From Chianti Classico to Maremma to the volcanic territories of Etna and Vulture. Piccini 1882’s represents first a dream and then an entrepreneurial project characterized by very different souls but all united by the ability to tell with great sincerity some of the oenological excellences of our country.
Piccini 1882, the winemaking group owned by the Piccini Family that resides in the heart of Chianti Classico, is in fact today one of the most dynamic and innovative realities of the entire Italian winemaking scene, and one that has made the qualitative exaltation of the different winemaking areas of the peninsula the key to its identity. The resulting wines are authentic, always respectful of the grape variety, terroir and typicality of their areas of origin.
“This, ” says Mario Piccini, the company’s CEO. is the philosophy of our family, deeply rooted in traditions and values passed down from generation to generation as a starting point for creating wines of the highest quality. Piccini is a story of family and passion, a 130-year history, a path of continuous growth and great results.” .
An idea, that of Piccini 1882’s project, which has deep roots and which today, despite expanding acquisitions, is still inspired by simple and sincere values. “Once upon a time,” recounts Mario Piccini – my father handed me a glass of wine and asked me what I thought of it. I clearly remember the surprise of that tasting: sweet and tannic, savory and acidic, all so perfectly integrated, in a balance I had never felt before. That memory, which I have carried with me ever since and which I always try to relive, is the greatest confirmation that wine is something that lives, fluid matter constantly evolving toward a point of perfection. Everything I do is driven by the irrational desire to relive that moment and to share with others the joy and awe that a goblet of perfection can provoke.”
A journey through the different regions of Italy that of Piccini 1882’s project, made possible by the very varied dislocation of the 5 estates that together count over 200 hectares of vineyards. The enoic itinerary starts with Fattoria di Valiano, a splendid Chianti Classico estate in the province of Siena, belonging to the territory of Castelnuovo Berardenga, and then moves on to Tenuta Moraia, located in the province of Grosseto, along the Tuscan coast, in Maremma. Finally, the picture of Tuscan wineries is completed by Villa al Cortile, which in Montalcino represents a landmark in the production of Brunello. Leaving Tuscany, on the other hand, we land in Basilicata, where we encounter the 15 hectares of vineyards of Regio Cantina, where one of the best Aglianico del Vulture is produced. The journey ends in Sicilian lands, and exactly along the slopes of the great volcano Etna, where Torre Mora stands, a winery that sees its rows extend between the towns of Castiglione di Sicilia and Linguaglossa.
FIVE GENERATIONS SERVING THE EARTH
That of Piccini 1882 is the story of five generations that have followed one another uninterruptedly, handing down passion, values, knowledge and skills from one to the other, in the sign of the highest territorial identity, and enhancing the most deep-rooted and historical traditions, which for years now have contributed to making the wines of the different regions where the company’s estates are now based great.
Angiolo Piccini was born in 1860, the only son of a merchant family in Poggibonsi, a small town between Florence and Siena. In 1882 he invested in 7 hectares of vineyards in Castellina in Chianti, built a small winery in Poggibonsi and began a family tradition that lasts to this day.
Angiolo Piccini is an inspiration to his son, Mario, who entered with an active role in the company in 1925. During the second Piccini generation, the company prospered and grew despite the extremely difficult years of the Great Depression and World War II.
Mario’s only son Pierangelo took over the family business in the 1960s, bringing with him dynamism and innovation. He makes major investments in new vineyards and estates with the prestigious acquisitions of two properties, Fattoria di Valiano in Chianti Classico and Tenuta Moraia in Maremma on the Tuscan coast.
In the late 1980s his son Mario, and youngest daughter Martina, joined him at a very young age. Pierangelo will make clear from the beginning the big difference between inheriting a family business and building one. His guidance and trust are rewarded as brother and sister join forces and redefine the image of Chianti in the 21st century. Their innovative approach to Chianti production leads to the internationally successful launch of Chianti Etichetta Arancio. Between tradition and intuition, the fourth generation of the Piccini family has taken one of Italy’s oldest and most traditional wines and made it contemporary, vibrant, original and international.
Under the leadership of the family’s fourth generation, Piccini is now one of Italy’s most distinctive, dynamic and innovative wineries. Piccini 1882 is a family-run business and is one of the most widely distributed Italian wines abroad, present in more than 80 countries around the world.
Today, the fifth generation represented by Mario Piccini’s children, Benedetta, Ginevra and Michelangelo, is also beginning to follow in their father’s footsteps by dedicating themselves to the activities of the estates.
In early 2021 the company embarked on an ambitious rebranding process; the historic name, Tenute Piccini, was transformed in March into Piccini 1882.
What has remained unchanged over time, however, is the family’s commitment, uninterrupted for almost 140 years: today Piccini 1882 is a true winemaking Group that has just under two hundred hectares under vine owned, to which are added the five hundred of the Geografico Farmers’ Project, for a production that in 2020 exceeded more than 17.7 million bottles and a total turnover that reached 67.5 million euros (+ 6.5% compared to 2019). Important numbers that make Piccini one of the most interesting families in the national wine scene.
THE REBRANDING: ESTATES PICCINI BECOMES PICCINI 1882 – THE ITALIAN WINE FAMILY
The year 2021 therefore opened with a major novelty: the company’s historical name, Tenute Piccini, gave way to the new Piccini 1882 brand, completing a path of growth for the Group, functional to the company’s strategic repositioning and aimed at optimizing and giving even more value to the multiple activities of the individual wineries.
“With Piccini 1882, a new chapter in our history begins,” comments CEO Mario Piccini, ” It is a brand that will allow us to be more distinctive and clear in the messages and initiatives in which we will be protagonists. If Tenute Piccini represented the plurality and ensemble of our wineries, Piccini 1882 is a unicum: it is the parent company that encompasses all the estates and the emblem of the value universe that has always guided our daily work.”
The new brand makes the Group even more recognizable and, by making explicit the year of its founding, strengthens the Piccini family’s connection with the origin of its history. From this point of view, the claim The Italian wine family, which accompanies Piccini 1882, helps to keep unchanged the family’s philosophy, linked to traditions and values handed down from generation to generation as the starting point for creating wines of the highest quality.
“However, we felt the need to take the company to an even higher level ,” explains Mario Piccini, “ we have worked tenaciously to create a modern, efficient and functional organization, and from this point of view, Piccini 1882 represents the ability to read the times by riding on the innovations they demand.
THE ENOLOGICAL APPROACH: FROM THE VINEYARD TO THE WINERY
“We are growing significantly,” says Mario Piccini. – and in order to be more and more up to the needs of the market and at the same time to guarantee an authoritative production identity we are making use of what today can be considered one of the world’s leading experts in vitienology in Italy, Riccardo Cotarella. An out of the box classical consultant capable not only of making an important contribution to the qualification of wines but also, and above all, supporting the professional growth of the technical teams with which he collaborates. For us, therefore, Cotarella’s entry has strengthened our team of oenologists and agronomists, which now also consists of very capable and promising young people.”
With the arrival in 2018 of Riccardo Cotarella to follow the wines of the estates and that of young winemaker Alessandro Barabesi, head of the Agricoltori del Geografico wineries, the Piccini world has indeed received new blood in order to further raise the quality level of the wines produced. The production philosophy that inspires the work on all of the company’s seven estates is to create wines that reflect the territory of origin while respecting the expressiveness of the grapes.
The vineyards of each estate give rise to different wines but with an inescapable common thread of quality. In each estate, the oenological purpose is different and at the same time the same as that of the sisters: wines with identity, high quality, produced in vocated areas and accompanied to express themselves by the greatest experts in the field.
THE 5 ESTATES OF “PICCINI WORLD 1882”
VALIANO FARM: an estate that speaks of “HOME”
“Valiano is the home of our family,” says Mario Piccini, “our legacy, it is my dream. Valiano is the dream I’ve been chasing since I was young. Of course, young enough to drink at our family dinners.”
Fattoria di Valiano is located in the heart of the Chianti Classico production area, in the municipality of Castelnuovo Berardenga, a short distance from Siena. From careful historical research we learn that Valiano derives from the name of an ancient Roman condottiere, who at the time of the Gallic Wars, was assigned, according to the dictates of the Lex Julia, these Lands for his particular merits on the battlefield. In the 1960s it was owned by President of the Republic Giovanni Gronchi; it currently belongs to the Piccini family. Valiano covers a total area of 230 hectares, 75 of which are vineyards. The vineyards, all organically managed, are at an average altitude of 350 meters above sea level, with mainly southwest exposure. The soil is composed of clay and skeleton, except for the Poggio Teo cru where sand and skeleton dominate the scene. The harvest is strongly linked to the characteristics of each vintage, but usually begins between late September and early October. Each individual bunch is picked by hand separately, depending on its location and type of grape variety. The most important aspect of this stage is selection, selection that continues to be the key element once the grapes arrive at the winery, at the sorting table. Only the best bunches are destemmed and gently crushed. Usually, maceration on the skins takes place in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks for between 7 and 15 days. Gentle pressing, in order to preserve the purity of flavors and facilitate the development of complex aromas, follows the processing and fermentation of small amounts of grapes. Once the skins are removed, the new wine is racked to remove the lees, after which malolactic fermentation is allowed to occur naturally. Once malolactic fermentation is complete, the wine is ready for aging during which it gains complexity, softening its tannins and developing its character, without losing the expressiveness of the grapes and their vines. For this reason, it is generally preferred to use Slavonian Oak barrels, while for small quantities we also use small French Oak barrels, with capacities of 225 and 500 liters.
Final blending takes place before bottling, which takes place on the estate, only after obtaining quality certification from the relevant bodies. Once bottled, the wine rests another 4-6 months waiting to be introduced to the market.
Estate operations are overseen with great expertise by Pasquale Presutto, who, with a methodical and determined approach, guides the work of technicians and winemakers from the vineyard to the cellar. Pasquale is implementing a small revolution on the estate, carrying out careful parceling and nomenclature work to facilitate operations in the vineyard, and is at the same time carrying out several experiments in the winery, on the strength of the oenological expertise he has achieved through years of work in the field. For the aging of the wines, woods are used depending on the type of wine, but Pasquale’s philosophy is to get the wine into the bottle as soon as possible, so as not to distort it and to give it the balance it needs to be representative of a territory. “The Piccini 1882 group has always been committed to achieving high levels of quality,” Pasquale says, “and in Valiano we are no different. Harvest after harvest, we select the most expressive plots and vinifications in order to produce representative, high quality wines. In the winery every person who does a particular job has great expertise in what they do, this is certainly reflected in the quality of the estate’s wines.”
Fattoria di Valiano, home to the entire Piccini family, is run entirely organically. Over the years more diverse techniques have been experimented with to safeguard the vines by making as few interventions as possible: from green manure to the use of antagonistic insects. Every year at the beginning of March, swarms of antagonistic insects are therefore released in the vineyards at the bottom of the valley, where the humidity is higher, which can naturally combat vine-dangerous pests such as mealybug.
TENUTA MORAIA: a modern vision handed down from local tradition
Tenuta Moraia is located in Maremma, and has been family-owned since 2000. The estate covers 170 hectares, 60 of which are planted with the typical vineyards of the area: Sangiovese and Vermentino above all, as well as international varieties such as Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah, Alicante and Chardonnay. The winery’s wines have a modern and precise style, marked by immediacy, but without sacrificing the elegance and depth typical of the great wines of the Tuscan coast. Each bottle is a faithful expression of the territory and best represents all the excellence of this wine area, unique in the Tuscan landscape.
Faithful to what is the Piccini philosophy also in Tenuta Moraia the search for quality and typicality, always favoring the biological cycle of each vine, is the main objective. In fact, the intent is to produce wines that express the territory through their strong personality. Maremma, from the Latin “of the sea,” covers an area that roughly corresponds to the coastal province of Grosseto, a region of undisputed charm and unspoiled natural beauty that has earned it the reputation of Tuscany’s “wild frontier.”
On the valley slopes the soils are clay and marl mixed with oceanic conglomerates. Sandy soils are mixed with sandstones in the lower parts. The mild to moderate slopes are located in a southeast direction at about 100 m asl. The management is entrusted to Pasquale Presutto, who divides his time between Fattoria Valiano and Tenuta Moraia, making his great contribution in the latter context, too, to the realization of viticulture that is as sustainable as possible and precursor to quality winemaking, typical of Piccini 1882’s references. A striking result of the great work of the Moraia team are the wines of the Estate’s collection such as the Vermentino, rich and refreshing, with a floral bouquet that mixes with intriguing herbaceous hints, or the captivating Rosé, composed as per Maremma tradition from Sangiovese and Syrah,
VILLA AL CORTILE: the successful encounter of Sangiovese with the land of Montalcino
Located on the southern side of Montalcino, Villa al Cortile covers 12 hectares of vineyards between the Montosoli and Lavacchio areas.
In making Brunello di Montalcino, the winery follows the rules of simplicity, balance and moderation. The intent is to let the unique characteristics of each vintage and vineyard shine through, emphasizing the typical character of the Sangiovese grape in the context of its dedicated terroir.
The 12 hectares of the Villa al Cortile estate are divided into two distinct areas: 8 hectares located in Montosoli, the northern part of Montalcino, and 4 hectares located in Lavacchio, on the southwestern slopes of Montalcino. The vineyards on the northeastern slope have an exposure such that they are characterized by cooler average temperatures that give the high acidity. The vineyards to the south, on the other hand, enjoy long sun exposure and warm breezes from the coast, which give the grapes freshness and warmth, character and prevalent fruit.
Temperature swings typical of the entire area play a crucial role, especially during the ripening months when the early morning sun removes the coolness of the night. Warm days and cool nights extend the growing season, a factor that in turn gives finesse and depth of expression to the wine.
The diversified location of the vineyards, both southwest and north of Montalcino, also allows for a gradual harvest, benefiting from the varying altitude of the vineyards.
The clusters are hand-picked in open 15-kg containers to ensure that the berries are not broken. Brunello and Brunello Riserva are then aged in medium-toasted oak barrels for between 24 and 36 months.
To bring out the characteristics of each plot to the fullest, vinifications take place separately, allowing the evolution of each wine to be monitored.
Focusing on the typical character of Sangiovese remains the absolute goal of Villa al Cortile. Therefore, through the aging process it is possible to focus on developing the complexity of the wines and softening the tannins, without penalizing the fruit component. For this specific reason, it was chosen to use oak barrels of volume between 20 hl and 50 hl.
REGIO CANTINA: Identity and excellence in the sign of the volcano
Nestled among volcanic hills at the foot of Mount Vulture in the heart of Basilicata, in Venosa in the province of Potenza, the Regio Cantina winery works, on the slopes of an ancient extinct volcano, 15 hectares of vineyards. Here everything revolves around Aglianico, which on volcanic soils manages to reach very high qualitative peaks. Joining Piccini in 2010, the winery interprets the territory while remaining faithful to the traditional practices of Lucanian farmers, always keeping an eye on modernity. Passion, tenacity and respect for the land and its products are the coordinates within which the winery moves, whose wines are an authentic expression of this. The favorable position of the 15 hectares, the quality of the soil, the lava nature of the soil and subsoil, give a generous fruit and contribute to produce a wine with unique characteristics: the Aglianico del Vulture, a shining example of the estate’s commitment. The estate’s wines come from a harvest that occurs around the beginning of November and can boast the title of Italy’s last harvest.
Regio Cantina’s production-seventy thousand bottles a year-is marketed in Italy but also abroad, where the United States, Japan and the Netherlands are, as of today, the target markets.
TORRE MORA: organic viticulture and land culture
Torre Mora is the Piccini family’s estate on Mount Etna. Organic farming, high-density vineyards and low yields are the premises behind all production. The property’s three vineyards are located respectively in Contrada Dafara Galluzzo in Rovittello, Contrada Alboretto Chiuse del Signore in the municipality of Linguaglossa and Contrada Moscamento, also in Rovittello. Torre Mora is a small estate dedicated to organic and sustainable viticulture, the choice of traditional methods, the typicality of the grape variety and culture of the area.
The Etna DOC production area is an exceptional place for viticulture. This area is distinguished by a number of unique characteristics that combine to generate a complex microclimate: a loose, fertile volcanic soil at high altitude and characterized by a significant daily temperature range.
A unique place that stands out for its special bond with the typical vines of the area: Nerello Mascalese, the princely vine of the slopes of the volcano; Nerello Cappuccio, which completes the blend in the production of Etna DOC; and Carricante, the white grape variety that is the protagonist of Etna Bianco DOC. Torre Mora’s philosophy is one grape, one territory: a perfect combination that is a source of inspiration for the production of wines that tell the story of grapes that have adapted over the centuries. The age of the vines varies from 10 to 25 years. Because of the steep terrain on which the vineyards are located, the training systems are spurred cordon in the small flat areas and bush-training on the terraces. The soil, purely volcanic and characterized by acid ph, is very fertile. Despite its shallow depth, the soil is extraordinarily mineral and rich in trace and trace elements brought by volcanic eruptions.
| PICCINI 1882’S NUMBERS IN 2020
– 67 employees – Hectares under vine: nearly 200 ha – Turnover: 65 million – Production: 17 million bottles |