Italy · Montalcino

Tenuta Buon Tempo

Organic Brunello di Montalcino estate at Castelnuovo dell'Abate, built from a 2012 purchase and a bare cellar; 14 hectares of Sangiovese Grosso aged three years in large Slavonian-oak casks.

The producer

Tenuta Buon Tempo sits at the southern foot of the Montalcino hill, at Castelnuovo dell'Abate, where the land opens toward the Orcia valley and the climate runs warmer and drier than the cooler elevations to the north. Swedish entrepreneur Per purchased the abandoned property in 2012, renamed it as a tribute to the Tuscan countryside, and began rebuilding from a standing start. The oldest vines on the estate were planted by the previous owner in 1994. The first bottle under the Tenuta Buon Tempo label, the 2010 Brunello di Montalcino, reached buyers only in 2015, five years after the vintage and three after the purchase.

All 14 hectares carry Sangiovese Grosso, the only grape the Brunello di Montalcino DOCG permits. Five hectares supply Brunello and its Riserva; the majority of the rest goes to Rosso di Montalcino. The cellar ages Brunello for three years in large Slavonian-oak casks, chosen for their neutral flavour and slow oxidation. A two-hectare parcel at Montosoli on the northern hill, acquired in 2019 with a named cru as the aim, adds a cooler, clay-dominant second site to the estate's south-facing main block. Bioagricert organic certification arrived in 2021.

Known for

Brunello di Montalcino from the southern Montalcino zone, farmed organically and matured in large neutral Slavonian-oak casks.

Notable facts

The story

Three Years Before the First Bottle

When Per walked the property at Castelnuovo dell'Abate in 2012, the land had been idle for a long time. The rural exodus of the 1960s had emptied much of this part of Tuscany, and the estate had followed that pattern, sitting largely unused until he arrived. He bought it on that visit, named it Tenuta Buon Tempo as a tribute to the surrounding countryside, and began rebuilding a working estate from nothing. The only vines on the property were those planted by the previous owner in 1994 in parcel 56. The cellar had no commercial history under any name. Per started from that point and waited. The 2010 vintage went into oak, matured through the minimum ageing period required by the denomination, was bottled, and was finally offered for sale in 2015. Three years of ownership before the first harvest worth keeping; five years before the first bottle sold.

From the atlas

Tenuta Buon Tempo

At A Glance

The Producer

Tenuta Buon Tempo sits at Castelnuovo dell'Abate, a village at the southern tip of the Montalcino denomination where the land drops toward the Orcia valley and the climate runs warmer and drier than the north. Swedish entrepreneur Per purchased the property in 2012 and gave it a new name, a tribute to the Tuscan countryside around it. His wife Janet is an international wine trader; Per also produces wine at a château in France. The day-to-day operation belongs to Alberto Machetti, who grew up on the estate, trained as an enologist, and now leads the team while handling its commercial and accounting work. Winemaking consultants Attilio Pagli and Stefano Bartolomei support production decisions.

The estate farms fourteen hectares of Sangiovese Grosso and produces three wines: Brunello di Montalcino DOCG, Rosso di Montalcino DOC, and a small IGT called La Furba. The first bottle under the Tenuta Buon Tempo label, the 2010 Brunello, reached buyers only in 2015, three years after the purchase and five years after the vintage. That gap tells the story of the estate's early years: an abandoned property, a bare cellar, and a long rebuild before the first commercial release.

Place

Castelnuovo dell'Abate lies at the southern foot of the hill of Montalcino, close to where the Sant'Antimo abbey stands in the valley. The position matters for the wine because this corner of the denomination receives more heat and less moisture than the cooler, higher-elevation zones to the north and east. Sangiovese Grosso at Castelnuovo dell'Abate ripens fully and consistently, producing wines with generous fruit and rounded weight alongside the grape's characteristic acidity and firm tannin.

Montalcino's denomination boundary defines what goes on the label. Brunello di Montalcino DOCG requires Sangiovese Grosso only, at least five years total ageing before release (six for Riserva), and a minimum of two years in oak. Rosso di Montalcino DOC draws from the same grape and denomination but is released earlier, giving a lighter, more immediate wine from the same geographic base. Where the vineyard sits within Montalcino shapes which bottles the fruit goes into and how they taste.

In 2019, the estate added a two-hectare parcel at Montosoli, on the northern hill of Montalcino at 300 metres with a north-facing exposure. That site is cooler, predominantly clay, and produces a different expression of Sangiovese Grosso: more acidity, tighter fruit, firmer tannin. The estate acquired it specifically to develop a named cru wine.

Soil And Site

The main estate at Castelnuovo dell'Abate covers twelve hectares between 180 and 350 metres with south-easterly exposure. Elevation within this range varies enough to produce fruit at different ripeness levels across the block. Coastal breezes and the shelter of Monte Amiata to the south protect the vines from excessive humidity and the vine diseases that follow from it, a practical advantage for organic cultivation at this scale.

The Montosoli parcel is predominantly clay, which holds moisture longer and moderates the rate of ripening. Clay soils in Montalcino tend to give Sangiovese Grosso more weight and darker colour rather than the mineral-edged freshness of the galestro and alberese soils further north. The contrast between the two sites gives the estate two registers of the same grape.

Story

When Per arrived at Castelnuovo dell'Abate in 2012, the property had sat largely idle for decades, a casualty of the rural exodus that emptied many Tuscan hillside farms from the 1960s onward. He bought it on that visit, renamed it, and began rebuilding. The oldest vines on the property had been planted by the previous owner in parcel 56 in 1994; Per inherited them and used their fruit for the estate's first wines under the new name.

The cellar was configured from the start around large neutral vessels. Slavonian-oak casks and tonneaux became the main ageing containers for Brunello, chosen to let the Sangiovese fruit and site character develop without the vanilla and toast overlay of small new-oak barriques. More recently, the cellar has added amphora and cocciopesto alongside those casks, extending the range of textures the estate can produce.

Organic certification arrived in 2021 from Bioagricert, formalising practices that had been building since the estate's early years. Green manuring varies by plot, resistance inducers include propolis, orange peel, and algae extracts, and the farming is designed to encourage biodiversity and natural antagonists in place of synthetic treatments. A sustainability goal for 2030 extends that direction further.

Vineyards And Cellar

All fourteen hectares are planted with Sangiovese Grosso trained on the Cordon Spur system, which restricts yield per vine and concentrates fruit expression. Five hectares supply Brunello di Montalcino and its Riserva. The majority of the remaining nine supply Rosso di Montalcino, with a small portion going to La Furba IGT.

In the cellar, Brunello matures for three years in large Slavonian-oak casks before release. Slavonian oak has larger grain and thicker staves than French oak, which slows oxidation and contributes less aromatic character to the wine. Three years in those casks softens the Sangiovese tannin gradually and allows the wine to develop complexity without absorbing strong wood flavours. The Rosso spends less time in oak and reaches market earlier, preserving the grape's primary fruit and the site's firm acid line. Amphora and cocciopesto, an ancient Roman concrete-style material, introduce further variation: both vessels are oxygen-permeable but neutral in flavour, producing wines with slightly different texture than those matured in wood.

Wines

The range has three levels. Rosso di Montalcino DOC is the entry wine: Sangiovese Grosso from the same certified-organic parcels as the Brunello, harvested and released earlier, with dried cherry, violet, and earthy iron on the nose, firm acidity running through the mid-palate, and chalky tannin on the finish. It has the grip and acid line of the appellation without the weight that comes from extended oak ageing.

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG receives three years in large Slavonian-oak casks after at least five years of total ageing before release. The fruit deepens from the Rosso's cherry register into darker plum and dried herb territory, the tannin tightens over time, and the acid framework remains the same structural backbone. The wine needs time and rewards it.

Brunello di Montalcino Riserva extends the ageing further, to six years before release. From the warmest-ripening or most concentrated parcels in the best vintages, it carries more weight and length than the standard Brunello, with a finish that holds for considerably longer.

La Furba IGT uses Sangiovese Grosso from parcels outside the DOCG and DOC allocations and is made in smaller quantities. It falls outside the appellation hierarchy, giving the estate freedom in ageing and style.

In The Glass

Sangiovese Grosso from Castelnuovo dell'Abate opens with dried red cherry, violet, and a mineral iron note that reads as earthy rather than metallic. In the mouth, the acidity arrives early and runs through the wine's length; it is firm and clean rather than sharp, carrying the fruit rather than cutting against it. The tannin is chalky and grips toward the back of the palate. The finish is long and dry, with the iron note returning alongside the fading fruit.

The Brunello adds weight and breadth to that framework after its time in Slavonian oak. The cherry darkens toward plum and dried fig, dried herb notes appear alongside the fruit, and the tannin softens from chalky to more granular. The acid line remains the dominant structural thread. The Montosoli parcels, once developed as a cru, will likely add tighter acidity and more mineral character to that picture, cooler exposure and clay soil pulling the wine in a different direction from the warm south-facing main estate.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Rosso di Montalcino. It is the same Sangiovese Grosso, from the same organically farmed parcels at Castelnuovo dell'Abate, released after a shorter ageing period and sold at a lower price than the Brunello. The fruit is dried cherry and violet, the acidity is firm and mouth-watering, and the chalky tannin gives the wine enough grip to work with food without demanding years in a cellar. The iron and earth notes underneath the fruit are the site speaking plainly, without the additional complexity that long oak ageing and extended time in bottle bring to the Brunello. Buy it to understand what the ground at Castelnuovo dell'Abate tastes like; the Brunello then shows what happens to that same character over time.

Anecdote

When Per walked the property at Castelnuovo dell'Abate in 2012, the land had been idle for a long time. The rural exodus of the 1960s had taken most of the farming families from this part of Tuscany, and the estate had followed that pattern, sitting largely unused until he arrived. He bought it on that visit, named it Tenuta Buon Tempo as a tribute to the countryside around it, and began the work of rebuilding a working estate from a standing start. The only vines on the property were those planted by the previous owner in 1994 in parcel 56. The cellar had no commercial history under any name. Per started from that point and waited. The 2010 vintage went into oak, matured through the minimum ageing period required by the denomination, was bottled, and was finally offered for sale in 2015. Three years of ownership before the first harvest worth keeping; five years before the first bottle sold.

Final Word

Tenuta Buon Tempo is a young estate in one of Italy's most demanding appellations, built from a property that had to be rebuilt before it could produce. The wines are rooted in Castelnuovo dell'Abate, the warmest corner of the Montalcino denomination, where Sangiovese Grosso ripens fully and gives wines with weight, dried fruit, firm acidity, and chalky tannin. The cellar points toward neutral, long maturation rather than new oak, and the organic certification formalises farming that was always heading that direction. The Montosoli parcel acquired in 2019 adds a second geographic argument, cooler and more clay-dominant, with a named cru as the long-term aim. The Rosso is the clearest way in.

Sources

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