backbone: red fruit character, firm tannins from the grape, and an acidity that supports ageing.

Beyond Montepulciano, Poliziano holds vineyards in Montefollonico, on the Tuscan coast in Maremma, and in Cortona to the east. Each zone produces under its own DOC or DOCG rules, and the fruit from coastal Maremma and inland Cortona produces wines with a noticeably different profile from the Montepulciano core.

Soil And Site

Asinone, Poliziano's flagship single-vineyard wine, comes from more than 30 acres of silty clay soil within the Montepulciano zone. Silty clay retains moisture through dry periods and gives the grape a fuller mid-palate and a denser fruit character than the sandier soils found in other parts of the appellation. Pieve di Caggiole, the second named cru, occupies a distinct parcel and is treated differently in both vineyard and cellar: Colorino is blended in alongside Prugnolo Gentile, and the wine goes through malolactic fermentation in barrique before spending 24 months in a combination of tonneaux and barriques. The two crus share an appellation but not a soil type or a cellar route.

Story

When Federico Carletti took over around 1980, Poliziano was a bulk-selling country estate with 22 hectares. He stopped selling to négociants and committed to bottling exclusively under the family name from proprietary fruit. Over the following decades, the estate grew into four growing zones: Montepulciano and Montefollonico as the core, then Maremma in 1997 and Cortona in 2000. Production scaled to more than 83,000 cases a year.

The vineyard transition was slower and more deliberate. Federico eliminated chemical weeding and insecticides across all 170 hectares, adopted the Simonit&Sirch vine-training method, which focuses on preserving root health and the lymphatic vessels of each individual plant rather than managing yield by chemistry, and applied for organic certification. The 2021 harvest was the first to carry certified organic status.

In the cellar, Federico moved away from the heavier oak regimes common in Tuscany during the 1980s and 1990s. The direction shifted toward lower-temperature fermentation, natural yeasts, and less time in new wood, with the aim of letting Prugnolo Gentile's fruit and acidity come through rather than layering oak on top of them.

Vineyards And Cellar

The Simonit&Sirch method centres on pruning technique. Where conventional approaches cut canes heavily and leave large wounds, this system minimises cuts and preserves the internal flow channels that carry water and nutrients from root to shoot. Over time, vines trained this way tend to produce smaller, more concentrated crops with less stress on the plant. Applied across 170 hectares of organically farmed land, the method combines with the absence of herbicides and insecticides to produce fruit with cleaner skins and more consistent ripeness.

In the cellar, fermentation at lower temperatures preserves aromatic compounds in Prugnolo Gentile that dissipate at higher temperatures: the violet and red cherry character that appears in tasting notes for the Viti Nuove is partly a function of fermentation control. Natural yeasts slow the process and allow flavour development that commercial yeasts would compress. The Rosso di Montepulciano sees 20 to 40 per cent of its volume in wood of various sizes for about eight months before release. Pieve di Caggiole goes further, with malolactic fermentation in barrique and 24 months of maturation in tonneaux and barriques. Asinone's precise maturation regime was not disclosed, but the silty clay vineyard and the flagship designation point toward longer ageing on the estate's terms.

Wines

The range moves across four levels, each with a distinct job.

Rosso di Montepulciano is the entry point: 80 per cent Prugnolo Gentile blended with 20 per cent Merlot, fermented and aged in wood for about eight months with only 20 to 40 per cent of the blend seeing oak at any size. Poliziano intends its Rosso di Montepulciano to be youthful, fruit-driven, and full-bodied. The Merlot softens the Sangiovese tannins and rounds out the mid-palate.

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Viti Nuove is the village-level wine: pure Prugnolo Gentile under the DOCG appellation, showing red cherry, plum, light spice, and a violet note, with moderate acidity and tannins that are firm but already resolved. This is Prugnolo Gentile at its most legible.

Asinone is the flagship single-vineyard Vino Nobile: more than 30 acres of silty clay, a wine with deeper concentration, denser fruit, and greater ageing potential than the village wine. The clay soil gives it a fuller mid-palate and more grip through the finish.

Pieve di Caggiole is the second named cru: Prugnolo Gentile with Colorino, vinified in stainless steel, malolactic in barrique, then 24 months in tonneaux and barriques. The oak regime leaves the wine with dark cherry, dried herbs, and tobacco notes alongside firm but smooth tannins and a long finish. Colorino deepens the colour and adds tannic weight without the softening effect of Merlot.

Cortona and Maremma produce separate bottles, including a Syrah under the Cortona DOC, which sits outside the Sangiovese-centred hierarchy entirely.

In The Glass

The Rosso di Montepulciano opens with fresh red fruit and a light spice note from the Sangiovese, softened by the Merlot percentage. The palate is plump and easy, with fruit that sits forward and oak that stays in the background. It finishes cleanly with moderate length.

Vino Nobile Viti Nuove moves from that approachable register toward something more defined. Red cherry and plum on the nose, then a violet lift from the Prugnolo Gentile. In the mouth, the tannins are present and firm but already at a point where they work with the fruit rather than against it. The acidity keeps the wine from feeling heavy. It finishes with moderate persistence.

Asinone carries more weight throughout. The silty clay adds density to the mid-palate: the fruit is darker and more concentrated, the tannins are more structured, and the finish is longer. This is a wine that needs time after release or a dish with enough substance to meet it.

Pieve di Caggiole smells different from the start: the 24 months in tonneaux and barriques bring a cedar and tobacco note alongside the dark cherry and dried herbs. The Colorino adds tannic grip without making the wine angular. The finish is long and firm, with a slight earthiness that persists.

A Bottle To Understand It

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Viti Nuove is the place to start. It is the village-level wine, pure Prugnolo Gentile under the DOCG appellation, and it does the essential explanatory work: it shows what Sangiovese tastes like when it is called something else, grown at altitude in southern Tuscany, and handled with less oak and more attention to the fruit. Red cherry, plum, violet, firm acidity, resolved tannins. Nothing about it requires a reference point in Chianti or Barolo. Start here and the Asinone and Caggiole make immediate sense as more demanding versions of the same premise.

Anecdote

Poliziano first bottled Pieve di Caggiole as a named single-vineyard wine with the 1988 vintage and continued through 1994. Then Federico Carletti stopped. The vineyard remained, the vines kept growing, the fruit went into other bottles, but the Caggiole name disappeared from the range for more than two decades. In 2015, Federico brought it back, bottling the 2015 vintage under the Caggiole label again after a gap of twenty-one years. The wine was not absent because the vineyard had failed or the wine had been poorly received. Federico had simply decided it was not yet ready to say what he wanted it to say. The 2015 revival came with a precise barrel programme: malolactic in barrique, then 24 months in tonneaux and barriques, and Colorino blended alongside the Prugnolo Gentile to add depth. The name returned when he was satisfied with the answer the parcel was giving him.

Final Word

Poliziano is a large estate that behaves like a small one. The 170 hectares are farmed without chemicals under a vine-training method designed to extend individual plant life rather than maximise yield. The cellar has moved steadily away from the oak-heavy style that dominated Tuscany a generation ago. The range carries Prugnolo Gentile clearly at every level, from the approachable Rosso through the village Vino Nobile to two named crus that are genuinely distinct in soil, cellar treatment, and what they ask of you at the table.

Sources

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