The Volpaia estate, surrounding a medieval Castello, was originally built as a fortified village in the 11th Century to guard against attack, during many centuries of warring clashes between the Florentines and Sienese.
In the 1960s, the sharecropping ‘mezzadria' system came to an end, and with this many highly desirable estates, including castles - even entire villages - surfaced on the market. In 1967, Raffaello Stianti purchased the fortified village of Volpaia, situated on a hilltop near the town of Radda in the heart of the Chianti Classico region.
Today, the estate is run by Raffaello's daughter, Giovanella Stianti, resident agronomist/enologist Lorenzo Regoli, well-known consultant enologist Riccardo Cotarella, and, since 2006, her son Nicolò Mascheroni Stianti.
Estate
Castello di Volpaia’s consists of three ‘Tenute’ including: the original Tenuta Castello di Volpaia, Tenuta Castel Prile and Tenuta Nika. Tenuta Castel Prile is situated at the site of an ancient lake named ‘Prelius’ by the Romans. The locality of Prile lies three kilometres from Castiglione, where the estates vineyards are located in this portion of their estate.
Volpaia's vineyards are planted between 450 and 600 slm., and benefit from a very particular local soil type "arenaria" - predominantly calcareous and sandy. Moreover, the unusual selection of rootstock has allowed for the re-introduction of ancient autochthonous varieties of Sangiovese. They are committed to organic farming practices on all of their vineyards.