Italy · Chianti Hills

Tenuta Canto alla Moraia

Certified-organic Sangiovese estate on a Roman road in the eastern Chianti hills, farming high-density parcels at 300 metres in the province of Arezzo.

The producer

Tenuta Canto alla Moraia sits at 300 metres on the Via Setteponti in Castiglion Fibocchi, a small comune in the province of Arezzo where the eastern Chianti hills meet the Pratomagno mountains. The estate covers 30 hectares in total, with 10 hectares planted to Sangiovese, Foglia Tonda, Malvasia Nera, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, all farmed under certified organic rules. Wines carry the IGT Toscana appellation, which gives the estate freedom to work outside the blending and yield constraints of the Chianti DOC denominations.

In 2002 the estate pulled out its existing vines and replanted the entire vineyard area at 6,400 vines per hectare on spurred cordon training, with yields held to 55 to 60 quintals per hectare. The soils are predominantly clay and silt over a gravel substratum: a combination that holds moisture through dry summers and drains excess rain, giving Sangiovese more body and depth than lighter soils allow. Moraia IGT Toscana and Ser Alfiero are the named bottles, both matured in 500-litre oak tonneaux for 12 months.

Known for

Organic Sangiovese-led reds under IGT Toscana, matured in 500-litre oak tonneaux at altitude in the province of Arezzo.

Notable facts

The story

The 2002 Replanting

In 2002 the estate at Castiglion Fibocchi began pulling out its vines and replanting every parcel from the ground up. The decision was total: no partial renovation, no phased transition, but a complete reset across the whole vineyard area in a single programme. The new planting density was 6,400 vines per hectare, trained to spurred cordon, with yields held at 55 to 60 quintals per hectare. Organic certification came with it. The estate sits at 300 metres on clay-silt over gravel, on a road that follows the old Roman Cassia Vetus, and whoever made the call in 2002 was betting that this ground, farmed at twice the traditional vine density and held to strict yield limits, would eventually produce something different from what had come before. The vines planted that year took a long time to settle. The wines in the glass now come from those parcels.

From the atlas

Tenuta Canto alla Moraia

At A Glance

The Producer

Tenuta Canto alla Moraia is an organic estate in Castiglion Fibocchi, a small comune in the province of Arezzo in eastern Tuscany. It sits at 300 metres on the Via Setteponti, a road that follows the course of the ancient Cassia Vetus, a Roman route laid down in the second century BC. The Pratomagno mountains rise to the east, sheltering the estate from the harshest winds and framing the landscape as a corner of the Chianti hills that most visitors reach only by accident.

The wines carry IGT Toscana on the label, not a Chianti Classico or Chianti Colli Aretini designation, which gives the estate room to grow Sangiovese alongside Foglia Tonda, Malvasia Nera, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot without DOC grape constraints. All five varieties are farmed organically.

Place

Castiglion Fibocchi lies in the Valdarno, the broad valley of the upper Arno, between Arezzo to the southeast and the Chianti hills to the west. At 300 metres the estate sits above the valley floor, where cooler nights in summer slow ripening and hold the acidity that Sangiovese needs to stay lively rather than flat. The Pratomagno ridge runs north to south behind the estate, blocking cold air from the east and keeping the growing season long enough for the grapes to ripen evenly.

Sangiovese is the principal grape in the range, alongside Foglia Tonda, Malvasia Nera, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The label says Toscana; the place is a specific slope in Arezzo at altitude.

Soil And Site

The soils under the estate's 10 hectares of vine are predominantly clay and silt, with a gravel substratum beneath. Clay and silt together hold water through dry summers, a practical advantage at altitude where irrigation is not standard practice. The gravel below drains excess moisture and forces roots downward. In the glass, that combination tends to give Sangiovese more body and depth than lighter sandy or volcanic soils allow, while altitude and the Pratomagno shelter keep freshness in the fruit.

Story

The estate's modern wine chapter begins with Giannetto Lebole, who acquired a farm of 200 hectares in Castiglion Fibocchi and carried out what the records call a grand agricultural plan, cultivating 90 hectares of vineyards. The scale was ambitious. What came after that first planting, and how the estate arrived at its present 10 hectares of active vineyard, is not fully documented in available sources, but the direction changed decisively in 2002.

That year the estate began pulling out its existing vines and replanting the entire vineyard area from the ground up. The new planting density was set at 6,400 vines per hectare, trained to spurred cordon. Yields were capped at 55 to 60 quintals per hectare. Certified-organic farming followed. The 2002 decision reads as a complete reset: not an incremental improvement but a whole-estate commitment to a different quality logic, one where vine density forces competition between plants and lower yields concentrate what each vine produces.

Vineyards And Cellar

The 6,400 vines per hectare density is roughly double what traditional Tuscan planting systems use. Closer spacing means each vine has less soil and less water to itself, which limits leaf area and berry size and tends to produce smaller clusters with more concentrated fruit relative to juice. Spurred cordon training, where permanent arms extend horizontally and short spurs carry each season's shoots, keeps the canopy open and allows air circulation around the clusters, which matters for organic farming: fewer fungal problems, less need for intervention.

Yields of 55 to 60 quintals per hectare, which translate to roughly 37 to 40 hectolitres of wine per hectare at typical extraction rates, sit at the lower end of what IGT Toscana permits but are not extreme by Tuscan quality standards. The effect on the wine is concentration without reduction: enough fruit to fill the palate, not so much dilution that the wine spreads thin.

For the Moraia IGT Toscana, the cellar work includes 12 months of maturation in oak tonneaux. Tonneaux are 500-litre barrels, larger than the 225-litre barriques used in many Tuscan cellars. The extra volume means a lower ratio of oak surface to wine, which softens the direct wood character and lets fruit and grape variety show more clearly through the ageing period.

Wines

Two wine names appear across the verified sources: Moraia IGT Toscana and Ser Alfiero Canto alla Moraia. Whether these are two separate cuvées or the same wine sold under different labels in different markets is not established in the available documentation.

Moraia IGT Toscana carries the cellar notes: 300 metres altitude, clay-silt soil over gravel, 12 months in oak tonneaux. The grape composition is not specified beyond the estate's Sangiovese-led organic range.

Ser Alfiero Canto alla Moraia appears in the Swedish retail system in a 2014 vintage. It is described as deep ruby-red in colour, with an intense red-fruit fragrance balanced by fresh oak, and characterised as having noticeable body and a strong aromatic presence. The oak is present but not dominant.

The full current range, including any white, rosé, or other red cuvées, and any hierarchy between the named bottles, is not established in the verified sources.

In The Glass

Sangiovese grown at 300 metres on clay-silt soil, replanted at high density and capped at 55 to 60 quintals per hectare, produces wine with more colour and fruit weight than the lighter Chianti Classico interpretations to the west. The certified-organic farming rules out synthetic chemistry in the vineyard, which tends to show in the fruit character: cleaner primary aroma, less residual herbicide or pesticide influence on the palate.

Ser Alfiero opens with concentrated red fruit, the kind of dark cherry and plum that Sangiovese gives when yields are low and altitude delays harvest slightly into cooler September nights. Fresh oak from the tonneaux adds a woody spice note, but at 12 months in 500-litre barrels the wood integrates rather than leads. The body is firm and the finish carries the structured character that clay soils give Sangiovese, with enough acidity to keep the wine from feeling heavy.

A Bottle To Understand It

Ser Alfiero Canto alla Moraia is the bottle to start with. It is a Sangiovese-led red from the estate's high-density, certified-organic parcels at 300 metres in Arezzo, matured for a year in large oak barrels. The colour is a deep ruby. The nose leads with concentrated red fruit and a thread of fresh wood. On the palate, the body is solid and the acidity is present enough to keep the fruit in motion through the finish. It drinks as a serious Tuscan red from a corner of Arezzo that does not trade on a famous appellation name, which means the price tends to reflect the work rather than the label.

Anecdote

In 2002 the estate at Castiglion Fibocchi began pulling out its vines and replanting every parcel from the ground up. The decision was total: no partial renovation, no phased transition, but a complete reset of the whole vineyard area in a single programme. The new planting density was set at 6,400 vines per hectare, trained to spurred cordon, with yields capped at 55 to 60 quintals per hectare. Organic certification came with it. The estate sits at 300 metres on clay-silt over gravel, on a road that follows the old Roman Cassia Vetus, and whoever made the call in 2002 was betting that this particular ground, farmed at twice the traditional vine density and held to strict yield limits, would eventually produce something different from what had been there before. The vines planted that year took a long time to settle. The wines in the glass now come from those parcels.

Final Word

Tenuta Canto alla Moraia is a small certified-organic estate in a part of Arezzo that wine buyers rarely seek out by name. The IGT Toscana label gives no appellation shorthand, and the producer name appears on few international retailer shelves. What the estate does have is a specific place at altitude on old Roman ground, a replanting programme that started more than two decades ago, and a commitment to organic Sangiovese at high density. Ser Alfiero is the wine to try: a deep, structured Tuscan red that earns its character from the parcel rather than the label.

Sources

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