Explore our wine selection

Cesanese, ancient Roman varietal is grown in volcanic soil on the Appenine Hills in Lazio. Paolo Perinelli, its stalwart pioneer grower, moved to replace international varietals previously grown in their farm with this indigenous variety in the early 80s. He's behind its climb to obtain national and international recognition, and to the status as the only red grape with DOCG certification in the region.

Recorded history refers to the wines from Montepulciano from the year 790 – literally the Dark Ages.  A hilltop town between the Val di Chiana and Val d’Orcia in Southeastern Tuscany – bordering on Umbria, the wine from Montepulciano is one of the greatest and oldest names in Italian Wine.

Often confused with the grape Montepulciano (d’Abruzzo), Vino Nobile di Montepulciano couldn’t be more different.  Based around the Prugnolo Gentile genome of Sangiovese, the wineries of Montepulciano have crafted wines of such quality that they were described as the  “Vino preferito dai Signori” or the preferred wines of the nobility as the steward to Pope Paul III described them.

Our friends at Contucci are the last winery to still produce within the city walls, and you likely have tasted with them if you visited the Piazza Grande in Montepulciano.  A family with a long connection to Montepulciano of more than 1000 years, the Contucci’s have played a significant part in the history of Tuscany in the arts and politics.  Instrumental in the establishment of the more modern reputation of Vino Nobile from 1773, Contucci has received awards and medals for their wine around 1800.  It isn’t unreasonable to imagine that Contucci wines were enjoyed by Thomas Jefferson who was quoted as saying about Vino Nobile, “For the present I confine myself to the physical want of some good Montepulciano…this being a very favorite wine and habit having rendered the light and high flavored wines of a necessary of life with me. It was most superlatively good.”