Summary
Marchesi Mazzei, based at Castello di Fonterutoli near Castellina in Chianti, is one of the oldest wine businesses in the world in unbroken family ownership: Fonterutoli has belonged to the Mazzei family since 1435, today in the 25th generation. On around 110 hectares in the heart of Chianti Classico, wines are made that combine tradition with a modern ambition – from classic Chianti Classico through several Gran Selezione to the icon wine Siepi. Added to this are the sister estates Belguardo in the Maremma and Zisola in Sicily.
History
Fonterutoli is a place with an exceptionally long history. As early as 998, Emperor Otto III is said to have fixed the boundaries between the dioceses of Siena, Fiesole and Arezzo here; later the hamlet repeatedly served as a place of negotiation between Florence and Siena. In 1435 it came to the family through the marriage of Madonna Smeralda Mazzei – and has never been sold since.
Two names shape the family history in particular. Ser Lapo Mazzei, a notary in Florence, wrote on 16 December 1398 the oldest known document in which the term Chianti is used for a wine. And Filippo Mazzei (1730–1816), a man of the Enlightenment and a close friend of Thomas Jefferson, brought Italian vines and Italian winegrowing knowledge to Virginia; his sentence on the natural equality of all people is regarded as an influence on the American Declaration of Independence.
The more recent history is one of consistent modernisation. 1992 saw the first vintage of Siepi, which made the house known internationally. In the mid-1990s Tenuta Belguardo, an estate in the Maremma, was added, and in 2004 Zisola, an estate in Sicilian Noto. In the 2000s the new cellar at Fonterutoli was built, designed by Agnese Mazzei.
Location & Terroir
Fonterutoli lies at a good 500 metres of altitude on the Strada Chiantigiana, around five kilometres south of Castellina in Chianti. The estate's vines are spread across 114 plots between about 220 and 570 metres of altitude and across three municipalities: Castellina in Chianti, Castelnuovo Berardenga and Radda in Chianti. This spread over different altitudes and exposures is the basis for the differentiated range.
The soils are formed mainly from the weathering of Alberese, a calcareous marl rock, and of sandstone. They are poor, water-permeable and give the wines a mineral core. The climate in Chianti Classico is continental in character, with warm days and distinctly cooler nights – a swing that preserves the characteristic, present acidity in Sangiovese. In the Maremma around Belguardo, by contrast, Mediterranean conditions prevail with proximity to the sea and strong air movement.
Style & Philosophy
The style of the house is Tuscan-classic, but without hardness: Sangiovese with clear red fruit, a firm tannin frame and freshness, complemented by international varieties where they contribute something stylistically. The basis is plot-precise work in the vineyard – each of the 114 plots is harvested and aged separately before any decision is made about the composition of the individual wines.
The cellar at Fonterutoli was purpose-built for this: 74 conical-cylindrical stainless steel tanks allow separate vinification, the barrique cellar lies around 15 metres deep in the rock and is kept cool and humid in a natural way by underground watercourses – without technical air conditioning. The range is complemented by extra virgin olive oil from the estate's own groves.
Notable Sites & Wines
- Siepi – Toscana IGT from roughly equal parts Sangiovese and Merlot, from a single site of around 14 hectares; first vintage 1992
- Castello Fonterutoli – Chianti Classico Gran Selezione DOCG, the flagship of the home estate
- Vicoregio 36 – Chianti Classico Gran Selezione from Castelnuovo Berardenga
- Badiòla – Chianti Classico Gran Selezione from Radda in Chianti
- Ser Lapo – Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG, named after the man who gave Chianti its name
- Fonterutoli – the classic Chianti Classico DOCG of the estate
Added to these are the wines of the sister estates: Belguardo in the Maremma with Sangiovese, Cabernet and Vermentino, as well as Zisola in Noto with Nero d'Avola.
Awards
For decades Mazzei has been part of the firm circle of top Tuscan producers and is accordingly represented regularly in the leading Italian and international ratings – with Siepi and the Gran Selezione wines consistently achieving high scores. More important than individual trophies, however, is the role the house plays for the region: as one of the oldest winegrowing families in the world and as the source of the name Chianti, Mazzei embodies the history of the area like hardly any other estate – and with Siepi it has at the same time created one of the pioneers of modern Tuscany.