Italy · Lucca, Apuane & Northern Coast

Tommasi Family Estates

Fourth-generation Italian wine family founded in 1902 in Valpolicella Classica, with Tuscan estates at Podere Casisano in Montalcino and Poggio al Tufo in the Maremma. Produces Brunello di Montalcino from 100% Sangiovese Grosso aged three years in large Slavonian oak.

The producer

Tommasi Family Estates spent nearly a century building one of the Veneto's most complete wine operations before looking south. Giacomo Tommasi planted the first parcel in Valpolicella Classica in 1902. His sons Sergio, Franco, Ezio, and Dario expanded across Veronese appellations after the war, built a modern winery in the 1970s, and shipped their wines to over 85 countries. When the fourth generation took leadership in 1997, they bought Poggio al Tufo in the Tuscan Maremma the same year, the family's first estate outside the Veneto. Eighteen years later came Podere Casisano in Montalcino, a 53-hectare property with nine hectares planted to Brunello.

At Casisano, the Brunello is 100% Sangiovese Grosso, macerated on skins for 25 days and aged three years in large Slavonian oak casks before a minimum six months in bottle. It is a wine of firm tannins, high acidity, and dried-fruit depth that asks for patience and repays it. At Poggio al Tufo, the Sangiovese-Cabernet blend Rompicollo runs in a different direction: darker, more immediately giving, with blackberry, ink, and spice from the warmer coastal climate. Two Tuscan addresses, each faithful to what its land actually produces.

Known for

Brunello di Montalcino DOCG from Podere Casisano; Rompicollo Sangiovese-Cabernet blend from Poggio al Tufo in the Maremma.

Notable facts

The story

31st in the World

In 2014, Wine Spectator published its annual Top 100 Wines of the Year. At number 31 sat Rompicollo from Poggio al Tufo, a Sangiovese-Cabernet blend from a Maremma estate the Tommasi family had owned for less than two decades. The designation alongside the 92-point score was smart buy, the magazine's signal that a wine outperforms its price against the full international field. For a family whose name had been built over a century in the Veneto, placing a Tuscan coastal red in the global Top 100 on a value score, in the same period they were quietly building their Montalcino strategy, made for a quietly good evening at the Tommasi table.

31st in the World

In 2014, Wine Spectator published its annual Top 100 Wines of the Year. At number 31 sat Rompicollo from Poggio al Tufo, a Sangiovese-Cabernet blend from a Maremma estate the Tommasi family had owned for less than two decades. The designation alongside the 92-point score was smart buy, the magazine's signal that a wine outperforms its price against the full international field. For a family whose name had been built over a century in the Veneto, placing a Tuscan coastal red in the global Top 100 on a value score, in the same period they were quietly building their Montalcino strategy, made for a quietly good evening at the Tommasi table.

From the atlas

Tommasi Family Estates

At A Glance

The Producer

Tommasi Family Estates arrived in Tuscany from a different direction than most. The family spent nearly a century building one of the Veneto's most complete wine operations, rooted in Valpolicella Classica where Giacomo Tommasi planted the first parcel in 1902. By the time the fourth generation took the keys in 1997, the portfolio covered 800 hectares across seven Italian regions. Tuscany was the next move.

The Tuscan chapter has two addresses. Poggio al Tufo sits in the Maremma on 200 hectares of coastal plain, producing a Sangiovese-Cabernet blend called Rompicollo alongside a varietal Cabernet Sauvignon and a Vermentino white. Podere Casisano, acquired in 2015, is the serious one: a 53-hectare estate outside Montalcino with 22 hectares under vine, nine of them planted to Brunello. The family came to Montalcino not to pivot away from the Veneto but to add the one Tuscan appellation that belongs in the same breath as Amarone.

Place

Montalcino is a hilltop town in the province of Siena, southeast of Florence, and the appellation that carries its name is among the most tightly governed in Italy. Brunello di Montalcino DOCG is reserved for 100% Sangiovese Grosso, a local selection of Sangiovese with thicker skin and higher colour intensity than the grape grown elsewhere in Tuscany. The elevation of the Montalcino hill, between roughly 250 and 600 metres, means warm days and cold nights through the growing season: fruit ripens fully while acidity stays high and tannin remains firm. Those conditions are why Brunello ages well and why its drinking windows run years, sometimes decades, after release.

Poggio al Tufo is a different Tuscany entirely. The Maremma is coastal lowland, warmer and less regulated than the Montalcino hills. International varieties have been planted there since the 1970s, and the estates that followed tended to pursue ripe, accessible reds. Rompicollo fits that profile: a blend that works with the warmth of the coast rather than against it.

Soil And Site

Casisano's 22 vineyard hectares sit on Montalcino's characteristic mix of galestro schist and clay-rich alberese soils. Galestro drains freely and keeps vine roots working hard; alberese retains more water and contributes to the dense mid-palate weight that Brunello carries even in younger vintages. Nine of those hectares go to Brunello, seven to Rosso di Montalcino, the rest to supporting parcels. The altitude of the Casisano site is not individually specified in the packet, but the estate falls within the Montalcino denomination zone south of the town.

At Poggio al Tufo in the Maremma, the 200-hectare property includes varied coastal soils suited to both Sangiovese and international varieties. Specific soil breakdowns for the Maremma parcels are not detailed in the available sources.

Story

Giacomo Tommasi's 1902 parcel in Valpolicella Classica was small. What changed the scale was the second generation: four brothers, Sergio, Franco, Ezio, and Dario, who began acquiring vineyards across Veronese denominations after the Second World War. They moved into Lugana, Bardolino, Custoza, and Soave, and in the 1970s built the modern winery and offices that remain the family's operational centre. The principle they set was straightforward: own the land, control the production, bottle under the family name.

By the 1990s the business distributed in over 85 countries. When the fourth generation formally entered the company and took leadership positions in 1997, they had inherited a Veneto operation in good shape. Their move was to look south. That year they acquired Poggio al Tufo in the Maremma, the first Tommasi estate outside the Veneto. Eighteen years later came Casisano, and with it the family's entry into Brunello.

Casisano had been established in 1990 by previous owners who developed the vineyard blocks for Brunello. When Tommasi acquired it in 2015, they inherited a functioning Montalcino address with a clear production philosophy: hold to traditional vinification, use large-format Slavonian oak, and produce Brunello from Sangiovese Grosso.

Vineyards And Cellar

At Casisano, the Brunello is made from a single grape: Sangiovese Grosso. After harvest, the grapes macerate on their skins for approximately 25 days. That extended contact extracts colour, tannin, and the aromatic complexity that Brunello needs to sustain three years of oak ageing without thinning out.

The oak regime is deliberately large-format. Casks hold up to 60 hectolitres, which means the wine touches far less wood surface per litre than it would in barriques. Large Slavonian oak contributes oxygen and gentle tannin exchange over the three-year ageing period without overlaying the Sangiovese with toasty or vanilla characters. The wine then spends a minimum of six months in bottle before release. The total time from harvest to shelf runs well over four years for the Brunello.

At Poggio al Tufo, the Maremma approach is less rigidly specified in the packet, but the Rompicollo blend and the varietal Cabernet Sauvignon are both made for earlier drinking than the Brunello, with the fruit and warmth of the coastal zone carrying the wines rather than extended tannin ageing.

Wines

The Casisano range is anchored by two bottles from Sangiovese Grosso. The Brunello di Montalcino DOCG draws from nine hectares of dedicated vineyard and goes through the full traditional programme: long maceration, three years in large Slavonian oak, then bottle time before release. It is a wine built for the medium term, with firm tannins, marked acidity, and the dried-fruit depth that comes from the extended oak period. The 2015 vintage opens from 2024 and holds through 2030. The Rosso di Montalcino DOC draws from a separate seven hectares and offers an earlier-drinking Sangiovese Grosso from the same estate, released sooner, with the same Montalcino address but a shorter cellar requirement.

At Poggio al Tufo, Rompicollo is a Sangiovese-Cabernet Sauvignon blend with a nose of blackberry, bacon, and ink, and a palate of dark berry, black pepper, and spice with a supple, mineral-edged finish. Wine Spectator awarded it 92 points and a smart buy designation in 2014. The Cabernet Sauvignon Toscana IGT goes varietal: blackberry preserve, black pepper, liquorice, vanilla, and balsamic herbs on the nose, with a dense palate. A Vermentino white rounds out the Poggio al Tufo portfolio.

In The Glass

Casisano Brunello rises from the glass with red fruit, dried cherry, and spice: aromas that are more detailed and less immediately opulent than a warmer-climate Sangiovese. On the palate, the tannins are firm but not abrasive, built from the long skin contact and then smoothed by three years against Slavonian oak. The acidity stays high and keeps the wine from feeling heavy even when the mid-palate fills with dark fruit and earthy notes. The finish is long, with a characteristic dryness that Sangiovese Grosso carries through the ageing process. Young Brunello from Casisano asks for patience or a long decant; firm tannins can leave it tight at release, and it develops in bottle for years.

Rompicollo from Poggio al Tufo reads differently: the nose is darker and more savoury, with blackberry, ink, and a faint smoky quality. The palate is richer and more immediately giving, with spice and fruit forward and the mineral note coming in on the finish. It is a wine that works without waiting.

A Bottle To Understand It

Casisano Brunello di Montalcino DOCG is the bottle to open first. It is 100% Sangiovese Grosso from nine hectares on the Montalcino hill, macerated for 25 days and aged three years in large Slavonian oak before bottle time. The glass delivers firm tannins, bright acidity, red fruit and spice with dried-cherry depth, and a long dry finish. There is no oak flavour to speak of, only the integration that comes from years in large casks. The 2015 vintage is in its drinking window now and holds through 2030. Open it with a long decant and food, and the wine gives back everything the cellar put in.

Anecdote

In 2014, Wine Spectator released its annual Top 100 Wines of the Year. Somewhere in the ranking, at number 31, sat Rompicollo from Poggio al Tufo, a Sangiovese-Cabernet blend from a Maremma estate the Tommasi family had owned for less than two decades. The designation it carried alongside the score was smart buy, which in the Wine Spectator system means the wine punches well above its price point against the full international field. For a family whose reputation had been built over a century in the Veneto, landing a Tuscan red in the global Top 100 on a value score in the same year they were quietly assembling their Montalcino strategy made it a quietly good evening at the Tommasi table.

Final Word

Tommasi Family Estates brings a century of Veneto discipline to two very different Tuscan addresses. At Casisano, the commitment to Sangiovese Grosso and traditional Montalcino production puts the Brunello in direct conversation with the appellation's best work. At Poggio al Tufo, the Maremma produces wines built for earlier pleasure. Between the two estates, there is a bottle for every occasion, with the Brunello earning the patient ones.

Sources

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