Fontodi

At A Glance

Region: Tuscany
Appellation: Chianti Classico / Colli della Toscana Centrale
Village: Panzano in Chianti
Main grape: Sangiovese
Signature wine: Flaccianello della Pieve
Defining feature: 90-hectare estate farmed organically and biodynamically in the Conca d'Oro

The Producer

The village of Panzano sits in the northern arc of Chianti Classico, and to its south the land curves into an amphitheatre of calcareous clay-schist slopes called the Conca d'Oro, the golden shell. Fontodi occupies the heart of it. Giovanni Manetti joined the estate in 1979. Fontodi farms 90 hectares planted 90 percent to Sangiovese under organic and biodynamic certification, and makes wines that range from village Chianti Classico to single-vineyard Gran Selezione and a standalone 100% Sangiovese called Flaccianello della Pieve.

The Manetti family came to wine from terracotta. Dino Manetti, whose family manufactures clay tiles and pots, bought Fontodi in 1968 and restored what had been a crumbling farmhouse and neglected vineyard into a serious estate. His son Giovanni arrived in 1979. In 1981 Giovanni created Flaccianello della Pieve to show what Sangiovese could do outside the Chianti Classico blend rules, and the wine became one of the formative examples of what Tuscany could produce from that grape alone.

Place

The Conca d'Oro sits south of Panzano, enclosed on three sides by slopes that trap warmth and direct sunlight onto the vines from morning through afternoon. The bowl's altitude, combined with the marked difference between day and night-time temperatures, preserves acidity and aromatic complexity in the grapes even as they ripen fully. This diurnal swing is one reason Sangiovese grown here can carry both concentration and a firm, high-toned acidity that keeps the wines from feeling heavy.

Fontodi's vineyards lie within Chianti Classico, the appellation that runs between Florence and Siena and requires a minimum Sangiovese content in its blended wines. Flaccianello della Pieve, being 100% Sangiovese and vinified outside the Chianti Classico rules, carries the broader Colli della Toscana Centrale designation instead.

Soil And Site

Calcareous clay-schist defines the soils of the Conca d'Oro. The calcium in the stone keeps the pH relatively high and encourages the kind of firm acidity that Sangiovese needs to age. The clay fraction retains moisture through dry Tuscan summers, reducing vine stress and supporting steady ripening. The schist introduces a mineral character that carries into the wines as a stony grip on the finish.

The terraced vineyard of Terrazze San Leolino, one of Fontodi's Gran Selezione sites, sits at 450 to 500 metres elevation on albarese and schist. At this elevation and on these soils, ripening is measured and the wines develop the density to age.

Story

Dino Manetti purchased Fontodi in 1968, drawn to the Conca d'Oro's potential rather than to an established wine reputation. The estate required significant restoration. His son Giovanni joined the estate in 1979 and partnered with winemaker Franco Barnabei.

In 1981, Giovanni created Flaccianello della Pieve. Chianti Classico regulations at the time required blending Sangiovese with other varieties; Flaccianello was conceived to work outside those rules and show Sangiovese without dilution. The wine helped establish a generation of Tuscan reds, made from single varieties or non-traditional blends, that pushed beyond what the existing appellations allowed.

The estate subsequently converted to organic viticulture and adopted biodynamic farming practices, making the land management as deliberate as the winemaking. The next generation of the Manetti family, Margherita, Bernardo and Corso, have become involved in the estate as it moves forward.

Vineyards And Cellar

Fontodi farms 90 hectares of vineyard, with 90 percent planted to Sangiovese. All grapes are estate-grown and hand-picked. The estate is certified organic and works biodynamic principles in the vineyard, which deepens root development in the calcareous clay-schist soils and reduces reliance on external inputs.

Cellar work varies by wine. Vigna del Sorbo, the single-vineyard Gran Selezione from vines planted in 1963, ferments in stainless steel and then ages in barrel for the first year and in larger casks with a 20 percent new French oak component in the second. Terrazze San Leolino comes from the terraced vineyard at 450 to 500 metres and follows its own ageing regime suited to the site.

Flaccianello della Pieve ages in oak over several years. The estate also uses clay amphora made at the Manetti family's terracotta factory, bringing the two family businesses together in a literal way inside the Fontodi cellar.

Wines

Fontodi's range works outward from the Conca d'Oro. The Chianti Classico sits at the base: a Sangiovese-led wine with the fruit, acidity and tannic grip of the appellation, made to drink over a range of years and representing the estate's broadest expression of its terroir.

Above that sit two single-vineyard Gran Selezione bottlings. Vigna del Sorbo draws on vines planted in 1963, with mid-palate density that reflects both the vine age and the French oak ageing. Terrazze San Leolino comes from the high terraced vineyard on albarese and schist, with an elevation and soil profile producing a lifted, mineral quality alongside firm tannin.

Flaccianello della Pieve sits apart from the Chianti Classico hierarchy. As a 100% Sangiovese wine released under the Colli della Toscana Centrale designation, it operates outside the appellation rules and without the blending requirements. Since its first vintage in 1981, it has been the wine where Fontodi's view of Sangiovese finds its fullest expression.

In The Glass

Fontodi's Sangiovese combines the bright, high-toned acidity of the Conca d'Oro with the firm tannin and mineral grip that calcareous clay-schist soils produce. The Chianti Classico shows red cherry, dried herb and a clean savoury finish, with tannins that are present but not harsh and acidity that keeps the wine alive across the palate.

Flaccianello della Pieve is deeper and more concentrated: dark cherry, tobacco and dried rose petal, with a long, firm tannic grip that softens over years in bottle and a finish marked by the same stony mineral quality found in the soils. Without the Chianti Classico blending requirement, the wine carries Sangiovese's natural aromatic intensity in an undiluted form.

The two Gran Selezione bottles show what individual site differences produce from the same grape. Vigna del Sorbo brings older-vine density and a richer oak integration; Terrazze San Leolino is more lifted and mineral, with the elevation's influence evident in the wine's freshness and firm acidity.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Flaccianello della Pieve rather than the Chianti Classico. The Chianti Classico is the broader wine and shows the appellation; Flaccianello is where Fontodi's argument about Sangiovese is made without dilution or blending requirements. The label carries the Colli della Toscana Centrale designation because 100% Sangiovese sat outside the Chianti Classico rules when Giovanni Manetti first made it in 1981. That label decision is still the clearest signal of what Fontodi is trying to do. In the glass, the oak aging over several years integrates into the fruit rather than sitting on top of it, and the wine's acidity holds the palate long after the fruit has faded.

Anecdote

In 1981, Giovanni Manetti made the first vintage of Flaccianello della Pieve. Chianti Classico required Sangiovese to be blended with other varieties; Manetti wanted to make a wine from Sangiovese alone and to release it outside the appellation's rules. The wine could not carry the Chianti Classico name. It was bottled under the Colli della Toscana Centrale designation and went to market as a regional table wine. In 2018, Manetti was elected President of the Chianti Classico Consortium. The man who had to bottle his 1981 Sangiovese outside the appellation's rules was now leading the institution that sets them.

Final Word

Fontodi produces Sangiovese from the Conca d'Oro at several levels of ambition, from appellation Chianti Classico to single-vineyard Gran Selezione and a 100% Sangiovese that has been working outside the classification system since 1981. The calcareous clay-schist soils, the diurnal temperature swings, and biodynamic farming across 90 hectares give the wines their character: firm acidity, mineral grip, and the aromatic depth Sangiovese develops with age.

At A Glance

The Producer

Place

Soil And Site

Story

Vineyards And Cellar

Wines

In The Glass

A Bottle To Understand It

Anecdote

Final Word

Sources

Where to go next