Italy · Chianti Hills

Tenuta Sette Ponti

Valdarno estate that began estate bottling in 1998 after four decades selling its grapes. The flagship Oreno is a Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot blend from 60 organic hectares at 200 to 300 metres between Florence and Arezzo.

The producer

Tenuta Sette Ponti sits in the Valdarno, the wide valley of the Arno running between Florence and Arezzo in eastern Tuscany. The Moretti family has held the property since 1957, when architect Alberto Moretti bought the core estate as a hunting retreat. For four decades, the vineyards produced grapes that left the property and became other people's wine. That changed in 1998 when Antonio Moretti, who had inherited the estate from his father, kept the harvest and released Crognolo, a red named after the wild cornus bush growing on the land.

The flagship, Oreno, followed: a blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot, fermented with 25 days of skin contact and aged in French oak barriques. The 60 organic hectares lie at 200 to 300 metres on clay, limestone and galestro, ventilated by breezes from the nearby Pratomagno. The wines carry the IGT Toscana designation, typical of Tuscan estates working with Bordeaux varieties outside the Sangiovese appellations. The Moretti Cuseri family also owns Orma, a 5.5-hectare estate in Bolgheri acquired in 2004, sited between Sassicaia and Ornellaia.

Known for

Oreno (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot)

Notable facts

The story

The Hunting Retreat That Kept Its Grapes

In 1957, Alberto Moretti signed the papers for Tenuta Sette Ponti and drove out to the Valdarno to inspect his new hunting retreat. The princesses Margherita and Cristina Savoia d'Aosta had used the property for years; Moretti intended to continue in much the same way. There were vineyards, and someone had to do something with the grapes, so the arrangement continued as it always had: the fruit went to other Tuscan producers and came back as someone else's wine. That is how things ran for forty years, through Alberto's time and into his son Antonio's. When Antonio finally decided, in the late 1990s, to keep the harvest and make the wine himself, the 1998 vintage of Crognolo was the first bottle to leave the estate under the Sette Ponti label. The wild cornus bush the wine was named after had been growing on the property the whole time.

From the atlas

Tenuta Sette Ponti

At A Glance

The Producer

For four decades, Tenuta Sette Ponti made nothing. Its vineyards produced grapes that left the property and became other people's wine. That changed in 1998 when Antonio Moretti, who had recently inherited the estate from his father, released Crognolo: a single red, named after a wild cornus bush growing on the land, and the first bottle to carry the Sette Ponti name.

The estate sits in the Valdarno, the wide valley of the Arno running between Florence and Arezzo. Its name means Seven Bridges, for the Roman viaducts that once crossed the river valley nearby. The Moretti family has held it since 1957, when architect Alberto Moretti bought the core property as a hunting retreat. The vineyards were there; winemaking was not. Antonio Moretti ended that arrangement. Crognolo came first. Oreno, a Bordeaux-variety blend and the estate's flagship, followed.

The Moretti Cuseri family now runs two Tuscan estates: Sette Ponti in the Valdarno and Orma in Bolgheri, acquired in 2004.

Place

The Valdarno is not a named DOCG or a classified sub-zone. It is a geographical address: the valley floor and hillsides where the Arno flows between Florence and Arezzo in eastern Tuscany. Estates here typically release under the IGT Toscana designation, a label that allows freedom with grape varieties outside the historic Sangiovese appellations of Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

That label choice is a consequence of the grape mix. Oreno, built from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, cannot carry a DOCG name tied to Sangiovese. IGT Toscana gives the estate scope to work with the varieties it has chosen and to set its own agenda for ripeness, blend, and style.

The vineyards face south and southwest across the valley. At 200 to 300 metres above sea level, the elevation provides a diurnal temperature shift that helps preserve acidity in the fruit. Breezes from the nearby Pratomagno zone move through the rows, reducing disease pressure and keeping the canopy healthy through the summer.

Soil And Site

The soils across the Sette Ponti vineyards combine clay, limestone and galestro, the flaky schist common in central Tuscany. Clay holds water and contributes body; limestone adds mineral character and supports drainage; galestro fragments drain freely and warm quickly, encouraging even ripening. The varied soils include clay, limestone and galestro, with drainage across the sites.

At 200 to 300 metres, the vines work in a climate that is warm enough for Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon to reach full ripeness but cool enough, particularly at night, to retain the acidity that keeps the wines from going heavy. Manual work in the vineyards includes fruit selection during the growing season, maintaining the quality gate before harvest.

Story

Alberto Moretti bought Tenuta Sette Ponti in 1957, the year it passed out of the hands of Princesses Margherita and Cristina Savoia d'Aosta. Moretti was an architect. He wanted a hunting retreat. The vineyards came with the property, and for years the arrangement was straightforward: the grapes were sold to other Tuscan producers who made wine from them.

When Antonio Moretti inherited the estate in the late 1990s, nothing had changed on the winemaking side. His decision to keep the fruit on the property and bottle it himself was not a gradual evolution. It produced Crognolo 1998, and from that vintage forward, Sette Ponti has released its own wine every year.

The second release, Oreno, was named for a small river running through the estate. It became the flagship. In 2004, Antonio Moretti extended the family's reach into Bolgheri, acquiring Orma, a 5.5-hectare estate planted between Sassicaia and Ornellaia. Orma produces its own flagship blend and a second wine, Passi di Orma, which joined the range after the highly regarded 2015 vintage.

Vineyards And Cellar

The Sette Ponti estate farms 60 hectares of organic vineyards, a figure from the official estate. Organic farming here means no synthetic herbicides, pesticides or fertilisers in the rows. The Pratomagno breezes that move through the vineyards reduce the humidity that would otherwise make organic viticulture harder to sustain at this scale. Manual work covers pruning, canopy management, and harvest selection, each aimed at limiting yields and concentrating flavour in the fruit before it reaches the cellar.

Fermentation runs in temperature-controlled stainless steel, concrete and ceramic vessels, with natural fermentation encouraged. For Oreno, skin maceration lasts around 25 days with frequent pumpovers, a process that extracts colour, tannin and the aromatic compounds from the grape skins. Ageing follows in French oak barrels. The choice of vessel, barrique or large cask, varies by wine: Oreno ages in smaller French oak barriques.

Wines

The estate produces two core red wines from the Valdarno.

Crognolo was the first release, vintage 1998, and carries the name of the cornus bush found growing wild on the property. It is the entry point into the range.

Oreno is the flagship. The blend is 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot, all grown on the estate. Merlot brings plum weight and a rounded mid-palate; Cabernet Sauvignon adds dark fruit, grip and the tannic frame that allows the wine to develop over time; Petit Verdot contributes colour depth, spice and a firm finishing note. After 25 days of skin maceration and fermentation, the wine ages in French oak barriques. A 2021 vintage assessment noted firm but refined tannins, good acidity and a long finish, with the wine needing time in bottle before reaching its peak.

Through the Orma estate in Bolgheri, the family produces a separate range: the Orma flagship blend and Passi di Orma, added following the 2015 vintage.

In The Glass

Oreno opens with dark fruit: blackcurrant and plum from the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with a spice note from the Petit Verdot and a background of French oak. In the mouth, the wine is full-bodied with firm tannins that come from both the grape varieties and the extended maceration. Acidity runs through the mid-palate, preventing the weight from becoming heavy and giving the wine its line. The finish is long and persistent. Young vintages carry the tannin grip most noticeably; the wine opens progressively over five to ten years as the oak integrates and the fruit fills in around the tannin frame.

Crognolo is softer in the glass: less tannic, earlier to drink, with a more rounded texture and a shorter finish. The two wines share a family character but are built for different moments.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Oreno. It is built from 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot, farmed on the estate's organic vineyards at 200 to 300 metres, fermented with 25 days of skin contact, and aged in French oak barriques. The wine is dark and needs time: the tannins are firm in younger vintages, the acidity holds the mid-palate steady, and the finish is long enough to suggest a decade of development. A bottle three to five years after harvest will be opening; a bottle at eight to ten years will be fuller. This is the wine that sets Sette Ponti apart from the Valdarno's grape-selling past and places it alongside Tuscany's Bordeaux-variety estates.

Anecdote

In 1957, Alberto Moretti signed the papers for Tenuta Sette Ponti and drove out to the Valdarno to inspect his new hunting retreat. The princesses Margherita and Cristina Savoia d'Aosta had used the property for years; Moretti intended to continue in much the same way. There were vineyards, and someone had to do something with the grapes, so the arrangement continued as it always had: the fruit went to other Tuscan producers and came back as someone else's wine. That is how things ran for forty years, through Alberto's time and into his son Antonio's. When Antonio finally decided, in the late 1990s, to keep the harvest and make the wine himself, the 1998 vintage of Crognolo was the first bottle to leave the estate under the Sette Ponti label. The wild cornus bush the wine was named after had been growing on the property the whole time.

Final Word

Tenuta Sette Ponti built its wine project late. The estate sold its grapes for four decades before making a single bottle, then released Oreno, a Bordeaux-variety blend from organic Valdarno vineyards, as its flagship. The wines sit outside the Sangiovese appellations that define most of Tuscany's wine map, which means the label carries less name recognition than Chianti Classico or Brunello. What it carries instead is a focused range, a clear house style, and a second estate in Bolgheri. Oreno rewards patience.

Sources

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