Campochiarenti sits in the hills between Poggibonsi and San Gimignano, on the old road to Florence. The town's towers are in view from the vines. People have farmed here for a thousand years. The church of San Nicola on the estate was finished in 998, and a papal document of 1070 already names it. Wine from these hills was already being sold beyond the area by 1276, Vernaccia among it. For centuries the church and the convent beside it were where the local grapes and olives were brought in and worked.
The Rosti family arrived in 1977 and found the buildings and the land abandoned. They replanted the vines and restored the farm without changing how it looks. The buildings are protected for their history. Green-energy kit such as solar panels may not go on them or on the land, so the view stays as it has always been. Today the estate covers 50 hectares of woodland, arable fields, olive groves and vineyard, and 14 of those hectares are vines. Daniele Rosti runs it, makes the wine and pours it for visitors. The labels carry the family's story. Vivi is named after his mother's nickname. GAR and the Chianti called Sant'Ambrogio both remember his late father GianAmbrogio. San Nicola is named after the church and after a cousin, Nicolas, killed in the Nice attack of July 2016.
The farm work follows the old local ways. The family stopped using chemical weedkillers more than 25 years ago, and weeds are now cut by machine or by hand. Sprays against vine disease are kept to the minimum. When a vine dies it is replaced on its own, rather than the whole vineyard being pulled out, so the rows hold vines from 10 to 40 years old. The Rostis have chosen not to apply for certificates. Their name and a thousand years of farming here are the guarantee, they say.
Two grapes do most of the work: Sangiovese and Vernaccia di San Gimignano. The vines grow on alluvial soil, which the family says marks every wine. The Vernaccia is picked by hand in the second half of September, from vines 30 to 35 years old, then pressed gently and fermented slowly at a low temperature. It is at its best in its first year and can age for a few years more. Vernaccia di San Gimignano was Italy's first DOC wine, in 1966, and became a DOCG in 1993. The Chianti Colli Senesi, called Sant'Ambrogio, is 85% Sangiovese with Colorino, Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo, Mammolo and Foglia Tonda. Each grape is picked and fermented on its own, and the blend often rests in big oak casks before sale. The Chianti and San Nicola are cleared without chemical fining agents, so an older bottle may throw a little sediment.
Then there are the special bottlings. San Nicola is the family's special selection: the same grapes as the Chianti, aged more than three years in big casks. The name first went on the Chianti Colli Senesi of 2016 and 2017, then on the Riserva 2017, and from 2019 it became a wine of its own. That 2019 came out labelled Toscana IGT after a paperwork slip meant it could not be called Riserva. Venti is a Vin Santo del Chianti left in small barrels for 20 years. Vivi, half Sangiovese with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, spends 30 months in oak and a year in bottle. Visitors can taste them at the estate with Daniele himself. A two-hour visit takes in the cellar and the vineyard, with three or four wines on the table and the estate's olive oil when there is some to pour.
Tuscany
Est. 1977 
Tastings
Tours
Booking required 
44
